Bank of America Battles for Title of Meanest Bank in the Nation

[The Straight Story]

Bank of America Battles for Title of Meanest Bank in the Nation

There’s a new challenger for the title “America’s Meanest Bank” after Bank of America chose to robo-call a widow in Hawaii to demand its mortgage payment, calling early, often and even every 15 minutes during the wake for the husband.

Deborah Crabtree is now suing BofA, its Home Loans Servicing and Countrywide Home Loans on 16 counts, including “unconscionability,” bad faith, outrage, misrepresentation, unjust enrichment and violations of state laws.

During the services for Crabtree’s husband, the family set up a speaker phone to handle condolence calls. BofA’s automated system phoned the home four times an hour, according to the widow, filling the house with the sound of: “This is Bank of America, and we are calling to collect with regards to a debt.”

Crabtree says she informed the bank that she needed at least 30 days to get her affairs in order following her husband’s death. Other companies told her that was no problem, but not BofA. They continued to call her house every 15 minutes between 7am and 7pm seven days a week for more than four months.

http://www.allgov.com/Unusual_News/ViewNews/Bank_of_America_Battles_for_Title_of_Meanest_Bank_in_the_Nation_110806

[DarthDem]

1. Awful. But No Surprise.

That is indeed one of the most despicable banks, perhaps companies, in the country. Outrageous.

[Ineeda]

2. BoA is reprehensible

but, sorry, why didn't she turn off the speaker phone after the first call? I'd be upset, mortified, furious, but it would only take one call, for me. I'm glad she's suing, though, and I hope she gets a huge settlement.

[hughee99]

3. Not to stick up for BofA here, but why did they call for 4 months?

After 30 days, hadn't she resolved this issue?

[MedicalAdmin]

4. Have you ever tried negotiating something with a bank or insurance company.

All it takes is one clerk to type the wrong phrase in a write up or click on the wrong option box in their pull down, handy dandy, how to fuck a customer menu, and it goes from difficult to pretty much impossible.

If they were robocalling during a wake and told that her husband had just died and asked not to call, then they shouldn't have been calling. It seems likely to me that they decided not to wait and used her not answering the phone as a reason to justify not working with her.

I hope she gets a free house AND a pony.

[hughee99]

6. Usually, sending them the check fixes the issue.

Granted, in this situation, the article doesn't say if some onerous policies were put in place or if some ridiculous fine were imposed, so I can't say for sure WHY it wasn't paid, just that it wasn't.

I hope she cleans them out for the robocalls, but I wish the article gave a little more info about what else the bank has done that prevented her from making payments for 4 months.

[MedicalAdmin]

7. Ain't that always the truth. I haven't seen anything I would call

journalism in the USA in about 3 decades.

[gkhouston]

8. Probate isn't instaneous. It's possible that all of their assets were

joint, and she had difficulty accessing them after her husband's death.

[hughee99]

9. There are many possibilities, hell, she could have sold the house

the fact that the article says nothing about it leaves us all to speculate.

[Heywood J]

10. It doesn't sound like you've ever worked with BoA.

"Usually, sending them the check fixes the issue."

Yeah, right.

[hughee99]

12. So is your theory is that she paid them and still got the calls?

[Little Star]

11. Perhaps after the calls that were recorded during her husbands

wake she retained a lawyer who advised her not to pay right away and take them into court instead?????
Just using my imagination here :eyes: :eyes: :eyes:


Hell, there could be a ton of valid reasons she hadn't she resolved this issue after 30 days.

[hughee99]

13. I agree, my issue is with the writer of the article

Since we don't have any real information about what BofA did and what the woman did (other than the robocalls).

[lonestarlib]

5. And stupid, too.

They keep trying to charge me interest, not a fee, on a credit card account that has no balance.
Ran across this at Naked Capitalism: Bank of America Death Watch Blog.