POSTED: Friday, May 13, 2011 - 6:37pm
UPDATED: Tuesday, May 1, 2012 - 10:45am
EL PASO – Losing your job is bad enough. But, losing your home, too? That's the situation one El Paso woman is in. She said Bank of America told her she'd qualify for home loan modification, only to be denied years later. Now, she could lose the roof over her head.
Laura Marquez never thought she'd be in this situation. She said she's been a responsible homeowner for 17 years-- always paying her bills on time. However, she hit a bump in the road back in September 2008, when she got laid-off from her job.
Marquez said when she lost her job, she immediately got in touch with her bank, and was told that she'd qualify for a loan modification.
According to the National Association of Realtors website, the process should take up to 90 days. However, it took Marquez more than two years, and she was recently told that she was denied.
“I feel I was given the runaround from the beginning,” said Marquez.
She said the bank gave her two options: either pay them $14,000, or short sale her home.
"I said, those are not options - that's just giving you my house,” added Marquez.
This left Marquez with very little wiggle room, and for a while, she considered selling her home.
"I was going to sell my house. I had a realtor come over and I said, 'what can I get over my house?' I asked, could I get any equity? I need to move. Now, I can't buy another home. My credit is shot," said Marquez.
With few options on her plate, Marquez decided to get herself a lawyer, who is determined to take her case to court.
"An injustice is being perpetrated upon Laura and countless other people in this community and everywhere. We will take this fight to them," said attorney Richard Roman.
Roman said Marquez's case brings to light a much more serious problem with Bank of America.
“We have obtained some inside information which leads us to believe that Bank of America's loan modification program may be no different than Las Vegas. They're trading, betting on loans," said Roman.
Laura said she's in an unfair situation, and will do what she can, to stay in her home.
“I've put a lot of money into that house. A house takes so much maintenance-- I invested so much."
Newschannel 9 contacted Bank of America numerous times, requesting an interview. Instead, they sent over the following statement:
“A representative of the office of the president will contact Ms. Marquez to ascertain if she wants to resume consideration for a modification at this time"
So, for Laura, this process could drag on even longer.