I'm from the Government...
Tuesday, May 4th, 2004 12:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rolanniCaution. Rant ahead.
Twelve years ago, while I was employed as a copy editor for the daily paper and Steve as children's/research librarian at the Oakland Public Library, we determined that it was time to buy a house.
We contacted a realtor -- a former social worker committed to getting people into houses. He in turn put us in contact with the Maine State Housing Authority, which at the time granted low-interest loans to first-time home buyers, but our income was too high to qualify. He then put us in contact with the Federal Government's Farmers Home Administration, which had a sliding-scale scheme. Under that program, we qualified for a loan, and matters proceeded.
About two months into the process, my job at the newspaper evaporated, taking with it, so we thought, our immediate prospects of home ownership. Surprise! When I called our contact at FHA and explained the tragedy, her only comment was, "Well, I guess we'll have to give you a lower payment rate."
Long story short, we bought the house.
Now, the RHS sliding scale scheme requires mortgagees to "re-qualify" every year-to-eighteen months by submitting income tax returns and check stubs. The monthly payment is then adjusted. In the beginning, FHA provided a coupon book, with the date of payment due printed on each. Every month, we would dutifully tear out the coupon and send in the payment.
Funny thing about those coupons, though. Some years, there were eleven in the book; some years, thirteen. It all averaged out to twelve, though, and I figured the Government knew what it was doing.
Not bright, I know.
Five years and several reorganizations into the tale, we received a Very Stern Letter from FHA, now the Rural Housing Service, informing us that our payments had been Irregular and we were several thousand dollars in arrears. Much discussion at all levels of bureaucracy occurred, and Congresscritters were brought into play. When the dust settled, it was revealed that, yes, the coupon books had been compiled badly, and the Government was wrong. But we were still in arrears and those several thousand dollars were due now. We didn't have those several thousand dollars. Mediation by a Congresscritter produced a payment plan and a promise that this would Never Happen Again.
Hah.
Hah, I say.
Fast-forward to February 2004. A certified letter and a street mail letter arrives from RHS (now going by the nom d'extortion USDA Rural Housing Service Centralized Servicing Center) informing us that, yes, we are several thousand dollars in arrears and the amount is due immediately. This time, they admit up-front that theirs is the error, but the responsibility to "repair" the error is ours.
This is accompanied by a request that we notify RHS every time our income changes. Uh-huh. So, like, we haven't been paid since October, does that count? Didn't think so.
Phone calls are made. Ah, says the helpful lady in St. Louis (in one of the reorganizations, all the Maine offices were closed), if you're still living in the house, there's No Problem! We'll just add the "debt" back into your principle. There's only a little bit of paperwork to do.
The paperwork involves signing a letter absolving the government of all wrongdoing for this and future errors and giving them the unilateral right to "re-amortize" our loan. We adjusted the language, crossing out the "future errors" nonsense, signed the letter and sent it back.
In the meantime, we receive our monthly bill (no more coupons), in which the thousands under discussion are reflected in the monthly payment due. Phone call. The less-than-helpful young lady in St. Louis explains to me that "if you hadn't gotten in arrears" this problem would never have happened and maybe this experience will teach us to pay our bills. Phone is slammed down; receiver doesn't break. They're making some tough plastic these days.
Yesterday, we received our first bill/accounting since the "re-amortization". Payment due in St. Louis on May 8. Late charge kicks in on May 23.
I soooo want to get out of this mortgage and into a bank loan.
End of rant.
******
More words put down yesterday on The Nameless. Terrible Things(tm) have happened, setting up Things Even More Terrible(R) in future. Very bizarre story. And not done yet, obviously.
Twelve years ago, while I was employed as a copy editor for the daily paper and Steve as children's/research librarian at the Oakland Public Library, we determined that it was time to buy a house.
We contacted a realtor -- a former social worker committed to getting people into houses. He in turn put us in contact with the Maine State Housing Authority, which at the time granted low-interest loans to first-time home buyers, but our income was too high to qualify. He then put us in contact with the Federal Government's Farmers Home Administration, which had a sliding-scale scheme. Under that program, we qualified for a loan, and matters proceeded.
About two months into the process, my job at the newspaper evaporated, taking with it, so we thought, our immediate prospects of home ownership. Surprise! When I called our contact at FHA and explained the tragedy, her only comment was, "Well, I guess we'll have to give you a lower payment rate."
Long story short, we bought the house.
Now, the RHS sliding scale scheme requires mortgagees to "re-qualify" every year-to-eighteen months by submitting income tax returns and check stubs. The monthly payment is then adjusted. In the beginning, FHA provided a coupon book, with the date of payment due printed on each. Every month, we would dutifully tear out the coupon and send in the payment.
Funny thing about those coupons, though. Some years, there were eleven in the book; some years, thirteen. It all averaged out to twelve, though, and I figured the Government knew what it was doing.
Not bright, I know.
Five years and several reorganizations into the tale, we received a Very Stern Letter from FHA, now the Rural Housing Service, informing us that our payments had been Irregular and we were several thousand dollars in arrears. Much discussion at all levels of bureaucracy occurred, and Congresscritters were brought into play. When the dust settled, it was revealed that, yes, the coupon books had been compiled badly, and the Government was wrong. But we were still in arrears and those several thousand dollars were due now. We didn't have those several thousand dollars. Mediation by a Congresscritter produced a payment plan and a promise that this would Never Happen Again.
Hah.
Hah, I say.
Fast-forward to February 2004. A certified letter and a street mail letter arrives from RHS (now going by the nom d'extortion USDA Rural Housing Service Centralized Servicing Center) informing us that, yes, we are several thousand dollars in arrears and the amount is due immediately. This time, they admit up-front that theirs is the error, but the responsibility to "repair" the error is ours.
This is accompanied by a request that we notify RHS every time our income changes. Uh-huh. So, like, we haven't been paid since October, does that count? Didn't think so.
Phone calls are made. Ah, says the helpful lady in St. Louis (in one of the reorganizations, all the Maine offices were closed), if you're still living in the house, there's No Problem! We'll just add the "debt" back into your principle. There's only a little bit of paperwork to do.
The paperwork involves signing a letter absolving the government of all wrongdoing for this and future errors and giving them the unilateral right to "re-amortize" our loan. We adjusted the language, crossing out the "future errors" nonsense, signed the letter and sent it back.
In the meantime, we receive our monthly bill (no more coupons), in which the thousands under discussion are reflected in the monthly payment due. Phone call. The less-than-helpful young lady in St. Louis explains to me that "if you hadn't gotten in arrears" this problem would never have happened and maybe this experience will teach us to pay our bills. Phone is slammed down; receiver doesn't break. They're making some tough plastic these days.
Yesterday, we received our first bill/accounting since the "re-amortization". Payment due in St. Louis on May 8. Late charge kicks in on May 23.
I soooo want to get out of this mortgage and into a bank loan.
End of rant.
******
More words put down yesterday on The Nameless. Terrible Things(tm) have happened, setting up Things Even More Terrible(R) in future. Very bizarre story. And not done yet, obviously.
