I am a wife of war. My husband is a decorated active duty marine who suffers from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). He does not receive counseling, because we understand to talk may blemish his stellar career with something that could prevent him from advancing in rank or opportunities. In silence, I have listened to his screams hurl from the pit of an early morning nightmare. I have seen the fear in his eyes when a sound cracks across the sky or once when an automatic seat belt reached across his chest to secure him once he closed the door. I have learned how to enter into a room, calling his name- before I arrive, so that he will not be frightened at the appearance of my shadow across a wall. He has no idea that I have changed my lifestyle to accommodate his anxiety. Even his sleeping screams have not hinted to the emotions that he has not processed. If you were to look at his fingers, they are raw-he has developed a habit of chewing them-since he does not smoke, drink, or gamble. He loves me and I have never felt unsafe even though the husband that returned from Iraq is not the same. This has been easy.
The mortgage crisis we are facing-IS NOT!!
We are not behind in our payments. We have been forced to short sale, because we have received orders to leave one state and move across the country to another. The homes in my community have foreclosed at lightning speed. My county is one of the largest hit in the nation. We have watched neighbors disappear and the words “BANK OWNED” become a part of our neighborhood landscape. Our elementary school age children understand the terms foreclosure, short sale, mortgage, and most recently lotto. A classmate explained that his parents were playing each week hoping to save their home. It did not work.
As a result, the homes in my area have dropped thousands of dollars. This means I can only sell at the current comparative market analysis. My mortgage is short over $200,000. We placed our home on the market and received one low offer-which also includes closing costs. We considered renting, but like the buyers’ market-the renters market has boomed. The homes in my area are renting for half of my mortgage cost. Not to mention, our BAH has changed to reflect our duty station. Our total monthly loss is $1500, this includes special duty pay, BAH, and a part time job my husband had once a week, so that I could stay at home with our children. Our national lender is not the friendliest towards military families. I have been in negotiations with them over four months, have left daily phone calls, and have filed a complaint. In response I have been belittled, intimidated, threatened, and even humiliated. I have talked with my case manager/negotiator three times during this entire process. She has only returned one phone call and that was after I agreed to sign a promissory note. I was informed by the short sale department that I have PMI on my loan and that they would not agree to the short sale unless I signed a promissory note agreeing to make up a difference of the selling price. I have challenged the PMI, because I had never heard of it referred to by the lender nor could I find it in my loan documents or statements. I spoke to a customer service rep and they agreed I did not have it on my loan. After complaining to two supervisors, I was told that I do not have PMI, but LMI (Lenders Mortgage Insurance). It took 3 months to get this new term. Because I have a 2nd mortgage (still through the same lender-at least that what my statement reads) -it is insured and they are requiring a promissory note. I stated that it is not in my contract or loan docs. I was told by the supervisor that it was and I asked her to fax it to me. Since early June I am still waiting.
The company who decides the amount of the promissory note is a company by the name of Radian. I was told they are the insurance company responsible for my second mortgage. The person handling my case decides what the amount should be. He asked for us to sign a $60,000 note. I was shocked. When I asked why our PCS hardship was not considered, he stated it wasn’t his fault. I agree and it wasn’t ours either. I explained that we have orders to move and we could not refuse them. I explained that I have student loans, our credit score is expected to drop 150-300 points, and we were told it would take 18-24 months to be eligible to purchase a home again. We cannot assume a $60,000. He said if I rent, I wouldn’t have to worry about a mortgage and it would make it easier to pay the $60,000. He then challenged us for purchasing the home in the first place. He wanted to know, “Why did you buy a house that cost so much? Why did you buy the home knowing you are military and could be stationed someplace else?” I defended my right to purchase a home that we could afford, because I believe the American dream of homeownership. We never considered selling the property, we knew that we would rent it out if we were ever deployed and selling it would be the last resort. But of course our home still had equity at the time we did the loan. We never anticipated the mortgage meltdown or we would have taken measures to protect ourselves, like our lender did. And when did paying your mortgage on time for the past 5 years become a penaltyhuh? He then challenged my education. He said, “You have a college degree, get a job that will help pay the note.” At the end of the conversation he reduced it a few thousand, gave me 25 years to pay it off and as a bonus he wasn’t charging me interest. I was devastated. One of the biggest problems I have with this transaction is not the responsibility of paying something towards my mortgage debt, but the way it was decided on how I would pay. No one has proven that there is a LMI attached to my loan. Our lender said they will not require anything from the 1st note, but until I agree to the promissory note demands from this outside company, they will not agree to the short sale and they have no way to negotiate with Radian, because Radian makes the decision. When I asked to see the promissory note terms or anything in writing explaining how it works, I was told I would only see it when it was time to sign at escrow. Under pressure, we only had one offer on the house and my husband had to report to the new duty station across country, I agreed to something without calculating the actual costs. I immediately called Radian, but the case manager did not take my call and has refused to respond to all of my messages, including the one left by the JAG I met with a couple weeks ago. When I phoned the lender negotiator, I explained I agreed to something I couldn’t commit to. She placed me on hold and came back and said, “Radian says either you sign the promissory note or your house goes into foreclosure. Those are your only options.” Apparently our lender doesn’t have a problem getting right through to Radian. The JAG couldn’t find anything in my 2nd loan docs stating a PMI or LMI. He phoned the lender’s short sale department, but they refused to talk to him. A phone screener placed him on hold, only to come back to phone and say, “We have agreed to do the short sale. Do you want to leave a message?” He also phoned Radian, left a message, but no one has called him back either. Next week my house is supposed to close. I have the promissory note on my desk and the escrow instructions. Of course the escrow instructions doesn’t mention the promissory note, it seems to be a silent deal between just my family and Radian. My husband has no idea the stress I have been under, because I am always concerned about his PSTD. So I share with him the details with a smile and a little sound of frustration. He has been consumed with trying to find a place for us to live. As of today, it looks like we will be in a hotel. He has been renting a room, because we are still paying the mortgage, but with a smaller income. A year ago today, we were putting $450 a month into savings, this year we are living off of it. The one credit card we own has peaked to $700. We aren’t afraid to work hard, sacrifice, but I want to be treated fairly and with respect. When I saw Ed McMahon on Larry King and listened to how his home went into foreclosure due to ex-wives and heavy spending, I was surprised to hear about the people who offered to send money to help him out. I wondered if anyone challenged his educa-tion, his reason for divorcing, and hearing the words from a lender that it wasn’t their fault. I doubt it.
I have been working aggressively to get someone to hear my story and point me in the right direction. I have called my local government who has referred me to a couple of agencies, only to have them refer me t a couple of agencies, only to have the next agency refer me back to my local government. There are many options for those facing foreclosure, but I can’t find the agency that assist the borrower who is current on their mortgage but has to move due to a permanent change of duty station and must face a short sale. I know of another military family in my area that went through the same thing, except they were forgiven their $200,000 mortgage debt. I have heard of others who have faced foreclosure only to have their lenders work with them. Our lender did offer to assist us, but we had to be late in our payments for a minimum of two months. If it didn’t affect our credit, I would have taken the op-portunity. I have followed the many mortgage crisis stories. They have featured families, celebrities, single parents, elderly, renters, ethnic groups and even pets. If our servicemembers could be extended the same corporate buy out programs that other agencies offer their employees this would be the beginning of placing value in not only words like “We support our Troops," but by deed. I hope sharing my story will continue to shed light on the crisis and bring relief. |