EMC Mortgage Review

54 Comments

1. Stephen says:

   October 21, 2009 at 7:53 am

   WOW! I am in the same boat. I called Chase two weeks before I lost my job to let them know I will not be able to make my Sept or Oct payments and would like to start my payments back in December and add the two missed onto the end of the loan. I was told there was nothing they could do because I have not missed a payment. I have (oops, had) a credit score of 796 and after missing Sept and Oct payments, I now have a credit score of 675!!! I will be employed again in late Nov and wanted help for two months and I can see what everyone is typing is just what I am going through. I have documented every time I spoke with collection calls and who I spoke with and what was discussed. I kept emails and names of people at Chase as well. I can assure you, if this were to go to a foreclosure and go in front of a Judge, he or she will see I tried to make it right and THEY stone-walled me. I have faxed, e-mailed and mailed in my loan mod and forbearance to EMC. Guess I will be starting over and finding an educated person with JP or Chase to discuss my options. If there are any new insights out there, please elaborate so we can benefit… Oh, I am in Tampa Florida.

   Reply
2. Dawn says:

   October 18, 2009 at 10:18 am

   This is long but it details my dealings with EMC since October 2008 when I initiated this process AS SOON as I knew we would have problems with our mortgage payments/adjustable rate loan….

   I knew that we were going to need help when my adjustable rate mortgage payment jumped nearly 800.00 with a months notice.
   My original lender went bankrupt and our loan was bought by EMC. Our original loan had us locking into a fixed rate after several years of adjusting, but when the loan changed hands we were informed of the payment increase and that EMC did not offer a lock in program.
   I called and spoke with a very nice person who told me that as we were not yet behind there was nothing she could do so I should not make payments for 3 months then a loan modification could be done.
   This was October of 2008.
   I called in January and was told that the information given me was incorrect and that the person I had been dealing with no longer worked there. But if I made 3 payments on time the modification could commence. So we went over our income and monthly expenses on the phone and a payment was calculated and scheduled for auto debit for 3 months starting in mid-January 2009. These payments were made on time as scheduled.
   In March we received a packet to fill out and FED EX back with the modification paper work which I completed and sent back immediately. I called a week later and a 3 month trial period of payments was scheduled for auto debit again.
   In May the same thing happened. The paperwork was requested and sent in, the trial payments for 3 more months were scheduled and we were told that after the 3rd payment the modification would be locked in.
   After making the August payment I called to find out what my modified payment would be and when it would be due. I was told the August payment was not made due to insufficient funds. The money was sitting in my bank so I went over the account auto debit details and it was found that the person who had scheduled the debit from my account on their end had mis-typed my account number so they had attempted to withdraw the funds from another person’s account. I verified the account number and told them to process it that day. A week later I called and went over the info with someone in the collections department and found that the account number was still incorrect in their system so I asked them once again to correct it and take the funds immediately.
   The payment finally went through nearly 2 weeks late.
   I called to verify the August payment and to find out when my next payment would be due but was told not to send a payment in September, that the modification payment would be due on the 1st of October.
   A few days later I got a letter from EMC stating foreclosure proceedings were imminent if we did not reconcile the now astronomical past due amount on the account. I called the person who had been handling our account since March from the Modification department and as always I was told an inter-office email would be sent to him and he would call me back.
   2 weeks later I called again and was told the same thing.
   I finally spoke to him Sept 29 when I called and requested once again he return my call immediately. He actually called within hours to tell me the modification was not yet approved and that we were not actually part of the federal program because one time in July my husband had 600.00 of overtime that we did not show in our monthly expense report – the one that had now been sent in 4 times along with pay stubs and verification of insurance and hardship letters and income tax forms.
   I was also informed that the payment would now be 3200 and change each month instead of the 2898.50 we had been paying since March.
   Also, that as we were not a part of the federal program there were additional fines and fees for making partial payments- which they do not accept- and late fees and other incidental expenses like a shortage in escrow for taxes due to a large increase in our property taxes over the past 2 years.
   I was then told that I should go ahead and make the October payment of my regular payment amount.
   I had received a letter a few days before stating that my adjustable rate would be staying the same as it had the previous 6 months and the payment would remain at 3045.00. When the process was started way back in January our payment had been at 3600.00 a month after jumping from 2750.00 in October. Now I found out I had only been making a payment about 150.00 less than the regular payment should have been for several months and that the modification payment under review was actually several hundred dollars a month more than my regular payment.
   My account representative told me he would look into that and get back to me.
   I called on October 7th to find out why my payment for October- an online payment directly from my bank to them- had not been credited to my account. I had only dealt with one person for all discussions about my account but decided to ask whomever answered the call as many questions as I could get them to answer instead of waiting for a phone call that may never come. I went over everything from the beginning with Maria and she was very helpful on several points, but her basic theme was that she had no idea why I had no modification yet nor why the bank-draft from my bank had not been recorded.
   She said that after 3 months the modification should have been finalized and that she would ask my rep to call me.
   I waited a week and called again. This time I got a nice gentleman, Alex, who said the same thing Maria said with the exception that the name of my account rep had now changed and that a modification had been sent for in-house review by the new person with a proposed monthly payment of 3150.00 a month.
   Still no idea why the October payment from my bank had not been accepted or acknowledged in any way. He told me he would email the new account rep and ask her to call me right away.
   That was on the 14th of October.
   It is now October 18th and still no phone call.
   I am at a loss as to what to do.
   EMC is now reporting us as 6 months delinquent on our mortgage.
   They are not accepting the payment sent by my bank.
   No one has called me with any information, the only contact in months has been initiated by me and never with a satisfactory outcome.
   Our situation is not temporary due to an illness that is degenerative that has caused me to change my practice venue as a nurse several times and that now has me unable to work as a nurse making a huge dent in our income.
   What do we do now?
   Who do we call?
   Modification Busters?
   Sounds like the people we need for this job, but I am not sure who I trust and am ready to just give up.
   We have placed our house on the market, but in this economy do not have high expectations of selling it any time soon.
   For now we are eating a lot of mac and cheese and hamburger helper and have gotten rid of extras like cable and a home phone.
   And I think that the next person at EMC who tells me I need to learn to live within my means should be prepared for this mother of 6 who has worked her entire life – usually holding 2 jobs concurrently to make sure there was enough money – to lose her temper and let them know what I REALLY think about how they treat honest, hard-working people who are trying to do the best they can in a terrible situation.

