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Wachovia -- Pick A payment class action. They'd rather short sell/foreclose than do a loan modification?

By
Real Estate Agent with Alain Pinel BRE 01367196

Rarely have I heard a disparaging word about Wachovia, particularly when it pertains to short sale. But is that what they want? To do a short sale rather than help a homeowner with loan modification?

HORRORS!

Homeowner bought her place using Wachovia's Pick-A-Payment Plan which was recently on the news because of mortgage loan class action settlement.

PICK-A-PAYMENT PLAN

This article explains that

"The Pick-a-Payment mortgage loan permitted borrowers to select and make a minimum payment amount for a limited time under certain conditions. When a payment was insufficient to pay the interest owed, unpaid interest was added to the loan balance and the outstanding loan balance increased (a practice called “negative amortization”). Plaintiffs in the Wachovia mortgage class action lawsuit claim that Wachovia did not adequately disclose the Pick-a-Payment loan’s potential for negative amortization."

TWO YEARS LATER.....

For nearly two years, the homeowner attempted to get a loan modification, and even hired someone to work on her behalf. Unfortunately, she received bad advice --- very common, but bad advice nonetheless --- to miss payments. She is now so much in arrears that it's difficult for her to catch up. She has a genuine hardship in that the economy affected her business which resulted in less income. On top of that, her interest has risen to 7%!

She would rather keep her home, and is still trying to do a loan modification. But Wachovia seems more intent on rejecting her loan modification and is pushing her to do a short sale or do a deed in lieu of foreclosure.

SHORT SALE MORE PROFITABLE THAN FORECLOSURES?

We've heard that banks make more money on short sales than they do on foreclosures, but wouldn't they rather keep the homeowner who is already their client in the home, and attempt to do a loan modification instead?

 

 

Comments(11)

Endre Barath, Jr.
Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties - Beverly Hills, CA
Realtor - Los Angeles Home Sales 310.486.1002

Pacita, this is such a tragic situation, ironically we the taxpayers have bailed out the banks when they were going under, I guess that is what I call a one way street...

Jul 11, 2011 01:12 PM
Rodney Mason, VP of Mtg Lending
Guaranteed Rate NMLS# 2611 - Atlanta, GA
AL,AR,AZ,CA,CO,FL,GA,IN,MI,MS,NC,NV,SC,TN,TX,VA,WA

The majority of Wachovia's Pick-A-Pay loans came from their 2006 purchase of Golden West Financial.  From what I recall, Wachovia continued originating them until sometime in 2008. 

When approving a loan modification, the borrower must demonstratethat they have the capacity to make the new mortgage payment.  Sometimes, the borrower just cannot meet that requirement.  Once a mortgage payment is missed, that is also going to limit available options.

Jul 11, 2011 01:37 PM
EMILIA B COOPER, REALTORĀ® SFR.NCHSE.AHWD
LAROSA REALTY - Orlando, FL
Short Sales, Foreclosure & Bank Owned Real Estate

Hi Pacita, thank you for sharing with us! Very interesting post.

Emilia Cooper

Jul 11, 2011 01:55 PM
Vickie Nagy
Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate - Palm Springs, CA
Vickie Jean the Palm Springs Condo Queen
Pacita, there are so many variables in the short sales due to mortgage insurance on these exotic loan types that it's a toss-up.
Jul 11, 2011 02:34 PM
Richard Weisser
Richard Weisser Realty - Newnan, GA
Richard Weisser Retired Real Estate Professional

Pacita...

I always wonder why consumers are not suspicious of these kinds of products from the onset. There is no such thing as a free lunch.

Jul 11, 2011 03:04 PM
John Pusa
Glendale, CA

Pacita - It is true, lenders or servicers profit more foreclose on the property than do loan modification. Thanks for the information.

Jul 11, 2011 05:01 PM
Pacita Dimacali
Alain Pinel - Oakland, CA
Alameda/Contra Costa Counties CA

Endre -- that's how my friend feels, too. She's doing all she can to NOT walk away, but just needs a hand up, not a hand down.

Rodney -- at the peak, some lenders were offering 1% financing -- but didn't really delve into what happens later.

Emilia -- you're welcocme

Vicky -- just hoping that the banks will work to accommodate people who are trying to own up to their commitments. But 7% interest? Even if they modified it to 6%, it would have been better than flat out reject the loan modification.

Richard --- apparently a lot of people were lured by this type of loans. Remember the Ninja loans? No income, no job, no assets -- and they still qualified to buy a house?

John --- OUCH!

Jul 11, 2011 08:23 PM
Kathleen Daniels, Probate & Trust Specialist
KD Realty - 408.972.1822 - San Jose, CA
Probate Real Estate Services

Pacita, The Good, The Bad … and The Ugly. Lending criteria seems to change daily. If the seller cannot qualify the lenders would rather short sale to a qualified buyer and cut their losses … versus continuing to take on the risk with the current borrower.

Jul 12, 2011 03:19 AM
Pacita Dimacali
Alain Pinel - Oakland, CA
Alameda/Contra Costa Counties CA

Kathleen

My friend is caught between a rock and a hard place. She is in arrears and  as you know, negative amortization just keeps tacking on the fees. She is afraid she can't catch up, no matter how hard she tries, which is why she is trying to modify her loan.

She initially rejected because she  made less money and the bank didn't think she can make the payments. But now that she was able to pick up a new client and her income has improved, the bank may reject her again because the bank may think she makes enough to keep the loan the way it is.

Jul 12, 2011 06:17 AM
Karl Falk
Summit Mitigation Services - Monument, CO
Summit Mitigation Services

Thanks for the post.  Its a double edged sword for the lenders.  If they can restructure and "make current" they can help fix their books...but certain studies show more than 50% of loan mods, repayments and forbearance are going back into default.  so on one hand you cant blame banks for wanting to rip off the bandaid and get the asset off their books sooner than later. 

 

Jul 14, 2011 07:42 PM
Pacita Dimacali
Alain Pinel - Oakland, CA
Alameda/Contra Costa Counties CA

Karl

There's a big, black rock-looking sculpture in front of Bank of America in downtown San Francisco. The locals call it the Banker's Heart. How appropriate.

Jul 14, 2011 08:09 PM