Two lawsuits filed yesterday in US District Court in Boston claim Wells Fargo and Bank of America have not followed federal rules for mortgage loan modifications, leaving some homeowners stuck in foreclosure “limbo.’’
According to one of the lawsuits, Wells Fargo Bank North America did not honor agreements with Wilfredo and Odalid Bosque of Leominster and Germano DePina of Roxbury that would have made their temporary loan modifications permanent through the US Treasury’s Home Affordable Modification Program.
In a second suit, Patricia Johnson of Salem alleged Bank of America Corp. did not abide by a similar arrangement that was intended to reduce her mortgage payments.
“When a large financial institution promises to modify an eligible loan to prevent foreclosure, homeowners who live up to their end of the bargain expect that promise to be kept,’’ lawyer Gary Klein wrote in the complaints.
Wells Fargo would not comment on specifics of the case, but the bank issued a statement yesterday saying that some customers who participated in the federal program ultimately did not qualify for a permanent loan modification.
“In these instances, we work to determine if another foreclosure prevention option is available to them,’’ the statement said.
Officials at Bank of America said they could not comment on the lawsuit because they had not been served.
Read more here: http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2010/02/24/banks_broke_mortgage_modification_rules_2_lawsuits_say/
