Broken Loan Modification Promises Continue To Haunt, Say Now-Booted Ex-Homeowners Who Suffered F'closure While Payment Workout Plan Still Under Review

ProPublica reports:

• Four years into the foreclosure crisis, banks say they've made major improvements in how they handle struggling homeowners. They've promised, for example, not to foreclose on homeowners who are being considered for mortgage modifications. But that's still happening.
• Consider the cases of Laurie Pinkerton and Lisa Peterson. The two women, both Californians and Bank of America customers, had been assured by the bank that they wouldn't lose their homes before they'd been evaluated for a possible modification. Both had their homes sold last month. [...] Both Pinkerton and Peterson said their homes were sold after foreclosure for far less than they're worth.
• Regulators have done little to stop the practice, and the "problem appears to be getting worse," said Kevin Stein, associate director of the nonprofit California Reinvestment Coalition.
• Last month, the coalition surveyed 55 foreclosure-avoidance counselors throughout the state. Collectively they serve thousands of borrowers every month. Almost all of the counselors, 94 percent, reported having worked with clients who'd lost their homes while under review for a modification. About half of the counselors reported this happened "often." This year's totals, which are due to be publicly released next week, are higher than those in the group's survey last year.

For more, see Bank Errors Continue to Cause Wrongful Foreclosures.

Go here for more from Paul Kiel at ProPublica on the problems surrounding loan modifications that face homeowners seeking to re-work their house payments.