Don’t give Chase documentation they don’t have!

There has been a lot of speculation as to exactly how much documentation Chase (and other banks) have lost on the original mortgages and subsequent ownership transfers that have created a legal quagmire (and liability) they are experiencing with proving authority to foreclose.

Well, hints come from many places and today’s comes courtesy of a commentor on our blog:

I just had a Chase representative tell me that I had to send in a copy of my recorded mortgage or they wouldn’t process my HAMP request. I’m not about to hand them documents that they would just use to take my house! This company is something…

A wise choice indeed.  Don’t give Chase documentation they may have lost and without which they can’t foreclose on you.  Be wary of signing anything that reaffirms their ownership of your mortgage or authority over it (if they are only the servicer, not the owner) if they can’t otherwise prove it.  Better yet, ask them for proof of their authority over your loan before agreeing to anything.  If they can’t provide it, ask them for better terms to your loan modification.

Yes, I realize these are very simple and potentially naive suggestions, but the truth is that no-one knows what might work given the documentation uncertainty the banks have today.  One thing that is sure, they know they have a problem.

Join a Chase mortgage modification class-action

We received this note from a reader:

Hagens Berman  206-623-7292 may be involved in a class action lawsuit on behalf of Chase customers who have been attempting to modify their mortgage loans.

From their website, I was able to find this case that involves several large banks (presumably including Chase) not providing loan modifications to eligible customers.