I really wanted a home on the lake but I knew I couldn’t afford it. Now I’m kicking myself for being stupid enough to act responsibly, I could be fishing now.
Or bank one could sell your mortgage to bank 2, and you end up like this guy:
SAN ANTONIO — A man is in danger of losing his home, after his house was mistakenly valued at more than 10 times its worth.
Roque De Leon says he paid $30,000 in mortgage payments since he bought the home back in 2002. Now, the bank is foreclosing on the house.
“His house is about to be auctioned off tomorrow at the courthouse,” explained De Leon’s friend, Jorge Ramirez.
The west side home is on W. Laurel Street near Culebra. “This house, in this neighborhood… it’s very obvious, it’s not worth $350,000,” commented Ramirez.
According to the Bexar Appraisal District, De Leon’s home is worth less than $30,000.
“The bank made a mistake,” De Leon said, between tears. According to De Leon, after Washington Mutual sold his mortgage to Chase Bank in 2008, his $35,000 loan turned into a $350,000 nightmare. “Chase started rejecting my $350/month payments, and demanded $2,000 per month,” explained De Leon.
“I don’t know if I would call it computer error or language barrier,” said Ramirez, who is trying to help his friend sort out the mess. “He’s afraid he’s going to lose his house, and if we don’t do anything about it, he’ll be out in the street,” said Ramirez.
De Leon’s lawyer is advising him to file for bankruptcy, in order to stop the bank’s collection efforts. “Because of the mistake that [the bank] made, they’re going to ruin his credit,” commented Ramirez. “He won’t be able to buy anything.”
News 4 WOAI made several calls to Chase Bank. Monday, they got back to us with this statement:
“We have corrected the insurance coverage and apologized to the customer. The sale [of the home] has been postponed so we can explore all options with the customer.”