Wednesday, January 27, 2010

National Major Media Outlet Shines Light On Allegations Of BofA's Seizures Of Wrong Homes

In New Bedford, Massachusetts, ABC News reports:
  • Some 2.8 million homeowners faced the threat of foreclosure last year, but it wasn't supposed to happen to Charlie and Maria Cordoso. In 2005, the New Bedford, Mass. couple paid in full -- in cash -- for a house in Springville, Fla., and rented it out with plans eventually to use the home as a retirement getaway. They said they were shocked to learn earlier this month that Bank of America had locked them out and removed their clothing and furniture from the property.

***

  • The Cordosos, Portuguese immigrants who are in their 50s, are now suing Bank of America for allegedly seizing the wrong home, and they're not alone: Two other homeowners, one earlier this month in Texas and another last October in Kentucky, also have filed lawsuits alleging that Bank of America attempted to foreclose on their homes even though the bank did not own or service mortgages for the properties.(1)

  • Bank of America has yet to file a response to the Cordosos' claim and to the Texas claim, in which the homeowner alleges that the bank cut power to his property during the faulty foreclosure, leaving it reeking of fish, which were stored in his refrigerator and freezer. (The homeowner had left 75 pounds of fish at the home after a successful fishing trip to Alaska, according to the lawsuit.) [...] The bank believes that the Texas and Kentucky cases, however, "have no merit," [a BofA spokesperson] said, and the bank blames others for the errors.

For more, see No Mortgage, Still Foreclosed? Bank of America Sued for Seizing Wrong Homes (In the Last Four Months, Three Homeowners Have Sued Bank of America for Mistakenly Foreclosing on Their Homes).

(1) For the Texas story, see The Galveston Daily News: Lawsuit accuses bank of seizing wrong house; for the Kentucky story, see Floyd County Times: Man sues after bank takes wrong house.