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East Boston case shows why you should never trust what a mortgage officer tells you unless he puts it in writing
By adamg on Wed, 05/03/2017 - 1:29pm
An East Boston man who thought he and his brother could stay in his mother's home after she died found out today that, nope, the bank was within its rights to foreclose on it because written contracts trump oral promises.
In a ruling issued today, US District Court Judge Denise Casper ruled that Bank of America and NationStar Mortgage LLC did nothing wrong in seeking to take the East Eagle Street home in 2012 based on an agreement her sons signed after she gave one of them power of attorney.
In his filings, her son argued a bank mortgage officer had assured him that he and his brother could remain in the house after her death. Unfortunately for them, the actual documents he signed said otherwise and allowed the bank to demand payment al at once of the entire loan on her death.
In her ruling, Casper said the man was given the documents and he should have read them carefully, rather than relying on the mistaken word of a bank employee that their status as "remaindermen" on the mortgage document meant they could "remain' in the house.
Casper said the documents actually say the agreement to let the borrower stay in the house until death applied only to the mother, who was listed as the sole "borrower," and that the "remainderman" status had no legal connection to that provision. And so she agreed with the bank and the mortgage company to dismiss the suit.
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Comments
trump oral promises
¬_¬
Ah yes
Same bank that had a loan guy snidely snap at me ... DO YOU EVEN HAVE A JOB ... because, you know, FEMALE.
Sounds like they promoted him to lie to people.
Doesn't surprise me that a bank pulled this. When my father died, the bank tried to keep my brother and I from paying off the small mortgage in cash and gave us the run around on closing the estate. Our lawyer went to court, told the judge about it, and she slapped them with an injunction and a fine. Then they didn't release their claims on the title within the appointed period and the judge fined them again.
They don't make money from doing business - they make money from foreclosure.
Yep, and sometimes...
They try and foreclose on property that never had a mortgage on it. They have earned the name banksters.
Sounds like a great company.
Sounds like a great company.
Go to a small commuinity bank
I'm not sure of the men's credit history or eligibility, but small community banks and credit unions are still well under 4% for a mortgage, if qualified. I wouldn't go near Bank of America, Citizens, Sontander or any of the other big banks. It's too bad they didn't use the money for the federal court case on refinancing with a friendlier bank.
Which bank do you use OFish?
Which bank do you use OFish?
I once used a credit union bank for a $6k loan , They are the way to go.
One problem
You cannot refinance if the bank moves the property into foreclosure immediately, and during the probate.
Read the story again: the foreclosure took place as soon as the mortgagee passed on. Once that property is in foreclosure you can't refinance and when the property is in probate you can't refinance.
Otherwise, your comment is spot on: community lenders that keep the loan in their portfolio and credit unions are the way to go. We have our car loan and our 15-year, sub 3% mortgage with our credit union.
Some regionals are good, too
Many say that the regional banks are the sweet spot -- the small community banks offer awesome personal service and customer-friendly policies, but, in general, have crappy technology. The big banks -- well, 'nuff said. Some of the regionals are the worst of both worlds; others are pretty good.
Tech is getting better
In my experience, the small regionals are catching up nicely to the "too big to fail" banks that for some reason people think they need to do business with.
I've dealt with two local banks that have a handful of branches each and they are perfect for me. NO reason to go with any big bank anymore.
I wanted to give my local
I wanted to give my local bank a chance when I was getting a mortgage. But they wouldn't even tell me their rates until I filled out a pre-application. And then they took a week and a half to mail me a paper rate quote letter.
Meanwhile a local mortgage broker was able to get me pre-approved in about 15 minutes on the phone, with a much better rate and lower fees. Including an emailed pre-approval letter I could use when making offers. However, he sells all of his mortgages on the national market.
I want to support local businesses, but I can't do it if they provide very inconvenient service that doesn't compete.
The difference is
Between a company who does it quick and a company who does it right.
I have to admit that our note is owned by one of those large firms who seemingly only do mortgages. They seem to be good. When we bought our house, we had a local bank's broker hook us up with a decent rate, but at closing the note was sold (we were told this at the closing.) The thing I like about this current outfit is that they declared at the outset that they would not sell our mortgage, which means we know who we will be dealing with.
What a stupid thing to happen
What a stupid thing to happen.
Why can't the law, or standard mortgage contracts, say that heirs don't get foreclosed as long as they keep paying the bills on time?