Keeping Our Little Brick Bungalow
Donation protected
As I said on Facebook , I don't normally post anything too personal online because I like to keep my privacy. But with Wells Fargo foreclosing on our house, I don't know what else to do.
First you may be wondering how I got here. In 2009, I went out of work on my company's long-term disability insurance because of some undiagnosed condition that causes vertiginous migraines, disequilibrium, and other symptoms. In 2010, my company terminated my position because I had been out over 52 consecutive weeks, but their LTD insurance still covered me. Then at the end of 2012, I lost the LTD insurance because my neurologist missed a paperwork deadline. MetLife told me I could appeal, but I took the opportunity to get back to work and found a job within a month because of excellent reviews at my previous place of employment. However because I am a fall risk, I have not been able to hold a job for very long since I went back to work. Of course they won't say that's why they let me go, but when I receive my incentive bonus (for rocking customer service surveys and quality standards) right after I'm fired or I'm let go from a temp job right after they extended my contract several months down the road, it becomes kind of obvious. I have now been out of work since September 2016 with no source of income. And a medication that keeps my migraines mostly at bay makes it difficult for me to work with my hands and concentrate (and get along with people).
Even though my husband works two jobs including overtime, without my income, we had slowly started to fall behind. Then his company decided to do a hiring drive, and my husband lost a lot of overtime at the end of last year. This has been a blessing and a curse for him. With many injuries past and present, he comes home in great pain, so less time on the clock has been a bit of a break for him. But as the sole breadwinner, he cannot complain to his employer and must take as much work as he can get.
Last October, I called Wells Fargo to let them know of the situation and to apply for a Home Modification Loan. Even though they required us to fill out information regarding other expenses, including my medical expenses, they only took my husband's then-current income (with overtime) into consideration and told us that we do not qualify. They then informed us that the only thing we qualify for is a short sale which does not help us because that means we lose our home as much as foreclosure does.
With the decrease in his income, we got further and further behind to the point that we could no longer keep up. In order to let Wells Fargo know we are serious about keeping our house, I continued to make partial payments which they held until they received enough to credit the account for one month's payment. They would even send a letter stating that they would hold the money until they received the payment in full. I received one such letter dated March 28, stating:
". . . there is a balance of $858.15 in an unapplied funds account on your loan. . . . we'll hold these funds until we receive the remaining amount of $540.22 needed to apply the December 1, 2017 contractual payment. . ."
So I sent them an online payment of $550, but it was too late. A return check of $858.15 was already in transit to me from Wells Fargo. So I had spent the month of April thinking that December's payment was made, and I would have been ready to pay January's payment in an attempt to avoid foreclosure, but by rejecting our payment for December, that put us behind the five months Wells Fargo needed to take the opportunity to foreclose on our house.
I went down to Wells Fargo last week as soon as I received the foreclosure letter. No one there was able to help me. I finally got someone on the phone today who was able to answer some questions. In order for us to get out of foreclosure and receive a reinstatement of our loan we have to pay our default in full. They will not accept partial payments. The current estimated default payment is $10,445.43 including late fees (each month it will increase). I understand that getting behind in payments is our fault, but I still feel as if what Well Fargo did was deceitful. If they had held the payment as they said they would, it would have been paid, and we wouldn't be in foreclosure now.
First you may be wondering how I got here. In 2009, I went out of work on my company's long-term disability insurance because of some undiagnosed condition that causes vertiginous migraines, disequilibrium, and other symptoms. In 2010, my company terminated my position because I had been out over 52 consecutive weeks, but their LTD insurance still covered me. Then at the end of 2012, I lost the LTD insurance because my neurologist missed a paperwork deadline. MetLife told me I could appeal, but I took the opportunity to get back to work and found a job within a month because of excellent reviews at my previous place of employment. However because I am a fall risk, I have not been able to hold a job for very long since I went back to work. Of course they won't say that's why they let me go, but when I receive my incentive bonus (for rocking customer service surveys and quality standards) right after I'm fired or I'm let go from a temp job right after they extended my contract several months down the road, it becomes kind of obvious. I have now been out of work since September 2016 with no source of income. And a medication that keeps my migraines mostly at bay makes it difficult for me to work with my hands and concentrate (and get along with people).
Even though my husband works two jobs including overtime, without my income, we had slowly started to fall behind. Then his company decided to do a hiring drive, and my husband lost a lot of overtime at the end of last year. This has been a blessing and a curse for him. With many injuries past and present, he comes home in great pain, so less time on the clock has been a bit of a break for him. But as the sole breadwinner, he cannot complain to his employer and must take as much work as he can get.
Last October, I called Wells Fargo to let them know of the situation and to apply for a Home Modification Loan. Even though they required us to fill out information regarding other expenses, including my medical expenses, they only took my husband's then-current income (with overtime) into consideration and told us that we do not qualify. They then informed us that the only thing we qualify for is a short sale which does not help us because that means we lose our home as much as foreclosure does.
With the decrease in his income, we got further and further behind to the point that we could no longer keep up. In order to let Wells Fargo know we are serious about keeping our house, I continued to make partial payments which they held until they received enough to credit the account for one month's payment. They would even send a letter stating that they would hold the money until they received the payment in full. I received one such letter dated March 28, stating:
". . . there is a balance of $858.15 in an unapplied funds account on your loan. . . . we'll hold these funds until we receive the remaining amount of $540.22 needed to apply the December 1, 2017 contractual payment. . ."
So I sent them an online payment of $550, but it was too late. A return check of $858.15 was already in transit to me from Wells Fargo. So I had spent the month of April thinking that December's payment was made, and I would have been ready to pay January's payment in an attempt to avoid foreclosure, but by rejecting our payment for December, that put us behind the five months Wells Fargo needed to take the opportunity to foreclose on our house.
I went down to Wells Fargo last week as soon as I received the foreclosure letter. No one there was able to help me. I finally got someone on the phone today who was able to answer some questions. In order for us to get out of foreclosure and receive a reinstatement of our loan we have to pay our default in full. They will not accept partial payments. The current estimated default payment is $10,445.43 including late fees (each month it will increase). I understand that getting behind in payments is our fault, but I still feel as if what Well Fargo did was deceitful. If they had held the payment as they said they would, it would have been paid, and we wouldn't be in foreclosure now.
Organizer
Leigh Ann Cogliano
Organizer
Wilmington, DE
