A family is now threatened with foreclosure after efforts at modification got messed up. There was once a time in 2008 that Tim Falkenberg and his wife Rochelle nursed hopes that they would be given a chance to overcome foreclosure and save their house in Lakeville. But two years hence the couple is still in a state of limbo wondering what had happened to the agreement they had inked with the lender.
They have filed a lawsuit recently against Bank of America the entity that had purchased their original lender Countrywide in 2008. The couple had signed for loan modification in the same year. Fannie Mae had sponsored it and Countrywide was administering it.
Their attorney Nicholas Slade opines that when the deal between Countrywide and BofA was going through, their application for modification also "sort of fell through the cracks". This foul up between the two giants is costing the Falkenbergs their house.
This case is different from thousands of other lawsuits being filed alleging that banks had proceeded with foreclosure without being armed with proper documents. In their case they had contracted a loan modification with the lender but the purchasing bank, Bank of America, did not follow it up. Bank of America declined to make any comments.
The Falkenbergs run a pizza unit. In 2003 they had taken a mortgage with Countrywide keeping their house containing three bed rooms and two baths as collateral. But with the worsening of the economy the couple required to modify the loan. They inked a modification deal with Countrywide and deposited $2,300 to start off the process.
But within a month Countrywide initiated foreclosure proceedings. The lawsuit of the plaintiff contends that at the time of the sheriff's sale the borrower was not defaulting. Countrywide won the bid. Faced with eviction the couple took the help of attorney Slade. Now the case is in progress through federal jurisdiction.
It was a good many months after the sheriff's sale that the couple was informed that their payment of $2,300 had not been accepted by Countrywide. In the records of Dakota County the property has been listed to belong to Fannie Mae and the present valuation is $188,000.
The couple is still living in the house and is waiting for the outcome of the lawsuit hoping that the property will once more be listed under their name. In Minnesota a handful of other similar suits have been filed relating to foreclosure mess. It indicates that house owners are at last standing up for their rights and no longer willing to take things lying low.