Lenders Behaving Badly

Until it happened to me I would have had a hard time believing it. And then, when I started to do more and more research out there I realized that this was a problem well underway and affecting millions of people. So let me just walk you through the gist of it only so you are able to see it from another angle.
When my industry hit hard times my income went from a nice six figure to less than $10,000. When the real estate crisis began I did the only thing I knew to do and that was to buy yet another piece of real estate and flip it. I had never been a big fan of "flipping" houses as many people don't come out ahead and it can be a challenging business to maneuver. So here I was attempting to make SOMETHING work for me. My husband did a beautiful job of remodeling this house but unfortunately we picked the wrong neighborhood and the market was on it's way down. Needless to say our great plan turned out to be a big loss!
I did what I thought was responsible. I cashed out everything I had ever saved. I borrowed against my life insurance policy, my son's policy, my 401k and that money went to my lenders for payments. Now in hindsight I can say that this was not a financially prudent thing to do. Had I took all my emotions out of it and looked at my situation from a purely practical standpoint I would have made different choices. But I had always paid my bills on time and kept my credit in good standing. It seemed like the responsible thing to do. I even had a coworker tell me that he was taking a short sale on his house because he didn't want to tap into his nest egg. I just assumed he didn't have one. Because wasn't a nest egg for emergencies? And hadn't the mortgage crisis turned into a financial emergency?
The problem with where I am now sitting is that I have taken my financial life from one of high debt and no assets to very little debt and lots of real estate and a sizable emergency fund. I spent an entire decade learning about money and ways to turn my financial life around. And I did it. All as a single mom. Now I'm in the position of not being able to refinance any property because a) the values have dropped below the debt and b) I have very little income c) oh, and my credit SUCKS! The only option is to have lenders work with me. And that experience has been a joke to say the least.
Let me share with you how insane our system is.  I made a mortgage payment in December. The money cleared my account so I assumed all was well. When I got a call in January informing me that I was 30 days late I let the representative know that I indeed had made my payment. After being transferred to several different people I spoke with one person who told me that I was short on my payment $50 for a "late" fee. Because the payment I sent was short they did NOT apply it to my account. Instead they put it into a "side" account. I didn't even know that was legal. It probably isn't. I sent them the $50 as quick as I could but by this time it was a month later and now I was put into their "bad person" program. Here's how "bad" it got. I have since sent them 2 other payments which they have promptly returned to me telling me that now I'm in foreclosure and they cannot receive any payments from me. ARE YOU KIDDING ME??
The worst part is that every time I call them I am talking to someone in INDIA who has no idea what the laws in America are AND they are only hired to read a script. They cannot assist me. So now I have them transfer me to someone in America and THEY cannot help or assist me in any way. The system is so screwed up and they are taking complete advantage of people. How in the world am I supposed to even talk with someone who can actually assist me? I can't even walk into an office and try to reason with someone because there IS NO OFFICE! If I wasn't as fired up and persistent as I am then this property would end up back on the lenders books.
We are in such a national problem with lenders behaving badly that who knows where this this will end up. I do know that in 50 states the attorney generals are now paying attention to what is really happening to people. There are cases all over with people finally getting fed up with not being treated justly. It wouldn't be such a crime if the banks didn't benefit hugely from the government bailouts that YOU AND I are and will be paying for years to come. At some point it just makes sense to stand up and fight.