In January pipes burst in my house due to freezing, causing over $25,000 in damage.instead of releasing the claim check to me, my insurance company (State Farm) sent it to my mortgage company (Countrywide).
I was told that this was their policy since Hurricane Katrina... (?!) Countrywide told me that the check would be "turned around" in 6 - 8 days. Countrywide received the check in February and did not release it to me for over three months. During that time, Countrywide told me every week that the check would be sent "next Tuesday", "this Thursday" or whatever.
When no check was received and I called to find out why, I would be told they needed the contractor to submit some form or other, or that they needed to have the house inspected or whatever the "reason of the week" was.
As the house was uninhabitable, I had to stay in a motel and paid the contractor as much as I could to get work started. Countrywide actually told me at one point they wouldn't release the check until they had an inspector come over to make sure the work was already being done (catch 22, anyone?); I told them I couldn't pay for the work AND pay the mortgage.
In April, the contractor called Countrywide because he thought I was lying to him about not having the insurance money yet and Countrywide told HIM that I was in foreclosure! I spoke to Countrywide every week for two months and they never told ME I was in foreclosure, nor notified me by mail.
Several Countrywide employees I spoke to admitted my situation was mishandled after looking at the record of phone calls, but I was never able to speak to the same person twice.
When the money was finally released, it was mailed to an abandonded house in Seattle, Washington (I live in Colorado at the same address the mortgage statement had been sent to for over a year!) I have NEVER lived in Washington.
By the time I received the check, Countrywide would not let me catch up my payments without paying attorney's fees, etc. For foreclosure. I ended up having to hire an attorney to stop foreclosure while I sold my house. Even though the house was sold, Countrywide has reported this as a foreclosure to credit agencies. Because of this fiasco, I lost my house and my business.
Countrywide violated my privacy, probably collected interest on MY insurance money during those months, put me in an impossible situation, then tried to benefit from my misfortune by taking my house. They are vultures.
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