Here is a letter I wrote to Mr. Robert Steele, one of the board of directors of Wells Fargo, but I have not received the courtesy of a reply:

Dear Mr. Steel,

I am writing to express my concerns of the business practices within Wachovia/Wells Fargo. I currently hold a first and second mortgage with them, and am in the process of a short sale. I am extremely curious why the first mortgage negotiator did not coordinate with the second mortgage department to arrive at one approval of the short sale. This is a big problem, not only for myself and those concerned with the sale of my home, but for others as well.

We were told by the processor of the first mortgage, Jeremy Demory, that the negotiator would contact the second mortgage department and finalize the short sale. Tiffany, the negotiator, did not contact them. Now we have approval on the first mortgage, which has a signed agreement stating it must close within 30 days of the date of approval, and the second mortgage department is telling us it will be 30 to 60 days before we can expect approval. What are we supposed to do? Can't the two departments work together to come up with one approval? After all, it is within the same company. As it stands now, the second mortgage division is ordering a BPO, which the first mortgage department did two weeks ago. Can't they share information? I just don't understand this process. I requested the entire short sale package be sent over to the second mortgage department. I was informed that they could fax it to me, and I could then fax it to the second mortgage, but they could not send it over directly. Even after requesting the package, I never received it. There needs to be instructions for the processing of these types of transactions. It would benefit the seller's, realtor's, and prospective buyer's. Most of all, there needs to be cooperation within the lending institution to work together in the case of a first and second mortgage within the same company.

In the meantime, the buyer is going to be out of a place to live at the end of November. They gave their notice to the apartment complex where they live, because Jeremy told us "if there is an amount on the approval letter for the second mortgage, then that means the negotiator negotiated it with the second mortgage department". I have this voice mail on my cell phone. They were preparing for closing. The contract states they have fifteen days from the date of seller's lender approval to close. They are on constant 'ready to move' notice. I feel bad for the buyers. They got married at the beginning of September, and hoped to have a place they could call home. They love this house, and want to see this transaction through, but because of the delays, the new wife has had to move into the new husbands apartment, their dogs are in a kennel, and now they may both be without a place to call home. That's not a good way to start a marriage now is it?

What are we supposed to do about our closing? The buyer's are frustrated, and rightfully so. This is our fourth contract on this property, and has been going since July 7th. This process does not have to be so difficult.

By the way, I tried to do the right thing when I realized I could not make my mortgage payments. I wrote a letter, beginning in January, and subsequent letters before each payment was late, explaining my situation for non-payment. I asked on three separate occasions to get information on alternatives. I have never been in this position before, and I didn't know how short sales, loan modifications, deed in lieu of foreclosures, or things of this nature worked. It would be nice if there were instructions for these types of programs. I received a couple of pamphlets after my third request, but there were no real guidelines as to how the mechanics of the process worked.

I was placed in a loan modification program in April of this year, but learned from one of the pamphlets I finally received that I did not qualify for this program, because I have not lived in the property since August, 2008. I moved to Florida when the house was still on the market. However, Wachovia would not release me from this program on my request. They told me they had to 'see it through'. Why? I didn't qualify for it. Why leave me in it? I finally got out of that program early July. I have been in the 'short sale process' since July. I felt like the file was sitting on hold until the transition from Wachovia to Wells Fargo took place at the end of September. My guess is that the department that handled those transactions was phased out, so there was no one to actively work the files until the transition was complete. That is the way it appeared anyway. When Wells Fargo took over, most of the documents were lost in the transition. We had to resubmit the documents. That was ridiculous! It takes time from everyone involved to jump through all the hoops over and over again.

This has been a living nightmare, and my realtor and I have spent a lot of time and effort trying to see this contract through to the end. I don't think the people at Wachovia/Wells Fargo care about how their inefficiencies affect other people. I am tired and worn out trying to see this through to the end. If the buyer backs out, the house is yours. I have nothing to gain or lose at this point. There is no cooperation from the people on the lending end. I have tried to keep in constant communication, but it is difficult when you talk to people who give you a different story each time you call in.

If you can assist in any way, I would truly appreciate the help. If not, I would hope that you can institute some direction and coordination within the organization to avoid ruining the hopes and dreams of future buyers. Without buyer's, your toxic asset inventory will continue to build.