Category: Tips

What gives when Chase calls you to offer a short sale?

We recently received this comment from a reader:

Hello, I have a property which was a 2nd home. My brother-in-law and I bought it 7 years ago in Nevada. A few years back I started covering my brother-in-laws share. I’am about six months unpaid and presently the property is in foreclosure. I have sent no paper-work as request since it is biased. Well around 2-months ago during the foreclosure I got a call from a Chase rep. on a Sat. morn. stating that I qualfied for a short-sell. He asked me if I wanted to proceed and to select from a list of real estate brokers they have used in the area or if I had an agent. I said I have a real estate agent and set a conference call between the rep, agent, and I. We just had an offer and I accpeted, though now they want me to sign my life away. The document they sent me is called a request for consideration of Short sell? They requested the and even set-up the short sell to me, and they offered me a 25.000.00 check upon closing with no forbearance. Have you heard of people not giving any paperwork and going this far?  This is very misleading! Should I get a lawyer?

Here is my advice:

Get a lawyer!  Chase is a sneaky bank and it is more likely than not that this will benefit them somehow.

For one, Nevada appears to be a state that allows for a deficiency judgement, which means that they can go after you for the amount you ow in excess of that paid on the loan through the short sale.  California by comparison is a state where you can not be held liable for additional debt as a result of a short sale or foreclosure.

Until Chase either forecloses or the property is sold, they can’t do anything to go after you for the unpaid loan balance.  For agreeing to a short sale, you allow them to move forward on obtaining a deficiency judgement and going after more of your assets.

Furthermore, Nevada appears to be a one-action recourse state, which means that they can either foreclose on your property, or sue you to recover the unpaid debt, but not both.  By agreeing to the short sale, you are allowing them to sue you for the unpaid debt whereas otherwise they would not be able to if they foreclosed on the property.

Let me repeat my first remark – get a lawyer, preferably one familiar with Nevada law.

Chase litigation help

Reader Bob writes:

I am in litigation v Chase.  My premise is that Chase incentivized employees in modification and foreclosure departments to my detriment.  If anyone can speak to this issue, please respond ASAP.

If anyone can help, please contact us through our contact form or leave information in the comments.

Getting harassed by Chase? Here’s how to stop the calls

This is certainly worth a try:

I just found this out, Chase hates it when you tape record their conversations. When you speak with them they tell you they are recording the call. If you tell them you are recording the call. They will not talk with you. I suggest we all start taping them. They hate it

SPAM IP list

For any webmasters out there, here is our list of IP addresses that have attempted to create comment SPAM.

How to get a check cashed for free at Chase (for non-customers)

Chase charges non-customers $5 or more to cash a check drawn on Chase Ban in the branch.  Here’s how one creative non-customer got one cashed for free.

My previous employer used Chase. One day I took my paycheck into the branch from which the check was written. They wanted to charge me $5 to cash that check. It’s my money, or at the very least, my employers money. Why should Chase get a cut?

I asked to speak to the branch manager to see if he would waive the policy. I mentioned that Walmart would cash the check for only $3. I asked how it was possible for Walmart to cash a Chase check at less cost than Chase, the bank (and branch) from which the check originated? The manager actually told me he didn’t know and didn’t care, and that perhaps I should go to Walmart and ask them!

He then said that if I opened a Chase account, I could get my check cashed for free. I thought about this for a moment, and said sure!

I opened a Chase acct. with $100 from the cashed check, and left. I went to a nearby store and grabbed a soda, then walked back into Chase (no more than 10 minutes later) and closed my account. I made a point of thanking the branch manager for the free check cashing service, and promised to tell all my friends and family about my experiences with Chase.

Thank YOU for the opportunity to repeat my story here today.

Why you should dump Chase for a credit union

In response to a recent post of ours on how Chase is doing away with the “free” part of the former WaMu free checking accounts, came this comment, which so beautifully lays out a case for why Chase is worth dumping for a more reasonable financial institution, like a credit union.

I got my Chase letter too.  As soon as Chase took over WAMU, I closed my savings account because it went to .01% (thats $1 a year for $1000 deposit) from 1.75% with no notice.

One thing to watch out with Chase when you close an account with them: the account data is IMMEDIATELY removed from the internet.  You can’t get any information or statements without paying Chase, after you close the account.  Make sure you print everything you might need before closing it.

I have one item left at Chase, a credit card I’ve had for over 10 years.  I wonder when they will get me to close that as well with some stupid new program or fee.

I use my local credit union for almost all of my financial stuff now, after WAMU disappeared into the great Chase bank vault, so I really won’t even notice not having a Chase account for ATM use, since I have several credit union ATMs nearby.  I can’t ever see why I would trust ANY of the big banks with any significant money every again.

To avoid skimmers, hide your PIN when using an ATM

Here is some footage police recovered from an actual pinhole camera that thieves installed at an ATM in the UK.  You can clearly see that covering up the keypad when entering your PIN is an effective way to thwart thieves from getting your PIN.

While they might still skim your card number, and be able to attempt to charge your card using credit mode, it will keep them from using your debit card/PIN combination.  This is important because some banks, especially Chase, have proven to be much less forgiving when it come to protecting you against debit card fraud when your PIN number is used.  If your card is used along with the PIN number, Chase may claim that you made the charge personally.

Dealing with zombie debt

An excellent article in the October issue of Consumer Report discusses what they call zombie debt – debt that is very old and may have been resold many times to many debt collection agencies.

Importantly, the article has some information on debt that you may not know:

Statutes of limitations exist on the length of time a collector has to sue a debtor, as do restrictions on reporting the debt to a credit agency. But there’s no time limit on the sale of debt. And many states let debt collectors revive a debt that’s past the statute of limitations if they persuade the consumer to make a payment.

The fact that various statutes of limitations apply to old debt makes it even more troubling to see Chase confiscating funds to satisfy old debts, valid or not, without any warning, notice, or opportunity to challenge the validity of the debt.  Often times this old debt is from companies that Chase has acquired over the years and the details of the debt may not be recorded properly.

If you have funds confiscated by Chase I urge you to challenge them as to the validity of the debt and investigate the statutes of limitations that may apply in your state and at a federal level.  Every challenge to this practice makes it less profitable for Chase.

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