1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

I am so very angry.

Discussion in 'Fred's House of Pancakes' started by Godiva, Jan 11, 2008.

  1. Godiva

    Godiva AmeriKan Citizen

    Joined:
    Apr 8, 2005
    10,339
    14
    0
    Location:
    San Diego, CA
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    I had my NEA credit card for many years. Then Bank of America bought them out and I had nothing but problems. I finally paid it off and got rid of it. And rid of them.

    Good riddence I thought.

    Then I hear on the radio this morning that Bank of America is buying my mortgage company, Countrywide.

    I have been very happy with Countrywide. And I have a 30 year mortgage at 5.75 I had no intention of refinancing. Now Bank of America has bought them out.

    I can't get away from them.

    I am so angry. Is there nothing to prevent Bank of America from buying everything in sight? Is there no way for me to get away from them and prevent them from oozing their tentacles into my life?
     
  2. sulman

    sulman Introspectator

    Joined:
    Nov 17, 2007
    75
    0
    0
    Location:
    Ooltewah
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    THIS THREAD IS PROPERTY OF BANK OF AMERICA.
     
  3. galaxee

    galaxee mostly benevolent

    Joined:
    Mar 14, 2005
    9,810
    466
    0
    Location:
    MD
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    what's with the banks lately, huh? sorry to hear you're stuck with them again.

    sounds like countrywide was in serious trouble thanks to that whole adjustable rate issue and a number of defaulted loans.
     
  4. eclectcmoi

    eclectcmoi Muffinologist

    Joined:
    Aug 5, 2006
    6,764
    17
    10
    Location:
    Lakewood, CA
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    I have a girlfriend who works for Countrywide and she says it's been hell working there with all the loan fall out. She's not all that happy about being bought out by B of A though either.
     
  5. SSimon

    SSimon Active Member

    Joined:
    Feb 27, 2006
    1,426
    21
    0
    Location:
    N/W of Chicago
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    I was more angry when switching my mortgage company only to find that they outsource jobs to India. I hold Bank of America as my credit card and to my experience, they don't do this. I'll support the latter any day. Also, I'm not quite sure the nature of your negative experience, but I have never had a problem w/ Bank of America and have used their card for about 7 years. Maybe your experience will differ from the last. Hopefully.

    Unfortunately, I'm at a 15 year fixed and wish not to refinance as well. So I continue to pay for overseas workers while my mortgage company lays people off here.
     
  6. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

    Joined:
    Mar 2, 2006
    18,058
    3,075
    7
    Location:
    Northern Michigan
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    Your original mortgage company has little to do with who actually owns your mortgage. Most mortgages are bundled together and sold as packages to other larger financial organizations, so you may get your mortgage from the bank down the street, and later find out that Countrywide owns the paper. There is not much you can do about it. If it really bothers you, you can finance with an individual or a local bank that does not sell it's paper.

    Tom
     
  7. klodhopper

    klodhopper New Member

    Joined:
    Nov 13, 2007
    537
    153
    0
    Location:
    Colorado Mtns.
    Vehicle:
    2002 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Welcome to the actual "reported" economic activity that our country has experienced for the past 5 years. I think that actual consumer activity has been flat or negative for the past 4-5 years. The only activity has been one large corporation or billionare buying another corporation, etc. In effect "money swapping". Finally this christmas, the consumers have maxxed out their credit cards, felt the energy crunch, and had their ARM's almost double on them, and finally started to "lock up" their wallets and purses.

    I know what you're talking about. It's almost mafia-like, the consolidation that's occurring now. It's a proven fact, just like real estate, you can only buy/sell something so many times until it becomes worth less than what you paid for it. Also allowing home borrowers to borrow against "blue-sky", or so-called inflated equity in their homes to finance "wants, not needs" contributed as well. Countrywide overextended themselves pimping ARM's (subprime) mortgages. Giving loans to borderline families that otherwise could not qualify for loans by the normal rigid standards that had guarded the industry from such a fall-out for all these years.

    I still have a problem having my hard-earned tax dollars going to bail out homeowners that were too stupid to read a loan application. If you are borrowing money for your house at the lowest rates in 35 years, and you are signing for an adjustable rate mortgage, where in the hell do YOU think the intrest rate is going to end up.

    I feel sorry for the people that work for Countrywide, every time one corp buys another there is certain fallout to be expected. Bank of America has a reputation of being very predatory in their practices overall, and this buyout can't be a good thing.
     
  8. SSimon

    SSimon Active Member

    Joined:
    Feb 27, 2006
    1,426
    21
    0
    Location:
    N/W of Chicago
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    I just heard on the radio that the purchase is designed to avert one of the, if not the, largest mortgage fallouts in US history. Maybe that might provide those upset with a little tolerance?
     
  9. Neicy

    Neicy Member

    Joined:
    Apr 29, 2007
    834
    19
    0
    Location:
    Wakefield, MA.
    Vehicle:
    2021 Prius Prime
    Model:
    XLE
    I had the same thing happen to me. I had a Bank of Boston credit card - they got bought by Bk of Amer. I had a Bank of New York Card - they did too. I had a MBNA card - and they did too! Rates were 8.32, 6.99, and 10.97. Now the rates are 17.64, 18.99, and 18.99. Cancelled them all. Wouldn't do business with them if you paid me. Nothing but trouble both in personal customer relations and on a professional level. With mortgage rates going down, you might try to re-finance.
     
