Complaint Review: Amerihope Alliance FL

I am sure that someone from Amerihope will rush in to deny my comments, which is fine, because just as there are happy customers, there are also unhappy customers. Unfortunately, the unhappy customers have either gone into foreclosure, lost their homes, or worse, file for bankruptcy to save their home.
Personally? I would pay more attention to the complaints of the unhappy customers because there must be some truth to it. People dont wake up one day wanting to leave negative feedback just because they feel like it. Maybe they can take this constructive criticism to improve their services.
 
The bank system has a lot flaws and issues (and plays games), and Amerihope takes advantage of the general confusion to promise potential clients things they cannot deliver, further placing homeowners in precautious situations.
I suggest you do your own homework, Google the companys name, read the blogs, search employees names, lawyers names, and you will be amazed at what you can uncover on your own, good and bad. Ultimately, make your own decision.
 
My personal experience with Amerihope has been a disaster.
My personal opintion is that Amerihope is way out of its league.
I am extremely dissapointed with them.
Beginning with Sales, who misrepresented what the company was able to do, to the end, Operations Manager, who I warned that unless I received a copy of my file and a complete refund, I would file a complaint with BBB, Attorney General and the Bar Association. My warning received some sort of reaction, because they left me a voice message, sent me an email and wrote on their Qvault log, that they would immediately process my refund and send me my entire file  this was 3 weeks ago.. am still waiting hence my posts.
 
I hired Amerihope Alliance in April 2009 as I was in financial distress.
I was going through a divorce, and had been laid off, and needed to modify my loan.
I was up to date on my mortgage payments, but needed their assistance in seeking a loan modification before I used up all my savings. I found that talking to the bank was like talking to a wall, and I was getting ill from the stress.
Amerihope Sales Staff did their job very well.  Damaris Martin told me that the staff does this daily, they know how to handle this process, they knew how to fill out forms, present documents, they had connections within the bank, and knew how to work with the Bank.
She actually kept calling, daily, following up on my situation, which I thought were signs of good customer service.
The Sales group was very sympathetic to my situation, and she told me that within 6-9 months they would obtain a loan modification for me, and I would be able to keep my home, with affordable monthly payments, and that I had nothing to lose, because if they were unable to obtain a loan modification, they would reimburse all of my fees. She told me that my loan would be reduced by 50% and then sent me to websites to read the long list of satisfactory clients.
I had nothing to lose, and everything to gain. I borrowed money, and promptly paid the hefty professional fees, in addition to legal fees for forensic analysis of my loan documents, that according to Amerihope, would serve as leverage to force the bank into offering me a loan modification.
 
Six months had gone by, and there was no progress. No loan modification. No news.
According to Amerihope, the bank was not looking at my case because I was up to date on my payments. Rachel Roman, the staff member assigned to work my case, told me that unless my loan was in default, the bank would never review my file, so she suggested that I skip mortgage payments.
I refused to skip any payments, but the months went by, and nothing.
Ultimately, December 2009 I missed my first mortgage payment because I had exhausted all savings, and had nothing left, and my time ran out. This triggered something in the system, and in April 2010 the bank placed me in a trial plan, and my payments were 50% what they were originally; I was extremely happy with this, but after three months my loan mod request was denied. I never received any communication as to why, except that the bank stated the packet was incomplete.

 All of a sudden, I begin receiving multiple notices that the home would go into foreclosure unless I paid the bank what was owed, 6 months worth of mortgage payments (because the trial payments did not count, and I was now 6 months in the rear). Damaris instructed me to make the payments immediately or the bank would take my home, so I charged the 6 months worth of mortgage payments into a credit card, and began the process all over again. Damaris would not return my phonecalls or messages. There were weeks that I was completely in the dark. The response I would get is that they had too many clients and could not devote the time to follow up with the bank on my file. I requested that my file be transferred to someone who would take the time to call me back or provide me status. My file was transferred twice.
We are not in December 2010 and new loan mod documents were submitted.
The Bank tried contacting Amerihope for additional documents (which I had faxed multiple times over to Amerihope), and the bank received no response from them. 

