BofA's "Deed-In-Lieu" Mail Solicitation After Approving Loan Modification Leaves Couple Confused, Upset; Bank Speechless When Asked To Explain Letter

In Thornton, Colorado, KUSA-TV Channel 9 reports:

• Chris Carpenter says he has paid his mortgage on-time for the nearly seven years he has owned his home. [...] But Friday, Carpenter said his wife brought a letter from the mailbox from his mortgage lender, Bank of America, that baffled the couple. "She was crying," he said. "She was upset."

• The letter was "deed-in-lieu of a foreclosure" solicitation from Bank of America, saying the family needed to take immediate action to prevent foreclosure. If the Carpenters would sign over the deed to their home, the letter stated, Bank of America would give the couple $3,000 relocation assistance, and save them from the credit nightmare of a foreclosure. Carpenter would also lose any equity built up in his home.

• "She couldn't understand why we were being singled out like this," Carpenter said. Carpenter and his wife were approved through a loan modification with Bank of America after her layoff, but he said they paid their mortgage on-time, every month, and sent in all the necessary paperwork the bank required. "We have paid," he said. "We have done exactly what they wanted." Monday, no one at Bank of America could explain why Carpenter received the letter.(1)

For more, see Couple confused about bank's request for deed to home.

(1) Bank of America has stepped up its solicitation for "deed-in-lieus" this year, according to its quarterly impact report, the story states. Citibank also reportedly is doing the same. See Citibank Says If Borrowers Return the Deed of Their Property, They May Stay on For 6 Months.