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.”
I have a problem believing that story.
When I purchased my home, I had a written agreement with the bank on the purchase price and interest.
Even if the bank that purchased his loan mistakenly put the purchase price at $350,000 instead of $35,000, all the home owner would need to do is produce his written agreement.
And his so-called attorney advising him to file for bankruptcy is absolutely stupid.
His attorney should have just filed suit and taken the bank to court with the written agreement that the home owner had from the previous bank if Chase refused to abide by that agreement.
Something about this story doesn’t smell right.