 Days before Christmas I get a call from the bank stating that they had tried contacting my third party, but because they were unable to submit missing documents, my loan mod was being denied. I was furious. I had not been made aware of any missing documents or any call from the Bank.  I called my Amerihope contact numerous times, with no response. In January 2011 I get a note stating that my file was being transferred to a new person, In all this mess, we missed a deadline to submit documents (HOA statement) and was denied a load mod a second time, and I now, again, owed the bank back payments. This time I was unable to catch up and home went into foreclosure April 2011.
Marleny is now assigned to work my file. I ask her is she is aware of my situation, she tells me she is fully aware of my situation and knows how to handle my loan application.
Sadly, she did not know I now had a job, and she applies me to the wrong program, and I get denied.
She eventually figures out which program to submit my request to, but then I get denied again, because according to the bank no documents had been submitted for the husband. When there is no husband. 
 
Who do you blame? The bank for playing games, or Amerihope, who is suppose to know the rules of this game? At this point I am beginning to get frustrated with Amerihope. How does a staff, who knows how to do this, misses on submitting a complete packet, with divorce decree, or misses deadlines?
 
I was promised a modified loan within 6-9 months. Its now 30 months and no end in sight, and I am worse off than when I began. The final chapter of my story begins July 2011, that I am placed in a third trial plan. I make my payments, was sent a final loan mod document, but bank sent it to the wrong address and eventually was denied because I never returned the documents documents I never received!
 
I cant fault Amerihope for the banks incompetence, but if they know how the banks deal, they should of kept up with the bank with phone calls and updates.
I post notes on their log, and send emails, and I get no reply.
I now get a notice of default.
I call Amerihope asking what the heck is going on and why werent they calling and following up with the bank, and why isnt she replying to my notes/questions, and Marleny yells at me that she does not have the time to make the calls because she has other clients.
At this point, I ask to talk to a supervisor. My focal has confused who is the customer. You do not yell at a customer. My file is handed over to the David Ramos, the Operations Manager, and he tells me that calls are being made to the CFO of the bank, their lawyers are making calls, everyone in that office is making calls, even the cleaning staff!
Each time I call for an update, I get different stories
Ultimaely, David tells me they took this as far as they could and asks me to make the calls.
 
What type of advice is this? I now begin to mistrust the people I hired to save my home.
Amerihope failed, miserably, to obtain a loan modification, not for any other reason but failing to submit complete documentation, following up with Bank, and not really knowing what they are doing. 
Their staff has proven to be either incompetent, or careless, or people that do not care, they are not the ones losing their homes. They have no vested interested.
 
I now take mattes into my own hand, and I asked Amerihope to send me a copy of my entire packet so I know what they have submitted to the bank, and after 4 weeks of asking for this, I eventually get scanned over 100+ pages, with no organization whatsoever, and no trace of any form that had been sent to the bank.
Random pages of bank statements, pay stubs, no coordinated effort.
Luckily I had kept a copy of every fax and document submitted to them during the past 2 years, and when I match them to what I had received, Amerihope only had 50% of those documents in my file. The rest? David Ramos and Amerihope had no explanation.
I am sure the numerous staff that handled my case in the two years, cleaned up certain obsolete documents no longer needed, but other than fax cover sheets and log notes, they had nothing in my folder that resembled 'packets' sent to the bank.
No financial work sheet other than intake from their staff. No correspondence with the bank or with anyone else for that matter.
I had up to seven different staff members working on my case in 2 years, I am to assume that each of the seven was severely disorganized?
I asked Amerihope what happened to all my documents? They insisted that they had sent me my entire file, and suggested that instead of dwelling over past failed submissions, I should move forward.
I am taking their advice.
I sent a note to David Ramos, Operations Manager,  informing him that I expected to receive a copy of my entire file. No scan. Hard copies. Their priority should be to insure that every document I ever sent them was is that folder, and that I receive all complete packets Amerihope submitted on my behalf to the bank.
I also expected to receive a full refund of the fees I paid, including the fees paid for the forensic analysis, which sits in my home collecting dust.
I gave Amerihope a deadline, otherwise I would file a complaint with BBB, Attorney General and the Bar Association, and their Operations Manager would have a field day with damage control on social networks and blogs.
Its been 2 weeks. I have yet to receive anything from Amerihope.
 
Dealing with the bank is a nightmare.
Dealing with Amerihope is another nightmare.
If you got your loan mod approved, consider yourself lucky.
If you are considering hiring them, make sure you keep documents of everything you submit to them, you must follow up with them weekly. Do not sit back and think that things are happening. Think of it in terms that instead of babysitting them to insure they do the job you hired them to do.