I purchased my house in Fort Myers, FL in March 2004.  In December 2005 I lost my job.  I was not able to find employment in my career area in the location and needed to relocate to Minneapolis, MN in June 2006.  We put the house up for sale and my family soon joined me in August 2006.

By January 2007, my husband still had not found a new job and we entered into a deferrement program with Chase.  We were eligible to be in the program for 6 months due to the house still on the market and my husband was currently looking for employment.  July 2007, we needed to pay the amount from the deferrment program or take the house off the market and refinance or face foreclosure.  We could not afford amount due, we could not rent the place due to the increase in the association fee and insurance and our son was having some medical issue.

After 6 months of jumping through the Wells Fargo hoops, I was notified that I qualified for their 3-month moratorium on monthly payments. The representative stated that this was a necessary step in the process. After confirming that I would not be responsible for any extra accumulated interest, I agreed. A Wells Fargo representative proposed that I not repay the three month deficit and cease my monthly payments, as this would 'accelerate' the loan-modification process. I chose not to do this, as I had read many accounts of people in this situation having their homes foreclosed upon. At the end of the three month period, I repaid the full amount and resumed monthly payments. As soon as I signed up for the moratorium, Wells Fargo tossed my account to a loan collection agency.

I called our mortgage company and tried to see if my wife and I can qualify for a simple principal reduction modification.  I was told no on several occasions, and each time that I asked why, it was the same answer, "You don't qualify, because your debt to income ratio is below the percentage to qualify".  I asked why does the debt to income percentage matter, we just want to have our mortgage be the value of the house. They keep saying, because those are the rules.

Back in May 2009, I worked for the Department of Corrections when I received a layoff notice. Concerned about whether I would be able to pay my home loan, I applied for a loan modification through my bank (WAMU). I didn't hear back from them for months until finally I got a letter that said that they needed more information. I faxed the requested information for the second time (it was the same information I had sent in the original fax), and didn't hear from them for a long time again.

After hurricane Ike, Wells Fargo delayed the start and completion of and created additional stress to the rebuilding process. One employee even referred to the home we lived in as “ours” [Wells Fargo’s.] At every juncture when we were due another check for the contractor, the bank would employ a new rule or expectation that delayed the process, a process that eventually would necessitate the sale of the property.