Angry Homeowner Calls Out Bank of America with Spray Paint
January 17th, 2012
In a difficult housing market, experts say curb appeal is key but Jonathan Bengel of Phoenix, Arizona took it to whole new level. After a three-year long battle with the Bank of America over his family home, Bengel took a can of spray-paint to his garage door and scrawled, “B of A stole my home!”
Bengel says representatives from Bank of America advised him that he would only qualify for a loan modification if he stopped making his mortgage payments for three months and then called them back. So he did, and then they sent him a foreclosure notice anyway. He called them right away and staff told him it was some kind of paperwork problem, so he started making payments again. But the bank told him he didn’t qualify for a loan modification because he was not making payments, “in a timely manner.”
The bank sure didn’t hesitate to begin prepping the house for resale. Soon the frustrated homeowner found workers repainting his garage door, sent by Bank of America in the cloak of darkness to cover Bengel’s graffiti. They showed him the work order which indicated that Bank of America paid extra to make it a rush job. Of course the bank maintains, even to media inquiry, that the foreclosure has not been completed. Now that’s class. I’m sure it’s just another paperwork problem.
Bengel asks, “If I’m not in foreclosure, why was Bank of America on my property?” But he hasn’t received an answer. He calls it a freedom of speech issue, but really isn’t it a private property issue?
The bank has invited Bengel to resubmit the request for a loan modification, but Bengel says, “I’ve done it three times, with confirmation all three times… I’m not going to play that game with them again, that’s for sure. They have the paperwork necessary. I’m not going to go through these hoops.”
Of course once the story hit the press, suddenly Bank of America reps were calling him. It seems they’d lost the previous requests and they were going to need new paperwork. Well, now Bengel is making some new demands. He had to sign a one year lease on the place he’s renting now. He says, “If I break a contract with this place, I’m responsible for paying them another year’s worth of rent.” So, he wants the bank to pay for that.
In addition, since he moved out, the home has been burglarized. “The washer and dryer were removed, my bikes were gone. In the backyard, the grill was missing, the portable swamp cooler was missing.” (Is a portable swamp cooler a portable cooler for swamps, or a cooler for portable swamps? Nevermind.) It seems the bank left the home completely unlocked, so he wants Bank of America to pay for the missing items as well.
The bank still maintains that the “foreclosure process on this property has not been completed,” but a notice on the door says the home is scheduled to be sold in a trustee sale on March 15th. Sure, they turned his entire life upside down, but it’s just a paperwork problem.
Bengel is considering hiring an attorney to take the bank to court.
