Bank of America "Hurting America one family at a time."

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) January 18, 2012 -- Our story

A a father of four small children I always worked hard to provide a stable home for my family. This proved to be one of the toughest battles of my life. As most Americans we were striving for the dream of being a business owner and paying off our home. My wife and I started a couple businesses and were well on our why of achieving the American dream. It seems like out of nowhere the economy crashed and we were forced to close our businesses. We went from making a decent living to struggling to survive. Nevertheless, we wanted to honor our commitments to our creditors the best we could and that included our mortgage. I went back to managing at a local grocery store and my wife found work as a teeth whitening technician.

Times were tough but we were tougher. My wife's company downsized and she lost the teeth whitening job. I started a 2nd job working for a maintenance company and later got a job working in a bakery as a pastry chief. I was working so much that I would sometimes just change in the car for my next job. I shaved in gas stations as well as brushed my teeth and washed my hair. No matter what I did my best to provide for my family. After a while my body started to fall apart. First my back went out and later I ripped the labrum in my shoulder. I had to get surgery on the shoulder and could not work my two other part time jobs. I did however keep my full time job.

We started to fall behind on our mortgage and I was trying to work with the lender on a plan that would work for everyone. After 30 or more phone calls and endless hours on the phone, the property was going to the sheriff sale and I could not stop it. I contacted Lutheran social services in St. Cloud and they put me into contact with the attorney general. During that time Amber Hawkins an attorney in the cities contacted Tom Lyden from Fox news and asked him to do a story on our foreclosure. Tom came to the house and while interviewing my wife and I, when the phone rang. It was the attorney general's office. They had contacted my lender and got the lender to postpone the sheriff sale for now. Tom called my lender as well and asked them if they wanted to comment on the situation. The lender refused but what happened next was crazy. I was now at work when my cell phone rang. I looked at the number and it was an out of state area code. I quickly answered it and it was my lender. Within minutes of the conversation my lender redid the loan and was sending out the loan documents to be signed and returned. The question I had was why they would not help me during any of the 30 phone calls that I made prior? I was told that they could not help our family. This just shows that you have to do whatever you can if you want to save your home.

The next day I took my four children down to the state capital to help try to get a mortgage reform bill passed by gov. Pawlenty. It would have prevented more than 12,000 foreclosures just in Minnesota. He vetoed the bill and those families lost their home.

Things were going as planned but now my wife was in school full time working toward a degree for dental hygiene. I am working nights and being available for my children during the day. I went back to school for a major in occupational behavior and a minor in psychology as well as business. Our schedule is packed with getting the kids to school, my full time job, my wife in school full time, my school and just the daily battle of life. We are running all the time but we make it work.

On December 10th, 2010 I receive a certified letter from my mortgage lender. It states that if I don't send them a check for $567.15, they will accelerate my 2nd mortgage and foreclose on our home. The problem was I did not ever miss a payment. My first and second mortgage were both paid and I have the cancelled checks to prove it. I called Bank of America and was on the phone for 52 minutes. I was transferred several time and no one could tell me what the charges were for. Two different customers service reps told me that the system just sends letters out sometimes and they really don't know what they are for. I was irate. I worked so hard to save our home and a system error was going to put our home into foreclosure. I did not have the extra money because our mortgage takes three of my four paychecks. I can’t sell the home because it is worth 125k less then I owe. I want to honor my commitment to the bank but I need them to cooperate as well.

On 12/30/2010 at 1:15PM I recieved a call from Stella from Bank of America. She said that the notice was sent in error and the account is current. I requested that a letter be sent stating that the account is current and no foreclosure proceedings have started. She agreed to send the letter.

For the record she called in response to the complaint filed with the OCC. Their contact information is on the next page of this website. The OCC was fast to act as well as the attorney general's office here in Minnesota. The organisations are on your side and will do the best they can, so please use them.

I only though I was done. This is the continuation of the issue:

February 14th 2011 -

Geneva Cross
Operations Analyst
Home Retention Customer service Relations
Bank of America
275 Valencia Ave
Ca 7-701-01-45
Brea, CA 92823

Dear Geneva Cross,

Thank you for contacting me in regards to the conversation on 12-30-2010 at 1:15PM

CST. During this conversation we discussed a certified letter that I received from Bank of America on December 10th 2010 that stated I needed to pay 567.15 by Jan, 2nd 2010 of Bank of America would accelerate my 2nd mortgage and start foreclosure on my home. We also discussed the complaint that I filed with the 0CC and the attorney general of the state of Minnesota. During this conversation I explained that after 52 minutes on the phone with customer service for Bank of America, I was told that this was a mistake and sometimes the system just sends bills to customers. I was told that they did not know why I received the bill even after being transferred several times to different departments. After I explained this to Stella, Stella stated that she would send out a letter stating that this was an error and that foreclosure proceedings have ceased. I never received the letter. I did however receive a letter stating that the credit agencies would be contacted to correct the mistake by Bank of America. I also received a letter stating that the amount that I sent as my 2nd mortgage payment, 189.05 was less than the total needed to bring the loan to date and "if the amount due is not received by the specified due date, foreclosure proceedings may begin or continue." So even after our conversation I received 30+ calls from Bank of America's customer service department who has no idea why I owe the extra money that was just billed in November 2010. Up until that point I had no notices for the 567.15 and all payments on my mortgage were current and the checks cleared my account.

The FedEx letter that I received today 02-14-2011 stated that, `The following checked items are required: (but no items were checked). The contact number in the letter that says I can contact you directly at (714) 792-9382 , does not go to your desk and went to a Nia Brown's voice mail that says, " I will be out of the office from December 24th and returning on Jan 3", today's date is 02-14-2011, so four 41 days the voicemail goes to the wrong person and is not managed even to the point of updating the date.

Ms. Cross, I will make this short and to the point. I have tried tirelessly to keep my
commitment to Bank of America. I had at one point worked three jobs and ruined my back and shoulder. I had surgery and continued to work and make my payments on time according to Bank of America's own monthly statements. All the modification documents have been late by months, (according to the documents themselves), and I continued to make the payments even if I had to copy old statements because new statements did not come for months at a time.

I have recorded and documented everyconversation and took complete notes. I studied the mortgage laws and modification lawsas well as FDCPA laws. I work hard to do the right thing but Bank of America has made it almost impossible.
I created a website for Bank of America customers to express their

concerns and displeasure. To date I have over 1000 documented cases that violate state and federal regulations. I am very concerned about the way Bank of America does business and I am working with the press as well as local and federal agencies to stop the poor business practices. At this point I am requesting no further contact by phone and any contact needs to come by mail only. Bank of America is a creditor so the FDCPA does apply. I will continue to make my payments on time but if you foreclose I will file Bankruptcy and protect my home and my family. I have an attorney that you may contact for a potential bankruptcy petition. The firm is Curtis K Walker 4356 Nicollet Ave S.Minneapolis, MN 55409-2033 Phone 612-824-4357 . I have retained them with an 1850.00 payment and I will await Bank of America's decision. In addition this home just assessed at 224k as of 2011. The sale would not even cover the first mortgage. I am willing to pay the agreed amount on the mortgage documents of over 350k and honor my commitment. Any further harassment by Bank of America will cause a problem that will make the mortgage crisis look like loosing a hot dog stand. I promise I will spend the rest
of my life making sure that no one else gets hurt by Bank of America, unless I am left alone to live in peace with my family. If I am left alone I will leave the Bank of America alone.

Like I said, "all further contact must be done by mail only." The ball is in Bank of America's court so do the right thing.

Sincerely,
Steven Trieb

www.MinnesotaTruth.com

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