Complaint Review: HomEq

When we got behind on our mortgage payments, the fees HomEq imposed on us made it impossible to catch up no matter how hard we tried to work with them. It forced my husband to file bankruptcy for the past due amounts (plus their fees) then, even though we were paying the mortgage and the bankruptcy escrow, HomEq kept calling us saying we were delinquent, and applying more fees to the CURRENT months mortgage payments. We constantly were sending them PROOF that we made our payments. (Shouldn't that be THEIR JOB?)

And yet we NEVER recieved a bill or monthly statement from them. Just harrassing calls. At one point they even added insurance to our account (10x the amount that we were paying our insurance company.) And it took over a month of constant calls and faxes of proof of insurance to get them to remove that charge.

When our furnace broke in the dead of winter, and a month later as the snow melted sum pump failed and flooded our living room and the bedroom/office, we again fell be hind. This time we did not have bankruptcy to fall back on, and they started foreclosure proceedings. We contacted a home modification lawyer, costing us the rest of our savings. The lawyers contacted HomEq and tried to work out a deal. The offer that HomEq left on the table as a final offer required a down payment that was more than we could afford. (all the while, the foreclosure was still looming closer.) THREE DAYS after the final offer was made and our counter offer was refused, our house went up to auction...

BTW - we were NEVER notified that hour home was up for auction! We found out from some cold call real estate office who had got a hold of the foreclosure notice, and THEY told us that our house going to be sold within the month.

With the current market, our home is worth 20,000 LESS than what our loan was for. We were told by our lawyer that they can now come after us for the remainder of the amount of the loan when the sale of the house is final. If that is the case, it will force us to change a chapt. 11 to a chapt. 7 bankruptcy. I refuse to pay them another dime!

As much as I am saddened that we were unable to save our home, thank God, we were not able to come up with the $10,000 deposit HomEq requested for the home modification. That money was only to "repay the debt". I found out just recently that there are others who have paid the amount, but, where then told that the payment they made DID NOT guarantee a home modification. That money was applied to HomEq's legal fees, late payment fees, and past due amounts. Not towards a loan modification. They had to come up with another outrageous amount in order to modify the loan!

There are some laws in IL that say that you must be notified about any foreclosures and sales etc. and some other info that I plan to read over. I will take them to court if I can. Of course I am given this info after the fact, but I still plan on contacting my attorney general regarding the questionable practices of HomEq to see if there is anything they can do at this point. They are criminals hiding behind legal documents and loopholes and need to be shut down! If you live in IL... maybe this info can help you before the crooks at HomEq get your home too! http://www.ag.state.il.us/consumers/index.html

K- s. chicago
Glenwood, Illinois
U.S.A.