Bank Fraud and Foreclosure - any other victims? Advice?

[Elizabeth M.]

Our Historic Wash Park Renovation Investment was sure to make us an easy profit. It's a beautiful 2 story on the park. We used a bank for a construction loan we had used before. But, when the budget was mysteriously depleted, and no one could make sense of the numbers, the bank began blaming the builder, and the builder began blaming us. Per the bank's request, we put everything we had into this home, anticipating a $800,000 to $1 MIl profit. But instead of the expected refinancing, the bank served us with Foreclosure papers and reported us to the Credit Bureaus on the last day of the loan terms. Even without 1 missed payment or any other cause, the banks have this option, and the Homeowner can do NOTHING about it. We all know lenders don't give loans away to people with bad credit, but the credit is ONLY bad because of the loan the bank reported when it reached maturity, instead of the promised HELOC and refinance. While searching for answers as to WHY a bank would do this, we have discovered numerous unrecognizable withdrawals and debits from the holding account they were using to pay the builder. However, this claim will require months of discovery and thousands in attorney fees + forensic accounting fees to prove it through the system. Meanwhile, the bank can foreclose on our property simply because they CAN. With close to $1Mil in equity, they matured the construction loan, report us as delinquent, causing us to lose any chance of financing, and stole from our loan throughout the process. Homeowners are helpless! Has anyone else experienced this CORRUPT system? ANY ADVICE?

[Bill S.]

Personally I would get a hard money loan and sue the bank for the costs. You mentioned, "no mater what it takes, we will fight them and fight for what is right." If there is truly $1M in equity at stake, then the question becomes, Do you want to be wealthy or right? Personally, I would choose wealthy in your situation. Cash out the bank with a hard money loan. Sue them after the fact and let the lawyers work it out.

All that said, we only have your half of the story and it's my experience that banks, as greedy as they are, don't want to foreclose and own property. For example it's pretty easy to have $1M in equity disappear if there was a small but continuous water leak on an upper floor that runs for days or months without notice. Banks know that bad stuff happens to property in foreclosure and there are so many ways for them to loose that it's not a route they are likely to take if there are other options.