   Reply
3. Katie May says:

   October 8, 2009 at 2:37 pm

   Well this is making me absolutely sick. I lost my job in March. The first people I called was EMC actually Chase because I couldn’t get thru to EMC. I have been thru the wringer and am at my wits end. Have faxed all the paperwork at least twice…can never get the same person on the phone. Never get a straight answer. The last time I talked to someone a month ago they said my paperwok was submitted to underwriting and that there was no guarantee that I would get a loan modification. I just tried 5x to get thru to someone, anyone…I believe my phone number is blocked too. I am truly sick about this. In good faith, I have never been late yet — living off my 401K while they take their good old sweet time. There is no local office for EMC or I would have been down there months ago. Where do I turn now???

   Reply
   • Aimee Pfaff says:

     October 9, 2009 at 11:11 am

     Unfortunately Katie, now that you are unemployed you are ineligible for a loan modification. Your only options are to apply for a short sale which is a lot like the process for a loan modification or let the bank foreclose. A Short sale has to be approved like a loan mod but maybe while you are waiting for an approval you will find a job so you can once again be eligible for a loan mod. A short sale allows you to stay in your home without making payments until the bank approves someone to buy your home which can take months or even years.

     Chase owns EMC and WAMU, there are local branches for Chase and one of the branches has a dept dedicated to loan modifications, you must find a local office and stop dealing with the jackass’s at EMC. A lot can change in a few months but don’t give up.

     Reply
4. Aimee Pfaff says:

   October 2, 2009 at 7:55 pm

   I also want to point out that most States have instituted a cease and desist order for companies promising to modify your loan for a hefty fee. If you are in California, log on to the Dept of Real Estate DRE and check to see if the Broker has an approved “Advance Fee Agreement” on file if not, it is illegal for them to collect an upfront fee and you should report them to the DRE. It may also be illegal for a broker to refer your case to an attorney that you have not personally consulted with and a separate complaint should be made with the State Bar Association. Don’t pay anyone for a modification, you can do this yourself for free.