  10. galaxee

    galaxee mostly benevolent

    Joined:
    Mar 14, 2005
    9,810
    466
    0
    Location:
    MD
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    wow, and here i was about to complain about my 7.99% fixed credit card rate :eek: they just got bought out by wamu, but they haven't changed my rate or scrapped my 1% cash back plan or the other benefits i have.

    since the fed has dropped, and probably will again this month, it might be a good time if you're considering a refi...
     
  11. burritos

    burritos Senior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 13, 2006
    4,946
    252
    0
    Location:
    California
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    Yeah switch to Wells Fargo, then it'll only cost you $19.50 to withdraw 20 bucks out of an ATM, unless it's a Wells Fargo atm, then it'll only cost you $19.25.
     
  12. darelldd

    darelldd Prius is our Gas Guzzler

    Joined:
    Jan 17, 2006
    6,057
    389
    0
    Location:
    Northern CA
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    Hey, somebody's gotta pay for those cool horses.
     
  13. dogfriend

    dogfriend Human - Animal Hybrid

    Joined:
    Feb 26, 2007
    7,512
    1,188
    0
    Location:
    Carmichael, CA
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius

    Me either.

    I stopped banking with BofA years ago when I realized that they were charging me so much for having a checking acct that I could move my acct to the credit union, use BofA ATM machines to get money and pay ATM fees and it would still cost less than keeping my BofA acct.

    Last year they bought MBNA and so I cancelled my credit card when they sent a multi page small print document changing all the terms on the card.

    Now they are going to buy my mortgage co. I'm not going to refi because we only have 5yrs 9mos to go on a 10yr fixed. I'm reasonably sure they can't mess with the rate, but I won't be surprised if the grace period and late fees change.
     
  14. Rae Vynn

    Rae Vynn Artist In Residence

    Joined:
    May 21, 2007
    6,038
    707
    0
    Location:
    Tumwater, WA USA
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    When BoA bought out my MBNA card (wow, did we all have one?), I quickly paid it off, though I still have it. I use it rarely, and pay it off promptly.

    I think they are still doing the donation on them, though.

    Yup. The big corporations are just continuing to get bigger, by buying out the smaller ones.
     
  15. Lola'05

    Lola'05 New Member

    Joined:
    Dec 5, 2007
    47
    0
    0
    Location:
    Southeastern PA
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Listen to Galaxee. Boy, you have to read all of your mail. And keep on top of all the details.
    Bank of America was one of the banks I marched into and closed my accounts. Didn't have that much money there...but the fees were crazy. They were making money, but I wasn't. Give me that check and I went down the highway to the credit union.
     
  16. Sufferin' Prius Envy

    Sufferin' Prius Envy Platinum Member

    Joined:
    Jul 7, 2004
    3,998
    18
    0
    Location:
    USA
    Vehicle:
    Other Non-Hybrid
    Yes. Federal Law restricts any one financial institution from controlling more than ten percent of all deposits in the country. This acquisition bumps them up against that limit.

    Even if you refinance, BoA may also end up with the new loan if it is sold on the secondary market.

    One way to try to get BoA to sell your loan to someone else is to start making principal payments on the loan. Banks hate seeing their profits disappear and will often package-up 'deadbeat' loans and sell them off.
     
  17. burritos

    burritos Senior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 13, 2006
    4,946
    252
    0
    Location:
    California
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    They're feeding them organic hay.
     
  18. galaxee

    galaxee mostly benevolent

    Joined:
    Mar 14, 2005
    9,810
    466
    0
    Location:
    MD
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    awesome. wamu, the people who bought providian, who we had our original credit cards with, might be getting bought out by jpmorgan (aka chase). i'm not a big fan of them, have a card with them and have used it once to buy a pair of work shoes in 2003...

    gaaaah. how annoying.

    i've been watching the fed- when the rate goes down it's a better time to be in debt than to have cash laying around. i consider this the best possible time to have no money, which makes me feel less bad :p now if things are still low when my subsidized student loans enter repayment and i can get a super low rate... we're so golden.
     
  19. Loveit

    Loveit New Member

    Joined:
    Jul 26, 2006
    473
    1
    0
    Not too long ago, the CEO of CountryWide was found to have been monkeying around with the company's stock.... and so it is a wonder the whole CountryWide mortgage company did not go the way of the one company who folded a couple of years ago. Was it Enron? World.com? Can't remember the name, but once you have someone monkeying with the stocks, especially the CEO, what does that convey for said company's future?

    My sister worked for CountryWide in the mortgage dept and heard for a couple of months that BofA was going to buy them out. That's when they laid off quite a few employees of which she was one of them.

    I told her when the CEO was monkeying around with the stock that she better start looking for another job, and she said to me that she didn't have any stock. I said, MAMA MIA! Look at the handwriting on the wall and get yourself another job.

    Well, let's just hope and pray that the house of credit cards, debit cards, and ATM cards don't come tumbling down soon because if it does, we are going to be in for one heckuva ride my friends!
     
  20. Godiva

    Godiva AmeriKan Citizen

    Joined:
    Apr 8, 2005
    10,339
    14
    0
    Location:
    San Diego, CA
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Exactly. Had MBNA for over 20 years and had great service. B of A bought MBNA and I had nothing but grief (and higher rates).

    So now they've bought my mortgage company too. I have a 30 year fixed. They better not do ANYTHING to screw that over. If they do, I'll refinance through my credit union even if the rate is higher.

    I've only entered a B of A bank a few times since opening my very first checking account. Every time I've had lousy service and a bad taste in my mouth. Couldn't wait to leave fast enough.