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Just when you thought BofA couldn't go any lower..

By
Real Estate Agent with Re/Max Westside Properties BRE: 01131013

Here's the scenario:

Client bought the property (investment) property) in 2006 with 100% financing. Countrywide, now Bank of America, has both loans.

May 2008 makes a payment of $4800 on the 1st TD. They lose the payment. She pays it over the phone. However, she doesn't put a stop payment on the check. Ok, you know where this is going.

September 2008 she stops making payments on her 'bad investment'. 

End of 2008 we put the house on the market as a short sale.

House goes into escrow April 2009.

Mid stream through the short sale BofA sells the 1st to HomEQ. The short sale starts over.

We lose the first escrow because the Buyer, who waited 4 months, decided enough was enough.

We go back into escrow almost immediately.

SO NOW...we are about to close. I have approval from both. The Seller is about to get relief AND..

Remember the lost check from May 2008....1 1/2 yrs ago. Yep, you guess it BofA mysteriously found it and CASHED IT...

To make matter worse the Seller only had 2k in that account, but hmmmm...the bank decided that although she didn't have an overdraft acct., she was such a good customer and established one for her. The cashed the entire check. They didn't even own the loan anymore. The check was 18 months old.

Oh yeah, BofA just happened to be the Seller's personal Bank!!

I would love your comments. Have any of you ever experienced this? Do you think it the Seller had another bank for her checking account that this would have even happened?

Show All Comments Sort:
Charlie Ragonesi
AllMountainRealty.com - Big Canoe, GA
Homes - Big Canoe, Jasper, North Georgia Pros

The check would have bounced if she was somewhere else and did not have the funds to cover it. Unless she had an overdraft there

Oct 25, 2009 08:02 AM
Nancy Deichman
Re/Max Premier Realty, Inc. - Ocala, FL
CDPE

Every time I think I have heard it all about how Bad they are, I hear something new. Unbelievable!

Thanks for sharing.

Oct 25, 2009 08:06 AM
Barb Van Stensel
Chicago, IL

If she paid the $4,800 that was owed to the bank in another form, the bank owes her the money.  She should have stopped the payment.  Your buyer brought the problem on and has created more work because of BofA's inefficiency. 

You could have problems because the bank accepted and cashed that check.  They can start the whole process all over - knowing BofA's history.

Oct 25, 2009 08:10 AM
Ed Silva, 203-206-0754
Mapleridge Realty, CT 203-206-0754 - Waterbury, CT
Associate Real Estate Broker

Most normal banks would question any check presented that was over 120 days old. But then B of A is not a normal bank.

Oct 25, 2009 08:19 AM
Steve Andrascik
Lake Mead Area Realty - Boulder City, NV

Robin here is my BoA story.

When BofA took over Countrywide loans, this individual was paying their mortgage electronically and never had any problems. As soon as BofA took over the payments things went south. After being on time for over two years, all of a sudden the person was charged a late fee because the mortgage wasn't paid until after the 20th of the month----even though the date of the payment was 7 days before the first of the month! BofA was contacted and they would not waive the late fee. This person now pays their mortgage to BofA in person and gets a receipt.

Boulder City Steve

Oct 25, 2009 08:24 AM
Kathleen Frawley
Keller Williams 916 730-4404 Elk Grove, Wilton, Folsom, Sacramento - Wilton, CA
South County Sacramento, 916 730 4404

I believe it.  I completely believe it and I'm not at all surprised. Probably they will get away with it.

 

What happen to the "America" part of Bank of America?

Oct 25, 2009 08:25 AM
Robin Dahlstrom
Re/Max Westside Properties - Marina del Rey, CA
CRS

TR@Steve...

Interestly enough, I had a MBNA account (credit card) for years. I always paid online as well. When BofA took over MBNA I continued to make my payments via clicking on the link I had in my bill pay folder. The payments always went through. I pulled my credit report prior to doing a refi just to make sure there weren't anythings on there that shouldn't be. Low and behold I had 3 (30) day lates, 2 (60) day late and 1(90) days late. The BofA logo was on the lnik I clicked on, so I assumed they were still getting my payments. By bank account had been debited, but they claimed my payments were never rec'd.

I went up all the way up the ladder til I got satisfaction AND I did. They cleaned up my account and my credit.

I have since closed that account and WILL NEVER personally deal with BofA.

Thanks for your comment!!

Robin

Oct 25, 2009 10:06 AM
Robin Dahlstrom
Re/Max Westside Properties - Marina del Rey, CA
CRS

1st part of the aftermath:

My client, the Seller, called me. She was so upset. The first thing I did was to do a search to find out if there was a maximum time before checks become invalid. What I found was that 'most' banks follow the UCC, Universal Commerical Code. The UCC says checks are no longer valid after 6 months.

My client then called BofA and made up a story by saying she found a check that was over a year old and wanted to know if it was valid. She said she spoke about a dozen people and no one had an answer.

She then went into her branch and spoke to the manger about her exact situation. He was clueless. He then directed her to their '800' customer service number.

She got a hot ticket on the phone. The woman was flabbergasted and told the manager to file a report to have the transaction reversed.

What my client did not tell the customer service woman was that it was BofA to BofA. I am certain her response would have been different had she done so. She obviously left out that part on purpose. She just said a check from 18 months ago had been debited from her account.

She is suppose to get an answer from customer service on Monday, tomorrow. Now it is wll be interesting to see if the woman discovers the whole story and changes her tune.

I will keep you posted.

I say we need to have a universal boycott of BofA. I agree with Kathleen above. Where is the America in Bank of America????

Robin

Oct 25, 2009 10:15 AM