How do I get a supervisor on the phone at Bank of America?! (loan, real estate)

[DaniMae1]

Here is the story....I hit serious financial trouble awhile back. Tried to refinance my home but the heating system totally broke and there were other problems. No one would refi...didn't have money to get heat replaced, and real estate agents wouldn't even look at the house to sell it because of the heat problem. Tried to do a short sale...Bank of America would NOT cooperate at all. They did an appraisal but would not give us a copy of it...I desperately need it now. Foreclosure was complete in Oct....okay so why do I need it....

I have a disabled child who gets SSI...they stopped his check when we moved out of the house because it was considered an asset we could sell. (I wish we could have!) Now they restarted the check but are refusing to give him the back payments. Their reasoning is that we could have sold house. They are demanding an appraisal showing that we owed more than the value of the house. No body at the bank will help me. What do I do? How do I get "up the ladder?" There has to be somebody there willing to fax over the home value to the Social Security Office....Help! Thanks!

[rubytue]

Oh that sounds terrible! I have no idea the answer to your question, but is there a local legal aid office in your area? Maybe they could help you? Perhaps by sending a very lawyery-like demand letter?

[SVTLightning]

You do not need the bank to get an appraisal if that is what you need the manager for. Just contact the Realtor that you used to buy the house and see who they recommend, or find a phone book.

[chet everett]

Who are you calling and what are you saying?

I strongly recommend that you get all the paperwork you have in one place. Check all the phone numbers and names / departments.

The "800" number is often the only contact you have. When you start with them they generally will give you some option for "loan modifications" or "hardship" . Every freaking lender out there has web pages setup that helps to explain exactly what they need, BUT NOT EVERYONE TELLS YOU WHAT THE NEXT STEP IS.

Basically you should be prepared to supply every bit of documentation they ask for in as short a time frame as you can. This means tax returns, doctor's statements, pay stubs, unemployment check stubs, et cetera.

Generally you won't get an answer as fast as you'd like unless situation matches exactly what the lender has setup. That happens pretty infrequently. If you have a fax machine that helps, as most of the loan modification / forbearance people need PAPER copies of stuff. If they give you a mailing address then send stuff to them with a "proof of delivery" so that next time you call you know they got the stuff or not. The "supervisors" can't make stuff happen any faster or waive any documentation requirements.

Google "hardship" Or "home retention" "loan modification / forbearance" and the name of your lender to get the most current info / phone numbers. Call when you have plenty of time to sit and write down all the info they tell you they need.

The systems that the lenders have in place are finally ramping up to close to what is needed in terms of volume, but getting the result you want is still hit or miss...

[DaniMae1]

Originally Posted by SVTLightning

You do not need the bank to get an appraisal if that is what you need the manager for. Just contact the Realtor that you used to buy the house and see who they recommend, or find a phone book.

No....that's not what it was....an investment company was trying to buy the house through a short sale and an appraisal was supposed to have been done....this was all months ago. I was just trying to get ahold of that appraisal.

[DaniMae1]

Well today my father in law was able to get me a number for an assistant to the CEO. He was very nice and helpful. I'll find out tomorrow if he was able to get the information I was looking for.

[dreamofmonterey]

To the OP; as a former Operations Mgr from B of A I will advise you to use their website and delineate that you need the letter of appraisal faxed to SSA...Do not waste your time EVER calling their call centers; all of them are outsourced (mostly India, Phillipines and illegals in Tao, New Mexico); If you mail letter they will not be answered call centers/ so called "customer service" rarely addresses correpondence, they may have 200 anonymous people filing mail, but they do not answer it ,lol.....

Its a rude awakening to our bank servicing system: if you put it in writing get the name of a Sr. V.P. In Delaware and email/ fax it directly to them....this is the only way you will get what you need properly addressed.

Calling customer service will never garner results, they are trained only to take payments, supervisors make a paltry salary and they will not bother with your request as they man 200 or more calls per day. Hope this helps.

[SmartMoney]

I know this is not what you want to hear, but it will help you prepare your argument if you get hit with it.

The appraisal Bank of America did is their property. The only way you have a right to get a copy of it, is if you paid for it, and then, they have to give it to you. But, if you didn't pay for it, they are under no obligation and their attorneys would probably recommend against it, especially if they just foreclosed on you.

You may have to hire an appraiser to do the appraisal for you. If it's on the market, they may even be able to get in the property. Otherwise, they can complete it based on what you tell them, what they can find in public records and visually observe.

[Grainraiser]

"The appraisal Bank of America did is their property. The only way you have a right to get a copy of it, is if you paid for it, and then, they have to give it to you. But, if you didn't pay for it, they are under no obligation and their attorneys would probably recommend against it, especially if they just foreclosed on you."


Spot on advice. The appraisal was ordered and paid for by the bank so why do you feel they need to provide you with a copy of it. I can promise you that they are not going to release that appraisal to you. You will need to order your own if you really need one. They are not under any obligation to give you something you did not pay for.

[mabellyne]

I don't know if this will work for what you need, but it might. Try your local county auditor's webpage. I can type in a search for my my county auditor and get the link to their page. I then do a "property" search by address and it lists the data for the given residence, including last appraisal date and value. Good luck!