Big Bank Bail-out Blues
Bank of America forecloses on a home it doesn’t own
Incidents like this are not winning the likes of Bank of America (BAC) any points with the public. Charlie and Maria Cardoso paid for a retirement home in Spring Hill , Fla. with cash in 2005. They owed no money on the house, but Bank of America “foreclosed” anyway. They removed belongings and changed the locks on the doors. This despite the fact that a Realtor employed by the bank informed it that the foreclosure was erroneous, reports the St. Petersburg Times.
The bank’s agent had the wrong address. The house that was supposed to be seized was across the street and down the block. There are signs that more of this is going on. One lawyer tells the National Law Journal that such incidents are happening across the country. In another case, the owner of a vacation house in Galveston showed up to find the locks changed and a big poster announcing that Bank of America had foreclosed. The owner sued the bank. When they finally got in, they noticed the power had been cut. Again, this was a case of mistaken address. It pays to be really careful.
And
Citibank printed customer Social Security numbers on the outside of
envelopes it mailed to some 600,000 customers in late January.