Complaint Review: HomEq Servicing - North Highlands California

This entire complaint above seems to be based on two loans that cost the customer anywhere from 40-75% of their monthly gross income (keeping in mind that the rate to qualify anyone for a loan, which includes their monthly payment, taxes, and insurance, should NEVER exceed 28%). Is it just coincidence that the only complaints you ever see on this site against HomEq are from people who were/are behind on their mortgage payment, in foreclosure, or had to file bankruptcy? Or is the company really out to steal from everyone or has poor customer service all of the time?.........Might want to take that into consideration before reading any other posts. I would assume that you are probably one of the customers who calls in and yells at people or calls the person an idiot as soon as you pick up the phone. I'm sure you would love that and have a great day at work everyday if 8 out of every 10 calls had someone complaining to/cursing you about required policies of your company that you had no control over. Consider that before you make another call or decide to do the same yourself. I'm not really sure what you wanted them to do here. HomEq got your loan in January and you weren't able to continue making regular monthly payments sometime around August, correct? That means, your complaint is against the lender, not HomEq. You have a payment that you can't afford now......because the lender qualified you for a loan that didn't allow for anything to ever go wrong in your life. You got a 2nd mortgage that most likely made it impossible to keep up with the payments...... because you decided to get an equity loan. I'm having trouble finding where this is a complaint directed against HomEq? It sounds like everything here is at fault of the mortgage originator, the previous refinance company, yourself, or a combination of 2 or more. Here's how I am seeing your complaint and please correct me if I'm wrong: "I can't afford my mortgage anymore. I need some help." (HomEq responds with repayment plan to include your payment you missed into your other regular monthly payments). "I can't afford to have my payments increased." (Since your loan documents, that you signed for and agreed to everything in them, have nothing about being able to put a payment at the end of the loan, HomEq can't do it. HomEq suggests a short sale). "I'm now going to post a complaint about HomEq b/c they told me I need to do a short sale." Did you want them to lower your payment? If so, how would they do that without lowering your interest rate? If it's an interest-only loan, how would they do it at all without significantly changing your entire loan structure? When you knew you were falling behind, was the first contact you had with HomEq when you owed for 2 months? If the result of missing one mortgage payment caused you to file bankruptcy, then you did not need to be getting a remodel/addition loan. Did you speak with a financial consultant before getting the loan? No capable one would have told you to go ahead and get it if they knew your finances were that tight. I'm not trying to "hit you while you're down". This is only to provide some type of guidance as to what you can do to avoid anything like this in the future. If you are struggling to make your payments b/c they are too high, then James' response was realistic. James is trying to help you realize that the only way to get out of this housing slump, is to get out of the bad deal that you were given from your lender/loan officer. How is he not helping you stay away from foreclosure? By HomEq somehow lowering your monthly payments or putting one of your payments at the end of the loan, it only solves the typical American problem......Instant Gratification. Customers expect to be instantly served, instantly helped, instantly catered to their every need when that is impossible in the housing market. But when a company expects the same thing out of the customer that they do out of them, it is somehow a horrible and cheating company. Double standard? The mortgage market isn't a restaurant or a typical service industry. When it comes to your home and not being able to make payments anymore, what would you rather hear? "Yes, we can help lower your payment, but it's going to take you an additional 5-10 years to pay off your home", or the realistic, "I'm very sorry but the lender who set you up on this loan qualified you for a loan that you cannot afford. Why don't we try to help you out by getting you out of this loan so that you can get into a more affordable payment that doesn't push your budget each month?" That's what James was saying, but phrased much better. In terms of the market crashing and loan programs closing, it wasn't really overnight. It's been obvious what has happened in the last few years. People went to get an ARM loan with a 'teaser' rate. It had been all over the news that ARM loans and Interest-Only loans would crash the real-estate market within two years b/c of the adjustments. (See - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2008/03/03/ccsubprime103.xml)