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Keith and Julie Hanover felt like someone was trying to steal their home.
HOW TO AVOID FORECLOSURE
A workshop on foreclosure prevention that includes information and counseling on mortgage modification will be held Saturday at the Santa Rosa headquarters of Redwood Credit Union.
The session, which runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 3033 Cleveland Ave., Suite 100, is sponsored by the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco and the NID Housing Counseling Agency.
Homeowners seeking counseling are asked to bring two current pay stubs, 2008 or 2009 tax returns, a copy of the homeowner's insurance policy, two months of bank statements, a list of monthly expenses, a utility bill and the most recent mortgage statement and any correspondence.
The session is free. To register, call
(866) 920-3111 or go to www.nidsacramento.org.
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* Frantic bid to save home
Bank of America had started foreclosure proceedings on their house in Kenwood. Yet the Hanovers had never missed a mortgage payment. In fact, Bank of America wasn't even their lender.
The nation's largest bank appears to have mistakenly determined it owned their loan due to a clerical error resulting when another mortgage company collapsed and was taken over by the federal government, according to court records.
The Hanovers spent seven months hounding and pleading Bank of America to fix the mistake. But none of the numerous bank representatives they contacted was able to solve the problem.
"It's like their foreclosure process is on auto pilot," Keith Hanover said. "It starts and there is nothing anyone can do to stop it."
Finally, distraught and exhausted, the couple hired a Santa Rosa attorney who got a court injunction to stop the auction of their home set for 11:30 a.m. April 30 on the Sonoma County courthouse steps.
"You're just losing your mind," Keith Hanover said. "We had never even missed a mortgage payment."
The Hanovers' tale is one of a growing number of alarming complaints from homeowners, housing advocates and real estate professionals who say some of the nation's largest banks are ill equipped to handle the spike in mortgage issues driven by the real estate collapse.
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