Frustrated homeowners sue JPMorgan Chase over mortgage loan mess
Three Queens homeowners are taking on one of the world's largest banks to save their homes.
Alex Lam, 35, of Fresh Meadows; Shanaz Begum, 40, of Queens Village and Tamara Williams, 39, of Jamaica, filed a lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase Tuesday for refusing to modify their mortgage loans - counter to federal regulations.
"I'm afraid of losing my house," said Lam, who is represented by the Urban Justice Center along with the other plaintiffs.
"My credit history is ruined. I cannot find a bank to help me refinance."
Alex Lam, 35, of Fresh Meadows; Shanaz Begum, 40, of Queens Village and Tamara Williams, 39, of Jamaica, filed a lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase Tuesday for refusing to modify their mortgage loans - counter to federal regulations.
"I'm afraid of losing my house," said Lam, who is represented by the Urban Justice Center along with the other plaintiffs.
"My credit history is ruined. I cannot find a bank to help me refinance."
Lam
requested a modification last year after he realized he was saddled
with an interest-only adjustable loan. He claims the bank told him he
wasn't eligible because he was current on his monthly payments. The bank
told him to miss a few payments and then apply for a modification, he
said.
Lam took the advice and missed two payments. He was approved for a trial modification that lowered his nearly $2,400 monthly payments to $1,500.
He said he assumed he would be approved for a permanent modification after making all of the lowered payments on time.
But instead of receiving the adjustment that would have helped him hold onto his home, Lam was served with foreclosure papers.
"I was shocked," Lam said. "I followed everything that Chase asked me to do and they said they wouldn't put me in foreclosure."
Chase spokesman Michael Fusco declined to comment on the lawsuit, filed in Brooklyn Federal Court.
But he did say Chase offered about 750,000 trial modifications from last year through last March. However, less than 25% of those have been made permanent, he said.
Bridgett Bush, a staff attorney at Neighborhood Housing Services of Jamaica, has recently begun to see more of her group's clients receive permanent modifications - though it's taking longer than expected.
"Most of the people are getting approved from a trial modification to a permanent modification," said Bush, who works with people facing foreclosure. But "it's taking a little while. ... Homeowners are getting frustrated."
Lam took the advice and missed two payments. He was approved for a trial modification that lowered his nearly $2,400 monthly payments to $1,500.
He said he assumed he would be approved for a permanent modification after making all of the lowered payments on time.
But instead of receiving the adjustment that would have helped him hold onto his home, Lam was served with foreclosure papers.
"I was shocked," Lam said. "I followed everything that Chase asked me to do and they said they wouldn't put me in foreclosure."
Chase spokesman Michael Fusco declined to comment on the lawsuit, filed in Brooklyn Federal Court.
But he did say Chase offered about 750,000 trial modifications from last year through last March. However, less than 25% of those have been made permanent, he said.
Bridgett Bush, a staff attorney at Neighborhood Housing Services of Jamaica, has recently begun to see more of her group's clients receive permanent modifications - though it's taking longer than expected.
"Most of the people are getting approved from a trial modification to a permanent modification," said Bush, who works with people facing foreclosure. But "it's taking a little while. ... Homeowners are getting frustrated."
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