   Reply
5. mary martin says:

   September 24, 2009 at 6:02 pm

   whats going on with EMC’s loan modification program is insane! I submitted all my paperwork for a modification to EMC last march, had to resubmit it again (it was obsolete by this point) in July and still nothing has happened. Now it is almost October and they they say I need to submit it all again. I can’t get them to give me any information regarding where my modification stands nor have they called me once regarding its status. I thought going into this, the Obama loan modification plan it was suppose to be a fast process meant to keep people in there homes and out of foreclosure? At this point I believe EMC is purposefully delaying and stonewalling people into foreclosure for the monthly late fees. It obviously is not benefiting them to expedite the modification process. I’ve tried leaving messages with supervisors, but still no reply. Does anyone know of any other possible recourse or organization to complain to?

   Reply
   • Aimee Pfaff says:

     September 25, 2009 at 3:20 pm

     Hi Mary,

     I think we have all had similar experiences with EMC and I continue to have them myself. I don’t know what State you are in but I have a real live person at Chase (owns EMC now) Brian Messier 916-567-5340 ext 5312 brian.a.messier@jpmorgan.com who has been an absolute God send during this entire process which I started in October of 2008. I was turned down by EMC in Nov 2008 because based on my gross earnings as a self employed person, I “made too much” then in February I submitted my net and was turned down because I “didn’t make enough” then in May of 2009 I went to a public event help by the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment agency and met a real live rep from Chase who set an appointment for the following week to meet with Brian. I met with Brian armed with 4 months bank statements for all accounts, 2 years tax returns all schedules, a hardship letter and monthly expense report (they provide). Within 3 weeks I had a “Trial Loan Modification Agreement” with a payment of $1,873 per month (down from $3,460) including taxes and insurance. The “trial” period is 4 months, they want to make sure we can make the new payment and after 4 months you provide new bank statements so they can make sure your income has not changed and a semi-permanent modification will follow for a range of periods from month to month to 5 years. It varies based on who your loan was through originally and if it’s an investor loan like mine is (some Utility Company in Boston I think). Investor loans are much harder to get modified and take longer. I am now 5 months in to my modification and twice I have received notices that they do not have my bank statements, income and other stuff which clearly they had or a modification would have never been offered so I just keep talking to Brian who gives me tracking #’s and all sorts of info about who has what. Earlier this month I received a scary notice asking from EMC which is a notice they send out before the foreclosure notice and I stopped in a talked to Brian about it and he explained there are millions of these loans in review for modification and to just keep making the modified payment. He said they cannot report me late or foreclose during the modification process and confirmed that my modification has been approved they just need to catch up. Believe me, with a sky rocketing unemployment rate, ever declining home values and 2/3 of the foreclosed homes in inventory still waiting to be sold, the banks want to work with you. Don’t give up and DON’T pay for a modification service it’s a scam and you can do this for free like I did with my Rep Brian. Good luck to everyone, we are all in the same boat and I hope I have helped you somehow.

     Reply
   • Jaime Supelano says:

     September 28, 2009 at 8:26 pm

     I am exactly in the same boat, I applied in March and they do not have any good answer as why is not being proccessed yet. I also had to submit all the paper work 3 times and when I call, they seemed to have blocked my cell phone number because the system hungs up my call most of the time. If I try to call the customer service number and then be transfered to the loan modification department most of the time I get transfered to 5 different people before getting to the right place and many ocassion I get hung up on during the transfers. This is by FAR the most horrible company I have dealt with. I just want to know if they are going to help me or not so I can look for a different solution if they are not.

