Herb Allison, the Treasury bailout overseer (Getty Images). But at times, Allison’s testimony seemed at odds with the reports we’ve been hearing from homeowners and housing counselors, a disconnect Warren was quick to point out.
For instance, Allison said, “I think it’s important that the public realize they don’t have to have missed a payment on their mortgage to get help. If they see that they have a problem … they should get in touch with their servicer.”
Warren responded, “What we continue to hear is that you can’t get a servicer on the phone, or when you do get a servicer on the phone, you receive incorrect information.” She said she’s heard from homeowners who say they were told by their servicers that they’re ineligible for the government’s program because they aren’t behind on their payments, which is incorrect. We’ve heard borrowers say the same thing.
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Warren added, “I feel bad if what comes out of this is you say I want to tell Americans that they need to reach out to their servicers. They’re doing that.”
Indeed, Sherman, the California-homeowner we’ve been in touch with, has reached out to Chase by phone, by fax, by mail and in person at her local Chase homeownership center. But the “We’re here for you!” banner at the homeownership center was not for her, she says: It was only for customers who were facing foreclosure.
Sherman is a self-employed commercial photographer who purchased a condo in 2000. She started really struggling last year when her work dwindled down to almost nothing. She’s now looking for work in a different field. She doesn’t owe more than her home is worth. When she heard about Obama’s plan, she thought, “This is perfect.”
She passed all the eligibility hurdles on the government’s Web site, she says, and went to Chase’s Web site the day after the plan was announced. It had all the information and all the necessary forms. Sherman faxed in months of bank statements, two years of tax returns, a hardship letter, income statements and other financial documentation – more than 60 pages in all.
