I was proactive from the very beginning when my family member experienced identity theft last year in October, 2007. I contacted Countrywide and nofified the representatives of my situation, conveyed to them about identity theft, expressed this was the reason for my late payments, and spoke about my securing a loan modification. I continued to contact Countrywide and was told that I could not gain immediate assistance for a loan modification because my home loan was not in foreclosure. I asked if this was the only way to gain immediate assistance and was told yes. In May of 2008, I was contacted by a Countrywide representative. The representative conveyed that I have a fixed rate loan for the next 30 years and payments due were added to the arrear of my loan. I expressed that the value of my home depreciated and asked if my principal could be reduced for my loan. I was told no. She continued to explain that I have a thirty year fixed loan and needed to sign the necessary documents, otherwise Countrywide would proceed with foreclosure. I questioned her because she told me that my interest rate increases every year until 2010. I told her to my understanding, this loan is not a fixed rate loan, however something similar to an adjustable or subprime loan. She told me too bad, sign the documents, there wasn't anything I can do, and just make sure I have everything notarized, and return FedEx. I complied and returned the documents with much hesitation. Since that time, I contacted the President of Countrywide and received the same results. Since that time, I have written letters to government officials. Yesterday, September 1oth, I received a letter from Countrywide about a data breach which means my personal information may be sold, otherwise identity theft. This is the very same thing my family member experienced last year which caused us a delay in mortgage payments. Countrywide has known about the data breach since August, 2008, and I as well as many customers have been notified late. It is sad that Countrywide representatives are very uncooperative in assisting customers, even after Bush signed the law into effect for Countrywide and other mortgage lenders to work with their customers to avoid more foreclosures, yet customers are to accept the late notification about a data breach. In closing, do not expect Countrywide to work with customers with negotiating a loan which match today's property value.

At the end of January 2008, I contacted Countrywide to see if they could extend my mortgage payment for 1 month at the end of my payments. They said it had to go through the procedure which would take 14 days. They would get back with me within 14 days on the answer. I contacted them on day 14, and they said it had to go to another department for review before making a decision and it would be up to a month. This would be 6 weeks after I first contacted them. I was waiting for my SSDI to be approved, so I either had to pay my taxes and insurance, or make the mortgage payment. Prior to this incident, I was never late. My payment were always there before the day they were do.

They say to contact them before you get into a situation and they will work with you. I explained this situation to them and they said this happens to the best of us and that they would work out a payment plan. That was a JOKE. The beginning of March, I sent my normal payment in which I thought was my March payment. I learned later that they applied it to the month I was needing the help. I asked them if they had heard anything on the payment plan, and of course they said NO.

Because of all this, they reported my payments as being late to the Credit Bureaus that fast. They waisted NO TIME. If they had of helped me with 1 month mortgage, this would not have happened. Now, I have to wait for a whole year to be eligible to get the PMI insurance request to be removed because of the late payment which could have been prevented with the supposedly good customer service.

THIS HAS MESSED MY CREDIT UP ON MY CREDIT REPORTS which was uncalled for.

They do not care at all for their customers. If they had not been so eager to give loans when the market was hot, they would not be in this situation and would work with their good paying customers.

This has now happened twice paying my account via the internet to country wide and they take the payment out twice and say that I did it, and that is a federal offence!!! Save yourself the time and mail it only !!! this will happen to you and they will only reverse the whole amount, then you will be late!!!never again !! SELL MY ACOUNT, PLEASE!!!

As an attorney and a Countrywide customer, I am in complete agreement with all the comments posted, in particular those pertaining to refinancing -- which appears to be a huge scam. Our existing loan was (is) an adjustable rate mortgage that has increased from an initial monthly payment of $600.00 to now almost twice that amount, and at nearly 11% interest (with notification from Countrywide that it may go up further). When we received our most recent rate hike, we had been getting inundated for months by Countrywide with "URGENT" notices concerning our mortgage, inviting us to "refinance today!", get "cash out", lower your interest rate, get a fixed rate. Suffice to say, like everyone else in this boat, we responded to the offer, beginning nearly 2 months ago (the date now is April 9, 2008). I spent about 45 minutes on the phone with a Countrywide representative who advised me that had all pertinent information and would be "back in contact shortly" -- guess what, folks, no contact of any kind was forthcoming. I decided to try again. The next time, I spoke with a female representative who refused to identify herself as other than "Sims", and once again, I was led back through their series of questions about my current mortgage, my income, etc etc. At the end of the long conversation, Sims advised that she would contact me within a day with information on my request. Once again, no return call, nada. But I didn't give up, figuring that I already had invested a couple of hours of my time and it was worth an hour more to get the matter rolling. After waiting a week to hear from "Sims", I called again in response to one of the literally dozens of refinancing notices from Countrywide. I then talked first to a male named Brian, who took all the information that I had already provided twice before, then shuffled me to an Hispanic female, who apologetically told me that I would have to furnish all of the same information to her that I had just given to her colleague. We went through the process again of income, the rate we were hoping to achieve, the fact that we needed to cash out on existing equity in our home as well as hopefully reducing our monthly mortgage to a more manageable amount. She was very nice, polite, and assured me that I qualified for refinancing. She also advised me that once the loan had been refinanced, the new payment amount would be retroactive to the time when I started the refinancing effort. She also assured me that we would get somewhere between $2000 and $4000 in cash out in connection with the refinancing effort, depending on how the appraisal came out. All of that sounded pretty good. However, she said, we would need to pay a processing fee and an appraisal fee totaling $435.00 -- which we did.

