Cut Off By Countrywide
10:02 AM May 19, 2008
I just got a letter from Countrywide... Yeah, the same lender that gets some of the credit for starting this mortgage mess we're in. The guys who loaned a whole lot of money to a whole lot of people who were bad risks.
They're notifying me that they're freezing my home equity line:
Because this loan is deemed permanently closed, no further draws will be authorized.... It has been a pleasure having you as a customer.
It's corporate-speak for "we're not going to loan you any more money". I got the message.
But here's the deal: I'm not some deadbeat who's behind on my payments. I'm not facing foreclosure.
I'm a person who has PAID OFF my loan completely. I paid it off awhile ago. And I made my payments on time. I was never, ever late.
In short, I'm a great customer. I wanted to know why, then, they would cut me off. I had hoped to keep the loan open so that I could borrow in case of emergency. You never know when you're gonna need some cash or lose your job, especially in this line of work.
I called customer service and waited for several minutes to speak to a real person.
"I don't understand you folks," I said. "You loan money to people who don't pay it back, but you won't loan money to people who do! That's insane!"
The woman very pleasantly told me not to take it personally. She explained that Countrywide was freezing loans all over the country because of declining home values.
"It's nothing that you did," she said. "I see here that you have excellent credit."
But she wasn't willing to change the decision. That was it. Countrywide and I are now formally divorced.
You know what, though: I'm sure sometime in the future, I will need to take out another home equity loan for some reason. I'll need to borrow. And I've resolved NOT to have any dealings with Countrywide.
They treated me poorly once. They won't get a second chance.
Posted by Eric Spillman | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBack (0)
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I just feel the need to follow up on my previous post. After a year of very hard work, mandatory overtime, and management chaos, my boyfriend got his annual raise from Countrywide. 1.5% !!!!!!!!!!
What an insult after seeing how much the CEO made on a bankrupt company.
Posted by: Rachel | May 23, 2008 at 05:44 AM
I feel for you Eric and I’m so sorry that has happened to you. I know what you mean by having something to fall back on. As homeowners, we always knew that if we REALLY needed money, our home would always be there. That is a pretty scary thought to think that now, if we do need it…the banks wont be there because of THEIR poor decisions.
Posted by: Laura in Palmdale, Rat Packer & FSSG | May 20, 2008 at 11:34 AM
Eric,
My boyfriend works for Countrywide. He is in the insurance department, and is in Customer Service on the phones. He has no support to do a good job, his computer freezes 6-8 times a day, the phone dies in the middle of the call, he cannot pull up documents that he needs to view to help the customer. He has told management, but has no support. They are not fixing anything, they just keep saying that his call center in Simi Valley is not a priority. Which means, the customers are not a priority, yet they say his department actually made money last year unlike the mortgage division. He is told to be 100% perfect on his calls, yet has no support to do his job. He does care about the customer, but cannot service them without management support. The morale is low, and to thank everyone for the REQUIRED overtime, they "get" to wear jeans on overtime days. No sneakers, or tshirts though. He actually sat for 6 hours yesterday doing nothing because they could not fix his phone. Please remember folks, a lot of Customer Service agents want to service the customer, they just have no support from management (manglement) to perform their job.
Posted by: Rachel | May 20, 2008 at 08:35 AM
Eric,
I was warned by my brother/realtor that this action was on its way. Sadly it is not just Countrywide, it is across the board. Isn't a great feeling to have equity in your house that YOU (THE OWNER/ ONTIME PAYMENT MAKER) don't have access to!
Kelly
Posted by: Kelly | May 20, 2008 at 07:00 AM
Kind of reminds me of that old TV series "Divorce American Style." Don't worry Eric there are plenty of fish left in the sea. Wait a second, uh fish don't have money??? Nevermind.
Posted by: George the Rat | May 19, 2008 at 04:53 PM
Eric:
This same thing happened to my sister. The way they explained it to her was they had lent her money up to 90% of the market value of her home, but her home was no longer worth that same amount due to the declining market. Therefore no more equity to qualify for the "home equity" loan or line of credit.
Really stinks for people who have paid their bills regularly and on time.
Margaret
Posted by: Margaret | May 19, 2008 at 03:09 PM
Excellent commentary. Customer service is on a downward spiral. We wait to speak with customer representatives, get snippy replys to questions or just plaine get played by a representative working from a corporate playbook. Mr. Spillman, I believe everything you say so I suggest you take your business to a company that wants to deal with you and your excellent credit. Seperate side note, I hope that you remain at KTLA since you and the "Old Man" provide the only reasons that I continue to watck KTLA. You are a KTLA asset, one that Tribune cannot afford to lose. NOTE: 11 broadcast days left in the current sweeps period. In NASCAR language, KTLA is headed into turn 4 and headed for the checkers. Where will they finish? Thats the big question.
Posted by: Bill in San Diego. Rat Packer and F.S.S.G. member | May 19, 2008 at 10:17 AM