WACHOVIA and FIDELITY INVESTMENTS
The catalyst for this blog actually began in January of this year 2009 and spanned over two months. Like so many people we found ourselves behind in our mortgage. We were two months behind and of course we received around two to three calls a day to remind us of this. We knew loan modifications were to be set in place so we thought we would explore this avenue. Upon calling Wachovia, and by the way, each subsequent call when went like this. *Dial…. put in your account number…select from a menu….wait 10 minutes….Greeted with “can I have your account number,” (again, ok!), “the balance on your account is $xxxxx, do you intend to pay it at this time? NO “can you make a partial payment at this time?” NO “can you tell me when you will be able to pay the balance?” NO “how can I help you?” (FINALLY!) I proceeded to tell the agent that I was interested in a loan modification. After explaining, “no, not a refinance” and “no, not a forbearance” I was told they had nothing in place because the Wells Fargo buyout of Wachovia was still being implemented; and they were still restructuring the system. I was told to call back in a week. Over the next couple weeks I continued to call every few days and began the “procedure*” again. The common response from those that actually knew what I was referring to was that because of the recent buyout, Wachovia did not have a loan modification in place. On January 17th I received a letter stating that Wachovia had initiated foreclosure proceedings. Again, I called. The response I received was to submit a letter of hardship explaining our situation and include copies of paychecks so that Wachovia could then process a forbearance on our loan. Once approved three months of my mortgage would be added to the “tail end” of the loan and we wouldn’t have to make payments for a month or two enabling us to catch up. They needed these documents by the 19th. I faxed them on the 18th.
At this point and under the threat of foreclosure I called everyday for the next 10 days to inquire as to whether we had been approved. I went through the same procedure* and each time was told our request was still under review. Upon calling on February 5th I was told that Wachovia was no longer considering our request because we were applying for a “loan modification” which didn’t exit yet. I was livid, but explained that the final paragraph of my letter requested a forbearance. They reopened our request. At that point we were getting letters and calls expressing that if our balance wasn’t paid by February 10th that foreclosure procedures would be initiated. We couldn’t wait any longer and came to the conclusion that we had to pull the last of our savings out of the two mutual funds that we had in Fidelity Investments.
I took off work and went first thing in the morning to the Fidelity Investment office, two days before the money was due. I spoke to the Fidelity agent, and to speed up the process, (I thought) I filled out one form with our name, bank account transfer information and the amounts and he filled out the other. He told me that the money would be wired to my bank, Bank of America, within the hour.
I then went to Bank of America and explained the situation to Gloria, the Bank of America customer service manager that I normally deal with. She had me fill out the appropriate forms to wire transfer the money to Wachovia, but told me only one transfer had been posted to my account. She assured me that she would keep checking and transfer the funds as soon as the money was in my account. I left for work.
Periodically, I checked my bank account to no avail and twice called Fidelity to make sure the wire transfer was processed. By 4:00 I called the main branch of Bank of America who informed me that the funds were received with the wrong account number and were sent back to Fidelity earlier in the day. I called Fidelity three times finally calling the corporate number who conferenced the call with the office I had been in to get someone to assist me.
Conclusion: the Fidelity agent filled out the wrong account number on the form that he filled out….Finally resolved….the wire transfer was complete.
I called Wachovia, “yes” they received the funds, “no” they couldn’t fax or email me a confirmation. Four departments and two hours later, they still would not give me a written confirmation,
My argument was, “you sent two letters a week and called three times a day, but you can’t fax or email me a confirmation that I submitted the funds in on time in order to terminate the foreclosure?”
“NO,” was the only answer I received. I called Bank of America they emailed me the federal wire transfer documention to confirm the wire transfer. COMPLETE!!!!
1 week later we received a letter offering us the forbearance. We had 10 days to accept. If we accepted the forbearance we couldn’t apply for a loan modification for another year. We turned it down.
