CHASE and ASC - Neglectful, Lax in Follow-Up, and Opportunistic toward Performing Cus

[Joel Fraser]

I purchased my house in 2005 stated income. I finally got in position to fix it up and decent income to refi- in late 2007 around November. I tried refinancing with a trusted loan officer here in California but her lenders money dried up due to the market. My appraisal was at the same value of the purchase price so things looked okay at first. At that time FHA regs were not conducive to trying to get that type of assistance and it didn't seem I needed to wait it out. Out of the blue, to cover themselves, Chase called me late January while I searched for an alternative lender, and they offered to modify my loan which was closing in on a 10% rate but when they looked at my credit they assured me that I could get a normal refi- through the normal process. Then they let me know mid-March when I thought I would be closing that I couldn't use my original appraisal -- it had to be from a Chase-approved appraiser. My assigned loan officer should have known this. That took another 2 weeks and lost $15K when it was done. Then I waited and waited because of "end of month processing" given priority, busy signals, lack of communication, them being "overloaded" and integrations of systems (my loan officer was with Equibuild - a subsidiary) and no information could be got during April at all. Finally Mid May I'm told I'm approved. I ask for a closing date and then 2 wks later after hearing nothing and threatening to escalate the matter to senior executives at Chase I'm told by my loan officer that I'm approved for an A- product they didn't offer anymore due to the debt I incurred fixing the house. So I'm told first week of June that all that we did didn't matter because the only option by then was FHA and the appraisal had to be redone and I lost another 15% on the value of my home. They knew I didn't have a loan coming through for about a month but didn't tell me and in the meantime didn't even forward my file to the FHA loan officer who contacted very non-chalantly because he had no background on my situation and was in another state. I started all over again in June. I lost so much value while my loan sat and from the tighter FHA appraisal requirements that the DTI, LTV ratios were too tight. Then the only way it would work is if ASC, my 2nd mortgage would subordinate. That was the end of July. And then ASC took 2 weeks to snail-mail me subordination reqs which I then myself had to overnight to Chase so they could end up not having copies of what ASC requested to fire it back to ASC right away. Too many disconnected pieces with assistants and title company reps. I was coordinating all the communication that should have been happening among them from the time I got a preliminary approval that the FHA loan would actually work. Finally, in the meantime, the stress of trying to maintain and the distraction of trying to make it work and providing paperwork cause me to lose my job. So now, Chase tells me, because I was honest about my employment status that they consider the file declined because the ratios are too tight and won't send ASC the reqs for subordination. Meanwhile the value of my house declines. The payments are in the stratosphere and even though I am unemployed I have not defaulted. I have found the money someway, somehow. But now I'm out of options and I feel neither Chase nor ASC treated me, a paying customer as a priority and the level of service was horrendous for the amount of money I pay every month to service an unreasonable loan that they know was not sustainable or they would not have contacted me to revise the terms in January. What do I do? Can I short-sell? What happens to my credit long-term if I do this? Can I fight what has happened to me in any way? Should I ask for a loan-mod? How do I? OR Should I get a good lawyer? I am JUST OVER THIS. I am 28 years old and wonder if it's even worth it to hold on to the house paying crazy amounts of money when rents are half of what my mortgage costs. Will I be sorry in 5 yrs that I didn't stick it out? Basically what do I do? I'm disillusioned. Bottom line CHASE sucks and ASC is such a cardboard box operation I can't even comment. :mad: