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Are the Big Banks Overwhelmed, Incompetent, or Dishonest?

By
Real Estate Agent

Any Realtor who has worked short sales can attest to the frustrating delays, lost documents, and mistakes made by the largest banks.  Many buyers' agents warn off their buyers if the lien holder is BOA, WF, or Chase and many agents won't list  a short sale if one of those three is a lien holder.  The problems aren't limited to short sales, however, and the situation is far worse for the mortgagors who took out a loan with one of these giants.  The Associated Press posted an article this morning about continued incompetence in these banks relating to loan modifications.

The article describes the travails of some borrowers who were able to obtain a loan mod through the HAMP program.  But even after they got an approval and had started making the new agreed on payments, the banks continued to harass them with late notices and incorrect balances. Some have said the banks are overwhelmed and others think they're just incompetent. It may be more than incompetence, however, as one former call center worker, who will be a witness in the pending law suit, claimed that a bonus was offered to anyone who was able to collect more than was due. 

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Comments(7)

John Saari
Worcester, MA
"The Mortgage Buddy"

The are overwhelmed and their staff is under paid. Too many 30k a year works making important decisions about a person's home. That's just my opinion.

Jul 05, 2011 10:55 AM
Dick Greenberg
New Paradigm Partners LLC - Fort Collins, CO
Northern Colorado Residential Real Estate

Interesting article, Colleen - thanks for the link. And I think the answer to your title question is "yes", plus a few other things like rude, indifferent, and a bunch of other words I probably shouldn't say here.

Jul 05, 2011 01:13 PM
Ron Brown NMLS #270845
NMLS ID: 40831 - Federal Way, WA

This is what you get when you allow any corporation to become Too Big To Fail.  We are simply seeing a repeat of the Monopoly Oil companies witnessed 100 years ago.  The banks were able to side step the public rage that time, and established the Federal Reserve to solidify their power.  It will be much more difficult for the people to prevail this time around.

Jul 06, 2011 05:12 AM
Retired Notworking
Tallahassee, FL

There are so many issues that we face today that it's hard to focus on just one. I think that some banks are way too big and should be broken up just like they did with AT&T many years ago.

Jul 07, 2011 12:42 AM
Debbie Atwood
Century 21 Real Estate Center Everett, WA - Everett, WA
Real Estate Broker

It's so difficult to have to deal with these everyday but I'm afraid they are going to be here for awhile.  Thanks for the link, I had missed that article.

Jul 07, 2011 06:14 PM
Anita Clark
Coldwell Banker Access Realty ~ 478.960.8055 - Warner Robins, GA
Realtor - Homes for Sale in Warner Robins GA

It really is a mess and puts considerable stress on buyers/sellers who are making move decisions based on having a firm loan and closing date. 

Jul 07, 2011 10:54 PM
EC, JF, Double R and Zoey the Cool Cat
Russel Ray Photos - San Diego, CA

I think the banks got overwhelmed when the market crashed because they had been letting people go. Then when it got really bad and they need people, they hired the least expensive, i.e., inexperienced, people money could buy since they didn’t have much. Now here we are.

Jul 11, 2011 08:52 AM