     Reply
6. SHERRY VOGAN says:

   August 15, 2009 at 5:43 pm

   EMC needs shutdown! I have never dealt w/ a company w/ so many uneducated people in my life!! I am however in the process of getting another loan and a lawsuit against EMC and if either falls thru, so be it, but I promise the house will not be worth the shed in the neighbors yard! Good luck and if you live in the state of PA there is help, contact PHFA about the hero program. Thanks Sherry

   Reply
7. stephanie elliott says:

   August 13, 2009 at 7:10 am

   I am a victim of subprime loan provided by EMC mortgage. I have a 2nd mortgage at $34,000, 11% that will ballon in six years remaining. I requested a loan modification or restructure of the loan for almost a year. I send in the required documents requested by EMC 3 times. Everytime I ask for the results of the loan modifications from the representatives, they always give unfullfill promises of calling back. For five months, I’ve tried to contact EMC but the call drops of disconnects everytime. I’ve also tried calling from different phones and locations to get throught, but contacting them is very unsuccessful. EMC is completely avoiding and ignoring their customers.Imagine if I have the money to payoff my second mortgage, there is no way of contacting them for a payoff quote. If I avoid paying my horrible mortgage monthly, EMC would hunt for me and take my home. I also epress my complaint to NACA and the OBAMA administration.

   Reply
   • Aimee Pfaff says:

     September 25, 2009 at 3:25 pm

     EMC and WAMU are now owned by JP Morgan Chase or Chase. Don’t deal with a call center go directly to the bank, they have a dedicated team on site and the main branches to provide customers with real assistance and get real results. I could not get results until I dealt with them in person and my rep in Sacramento CA the #3 highest foreclosure rate city in CA got the job done for me.

     Reply
     • Mary D says:

       September 30, 2009 at 7:39 pm

       Do you have a contact person at Chase or phone/fax # that handles the EMC loans? Am having similar problems with workout through EMC. This is dragging on for 2 months now after I offered them money to settle. They started collection calls, sometimes 6+ per day, have faxed them written request to stop calls, have spoken to them on phone telling them I am negotiating workout. Nothing helps. Thanks.

       Reply
       • Jaime says:

         October 1, 2009 at 9:39 am

         Hi Mary,

         Thanks for your comment, I did go to CHASE and talked to a banker and 1. she couldn’t pull up my loan 2. She said if I wanted to do it with them directly I would have to start the process again. All loans does not show in chase records so I am can of stock with EMC, the lady gave me a chase loan modification number, I called and they ended up transferring me to EMC. I am waiting 2 more months if nothing happens, I will be doing a short sell.
       • Aimee Pfaff says:

         October 2, 2009 at 7:41 pm

         I don’t know what state you are in but Brian Messier at Chase in Sacramento CA, 916-567-5340 ext 5312 brian.a.messier@jpmorgan.com has done an outstanding job helping me get my EMC loan modified. Yes, I did have to start the process all over with him after trying twice before with EMC directly but it worked. There should be a local branch of Chase with a loan modification department or unit inside the branch.
       • Aimee Pfaff says:

         October 2, 2009 at 7:47 pm

         Jamie, don’t talk to a Banker, talk to the Loan Modification specialists at one of the branches, not all branches have these specialists find one that does. Don’t give up, I have been going through the process since October of 2008 and I am still in my home but paying a lot less than this time last year and I still don’t have a permanent modification yet but they can’t foreclose on me either. EMC sold my loan to an investor, some utility company in Boston or somewhere so if Chase could find my loan, they can find yours too. Be diligent, don’t take no for an answer, they don’t want your house they still have millions of them in inventory, trust me.
8. steve noell says:

   July 30, 2009 at 3:16 pm

   I have never been late with a payment in over three years with EMC. Needed loan modification due to illness and being unable to work anymore. I got modification approved over phone by agree to make on time payments for three months Sent in complete package 2 times for loan modification, people can’t find either package told to send again. They are impossible to reach on the phone. The phone tree is set up to discourage you from trying long enough to reach a person. Then you finally get someone who may or may not understand English. EMC please listen to these comments. I am fulfilling my end of our agreements but you are stonewalling. The government is compensating you to do these loan modifications so it would appear to be to your advantage to work harder at being more customer oriented. EMC please keep my loan modification as it will benefit both of us and you will retain a prompt paying customer as well as being able to show how you value consumer relationships.

   Reply
   • Aimee Pfaff says:

     October 2, 2009 at 7:42 pm

     The banks including EMC are overwhelmed with modification requests, just keep making your modified payment and it should eventually be resolved.

     Reply