Not long after paying the appraisal fee, we received an overnight package from Countrywide with a not insubstantial number of loan documents, including a Loan Application and a "Certification and Authorization" form by which they asked that I certify the accuracy of the information that had been pre-printed for me on the Loan Application. In reviewing the Loan Application, I noted numerous significant errors -- my time at my job was misstated; there was a savings account noted that had $30, 000 in it, according to the application, when I had never mentioned a savings account, didn't have one, and sure didn't have $30, 000 in one; my monthly income was shown as being much more than I actually earn. In effect, Countrywide had asked me to certify a document that included numerous misrepresentations that Countrywide itself had made in completing the application on my behalf (supposedly). Oh, yes, and the closing costs were about $6000, with a final net amount due me (which I guess was the "cash out" amount) of $610. Completely wrong, completely contrary to the assurances that I had received from the lady who took my credit card information for the $435 appraisal fee. After reviewing the documentation, I emailed a new representative who had contacted me to see the matter through to its finish, and let her know (as she had demanded that we "wrap this up" and that I return the Certification and Authorization sheet) that I could not certify the accuracy of the Loan Application in its present form, with all the mistakes, which I carefully noted in a traditional letter to her. I finally faxed back the Certification form along with my letter asking that my letter be included as an addendum to the Loan Application so that it would be clear in the future to anyone looking at this transaction that I had not made the misrepresentations as to income, savings account, etc. I also mentioned that I believed Countrywide's touted "no cost" refinancing was itself a false representation, given that this process was going to cost me $6000 or so. No wonder your company is under federal investigation, I advised this newest representative on my case. I received a terse email from the lady, saying that she had forwarded my correspondence to her manager and someone would be back in touch with me shortly. You got it -- not a word from anyone since that time. Now over a week since someone would get in touch with me "shortly" and still not a word...

And lo and behold, in the mail with yet another offer to refinance my property, I soon received a notice of default from Countrywide, telling me that I had X number of days to pay them two months' payments at the old mortgage rate, plus penalties, somewhere in the neighborhood of $2500. You can well imagine my response. I let them know that I was going to take aggressive steps if someone didn't straighten out the misguided notice of default, and also let them know that they clearly had an internal problem at the company because the left hand sure does not know what the right hand is doing.

The matter is now continuing, and I expect it to get worse before it gets better. If you have a situation similar to mine, or complaints in general with the integrity and honesty of those at Countrywide involved in what appears to be a huge refinancing scam, please feel free to drop me a line at [email protected] Misery loves company and I am sure pretty miserable about this situation and nearing the point where I will take legal action on my own if something doesn't change -- and quick. Folks, does this sound like a scam? First get people bent over the barrel with payments they can't afford, then sucker them out of (at least) an appraisal fee of nearly $500 and probably much more often a refinancing fee / closing costs of many thousands of dollars. If you multiple those thousands of dollars and all those appraisal fees by thousands and thousands of customers in search of some help, you have a massive financial intake that probably nets Countrywide millions each year. I guess that's how their executives come out with $40 Million a year paychecks. What a world we live in...

In 1996 we had a little financial difficulty which resulted in our first ever late payment (two weeks late). I sent in the late payment with lates fee and the up coming monthly payment to them. Two weeks later to my surprise when checking my mail, Countrywide sent my two payments back to me! When trying to contact anyone one the phone for days on end it was impossible.. no one knew anything of course and could barely speak english. I continued to send my payments with the original two payments in to them on time and they were all sent back, FIVE months worth of payments!
Please keep in mind that this was five months of trying to get to the bottom of all this with people that knew nothing and or had no answers to anything! No managers or upper staff available. I was however transfered to a ladie that was of foreign dialect... the only words that I could clearly hear was that I was in foreclose review! Thus my wife and I knew that we were screwed! Lost the house.
Now I will state that what I posted is the Truth!!