Getting Screwed by Bank of America... Again

Hey there.  I have strong disdain towards Bank of America.  Throughout my years, they have managed to screw me over with my checking account, a credit card, and now my home.  Or should I say, previous home.  That's right, the bastards took my house.  It's a long story, one that starts about 2 years ago, but the stress didn't amp up until March of this year.  So here's the story...

We became home owners back in 2006.  We sought out to find a place that had a yard and 3 bedrooms.  We were a family of 5 at the time and we figured that the kids would enjoy the spacious yard.  Hell... we could even get a dog or two.  We were happy.  We were homeowners.  Then it happened...  Countrywide was bought out by Bank of America.  I had chills when I heard the news.  I knew that somehow, somewhere, sometime, BofA was going to screw us over.

Then, we had the chance to refinance our mortgage.  We went through the options. The pros and cons.  We even figured that it would be good since there won't be a mix up of which bank owns our mortgage and BofA will have all the documents.  Less chance of a screw up, we said.  And the added bonus of having our payment slashed by half wasn't so bad either.  My wife even got to leave work and stay home with the kids.  To not have to go to work is freakin' awesome.  Then it came crashing down.

We received a letter from BofA stated that we are past due 18 months.  WHAT?!?!!  How can that be?  There is no way that we are past due 18 months.  Especially when I see and read that people have had their homes foreclosed on after only a few months.  If we were really past due 18 months, we should have have been thrown out the year before!  Enter our legal team.  "BofA has screwed up again!", "You don't need to go anywhere!", "We'll take good care of you, buddy.".  After several months, it seemed like everything was going well.  No more letters from BofA, no calls from BofA, no nothing.  It seemed like we didn't have much to worry about it.  That is... until people rushed to our lawn to get a good view of the property.  My wife was scared.  She didn't know what was going on.  Soon after, we received a letter saying our house was sold!!!

The legal team sprung into action.  They were getting the sale rescinded because BofA did not own the rights to sell.  Several months of documentation, phone calls, mailings, frustration, and stress later, it seemed like all was well again.  Until the sheriff came knocking on our door.  You have 5 days to leave... you are being evicted.  WHAT!?!?!?!  Again, our legal team sprung into action.  At this point, we are nervous, we are stressed out, and we are scared.  What is happening?  Why is this happening to us?  We are one of the good guys!  It had gotten so bad that my wife was constantly stressed out over it.  She wouldn't answer the door, she was afraid to check the mail, she wouldn't answer strange numbers on her cell phone.  The paranoia and fear set in that something bad was going to happen.

Last Thursday, my wife calls me at work...  The sheriff is at the house again, and this time, he's changing the locks.  We need to get out and we need to get out now.  My wife in tears.  She handled it as best as she could.  She didn't break down, but I know her heart was breaking.  I rushed over there.  No friends or family are allowed to help.  Just the 2 of us.  Gathering our belongings and having to leave.  It was devastating.  What are we going to tell the kids?  Where are we going to go?  What are we going to do?  What the hell happened????  A slew of emotions rushed through me.  I was angry.  I was saddened.  I was frustrated.  I was in disbelief... but through it all... I was relieved.  This past year has been extremely stressful and this legal battle with Bank of America took it over the top.  The uncertainty played a heavy role in stressing out the family.  And now...  it's over.  Our American dream... shattered.

Today... picking up the pieces and moving forward.  There's nowhere to go but up.  The initial shock is gone.  We've read enough online and in the papers of people getting screwed over by their lenders.   The funny thing is that the majority of people were dealing with Bank of America.  Now, we've fallen victim to them as well.  Does it suck?  Yup.  Does it hurt?  Yup.  But you know what...  we need to move forward.  You can't dwell on the past.  You can't drive yourself crazy over it.  We already went through those emotions in the past months and I'm not in the mood to revisit them.  We need to stay positive.  We need to stay strong.  We need to stay optimistic.  They say that things happen for a reason.  This is a tough pill to swallow but we've taken the hit and have gotten up off the mat.  This chapter of our lives is now closed.  Time to start the next one.  Later.