Bank Of America Admits It Shouldn't Have Put Customer In Default After She Paid Mortgage Off

Here’s a happy update to the story of the Illinois woman who got trapped in the Bank of America labyrinth after deciding to pay off her mortgage more than two decades early.

The homeowner has finally received it in writing from BofA that they were in error when they not only refused to recognize that her mortgage had been paid, but then tacked on late fees and ultimately put her loan in default.

However, since the woman’s credit report has been tainted by the erroneous default, it could take up to two months for the mistake to be erased from her credit reports. And it could also be a month until she finally receives the deed to the house, even though she made her final payment in November.

The bigger issue is that she had to turn to the Chicago Tribune’s Problem Solvers column to get help after months of being ignored by Bank of America:

The main reason for my originally getting [the Tribune] involved is that prior to that, no one would take ownership of the problem or sign their name to anything… I was forced to deal with multiple departments who had no authority to do anything until another side of the problem was fixed. And some of the answers I got were ludicrous.

Bank cleans up mess; huge TV arrives [Chicago Tribune]

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