So you, and 8 million other Americans, are in trouble with your mortgage. You can't pay it and the choice is to pay it as long as you can (until they throw you on the street) or to come up with a plan. You want to pay your debt but you can't make the whole payment and the lender refuses to accept a partial payment.
There are a few choices, but the most popular right now are to short sell the property or to let the lender foreclose. If you short sell the property the lender will agree to accept less money than you owe to settle the debt. If you do nothing or tell the bank you've mailed them the keys and try to forget about the horrible mess you're in the problem will persist. It's never a good idea to ignore a problem.
Once you take action and decide on the short sale or the foreclosure you may hope that the lender will stop calling and threatening you about wage garnishment, law suits, deficiency judgments and other horrible tortures. That's not usually the case unless you hire an attorney. I always recommend hiring professionals, especially attorneys, to assist you with financial matters. Once you retain an attorney the lender will stop calling you.
If you can't or don't want to hire an attorney and you've told the lender to foreclose or the lender has agreed to allow you to hire a Realtor® to sell the property and they are still giving you sleepless nights you may need to take action. Go to the Federal Trade Commission site at http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/consumer.shtm. You can make a complaint about abusive practices to the Federal Trade Commission on line at http://www.ftc.gov/redirect/form01.shtm or write to the FTC at Consumer Response Center, Federal Trade Commission, CRC-240, Washington, D.C. 20580.
Also make a complaint with the Florida State Attorney General. Go to http://www.naag.org/attorneys_general.php for a list of all the State Attorney Generals and find yours. Or you can also contact your state protection agencies through http://www.consumeraction.gov/state.shtml and look for your state, click on the link and make a complaint. Both sites will help you find your State Attorney General so it doesn't matter which one you choose.
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) protects you from unfair or abusive debt collection. It specifies how the debt collector can contact you and what they can say to you. Debt collectors for your mortgage company must comply with FDCPA, but lenders who work inside the company as part of a collection department do not have to comply with FDCPA.
Debt collectors are not permitted to make harassing, threatening or misleading statements to coerce or trick you into making payments. If you want to read the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act of 2008 go to http://www.ftc.gov/os/2008/03/P084802fdcpareport.pdf. You can also make a complaint with the Better Business Bureau at www.bbb.org. If you want to sue a debt collector who is not complying with FDCPA go to the American Bar Association site to find a lawyer at www.aba.net.org.
To prove your case you need to gather evidence. Buy a notebook and keep it with you at all times. Write down every phone call that you receive with the time, date, name of the caller, their number and who they are with if it's different from your mortgage company. Take notes on their threats. This will help you prove that they have violated FDCPA. Remember, "This too shall pass." Someday not too far off in the future this will be a memory and life will be normal again.
Consumers just like you making complaints make a big difference in the future of our country every day. Last year Countrywide reached a settlement with homeowners because people stood up for themselves and made complaints. You won't have immediate satisfaction, but something good will happen from your complaint eventually, even if it's just that you feel better for standing up for yourself.
Maya M. Thomas
REALTOR®
(305) 522-1398
MayaMarieThomas@Hotmail.com.com
www.ShowcasePortfolioProperties.com
www.myspace.com/topkeysrealtor
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