Lies to homeowners who were seeking loan modifications, declined loan modifications for imaginary reasons and garnished significant rewards for actively encouraging practices that increased foreclosure are all events that former Bank of America employees have given sworn statements as having occurred.
Given the amount of money supplied to banks at the height of the housing collapse, these sworn statements, filed last week in Boston’s federal court offer new insight into the predatory practices of Bank of America. The class action suit, filed on behalf of homeowners who had previously sought to avoid foreclosure through the government’s Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) was brought to fruition due to the claims that Bank of America actively denied homeowners legitimate opportunity.
The statements, sworn to under oath, included submissions from six former employees of Bank of America and ranged from managers to front line employees, all of whom dealt with homeowners who were seeking to escape foreclosure through the government program. At the start of the HAMP program, Bank of America was the greatest loan servicer in the industry. Twice as many eligible loans were held through Bank of America than any other bank. Due to the size en masse of the homeowners, former employees claim the bank was unable to handle the demand and in turn mislead borrowers and declined applications.
One practice included was the denial of applications for large amounts of customers to clear the backlog of applications. William Wilson Jr., a previous underwriter and manager for the bank from 2010-2012, offered some examples of practices he was encouraged to complete. Wilson claims that as regularly as twice a month, Bank of America would order that all applications 60 days or older simply be denied. Homeowners were offered zero explanation other than the documents required had not been received. Wilson Jr. claims, “During a blitz, a single team would decline between 600 and 1,500 modification files at a time,”.
While this is not the first time Bank of America has faced such accusations, they claim that the former employees statements are,” “rife with factual inaccuracies” and that the bank will respond more fully in court next month. He said that Bank of America had modified more loans than any other bank and continues to “demonstrate our commitment to assisting customers who are at risk of foreclosure.”
How many times have these words received zero backing through actions of Bank of America? Why would any consumer want to risk experiencing this?