Taylor Bean & Whitaker Customers Using ‘Equity Accelerator’ Program
Added October 7, 2009 by Sarah Schaale
Summary: Taylor Bean & Whitaker Update: October 7, 2009 -- For Taylor Bean & Whitaker customers who have been having trouble with their escrow payments and a program called Equity Accelerator we have an update on how to handle your payments with Taylor Bean & Whitaker. Below we have tips from the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance on how to cancel Equity Accelerator and handle your escrow payments with Taylor Bean & Whitaker.
Taylor Bean & Whitaker customers using ‘Equity Accelerator’ program
We have gotten scores of comments and questions from Taylor Bean and Whitaker customers who had been taking advantage of the bank’s “equity accelerator” program – an auto withdrawal designed to pay off your mortgage quicker. After TB&W’s collapse, many readers have sounded off that those payments are still being taken out, but not credited to any account. In fact, some are getting notices from their new lender that their mortgage payments are months behind, even though they’ve continued to be withdrawn.
While it’s not too reassuring to not see those payments being credited, Sandra Sheley, director of mortgage supervision for the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance, says those payments will be sorted out in time. “They do have the records,” Sheley says. “It’s not as if it’s fallen into a black hole. It’s just a matter of being reconciled.”
Those reconciliations are a part of the negotiations scheduled to be completed by Oct. 31. So what can Equity Accelerator customers do in the meantime? Sheley offered some advice:
- Cancel your Equity Accelerator payments. “Everyone is looking at trying to get the funds directed at the right place, but it’s kind of in limbo. If it were me, I wouldn’t want any other payments to go through,” Sheley says. That will be less for you to sort out later.
In a rather unscientific experiment, Think Glink called Equity Accelerator at (800) 549-6445, and while we couldn’t get any answers, the customer service representative who answered the call assured us that that was the number to call to cancel the program for TBW customers.
If you’re unable to cancel your payment through Equity Accelerator, the bank holding your deposit account (where the payment comes from) should be able to stop they payment as well.
Contact your new lender and explain to them that you were in the Equity Accelerator program, and that your payments have been frozen between Equity Accelerator and TB&W. Tell them you want to be off of the Equity Accelerator program in the future. If your new lender has told you you’re behind on payments, Sheley says to ask for forbearance on those amounts until the Equity Accelerator issue can be resolved.
Keep all of your paperwork. Put a stop to any payments that aren’t being credited if you can, but keep the records to show that you’ve been paying them.
While it’s difficult to understand how this will all work out, Sheley emphasized the importance of continuing your mortgage payments. “Everyone should have gotten a letter as to who is handling their mortgage now,” she says, and that lender should still be receiving your payments.
If you’re trying to find out where your “in limbo” payments are now, the best advice is to wait it out. Don’t miss any payments, keep all records, and by Oct. 31 we can hope to be up to speed as to how to handle the next steps.
Escrow accounts from Taylor Bean loans
Some good news, Sheley said, is that many of the loan servicers that have taken over TBW loans are “biting the bullet” and paying escrow accounts to ensure customers don’t lose their insurance.
If your loan servicer isn’t included in that, unfortunately, Sheley says that’s another piece of the puzzle set to be determined by Oct. 31 as well.
Please leave your comments a[Taylor Bean & Whitaker Customers Using ‘Equity Accelerator’ Program the bottom of the page. We're continually trying to find answers to your questions about Taylor Bean & Whitaker. Read the related articles below with more comments from fellow readers who are struggling with Taylor Bean & Whitaker.
Taylor Bean & Whitaker Customers Using ‘Equity Accelerator’ Program
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Comments
Denise says
It's Nov. 5. Why hasn't my "frozen" payment been credited to my mortgage yet?
Tracy says
I would like to know if progress was made and when my payment will be sent back to me, as I cancelled the Equity Accelerator program over a month ago and have also refinanced with a different lender than Cenlar (the servicer our loan was sold to when TBW went under). Please let me know!
Clinton says
Bank of America is threatening me with foreclosure, if i don't send in the september payment that tbw took out of my account. they want it before November 30. I don't have the extra money right now, so i hope a judge will put a stop to this!
ckap1 says
My mortgage is now owned by Bank of America and they have been great to work with seeing as $1700 of mine is in a frozen account that was part of the Equity Accelerator program. I just talked to a TB&W rep yesterday about my money. I was told the courts have not released the Equity Accelerator accounts, only paper checks that were frozen. They do not know when this will happen as the courts are releasing accounts in steps. I was told to call back weekly for updates. Eventually the funds will go where needed but TB&W could not give me any sort of time frame. If you are missing money and behind on your payments, talk to Bank of America weekly as they have not charged me any late fees or reported anything negative to the credit bureaus. They are aware of the situation and willing to work with you even with the 60 day grace period being expired.
Bob says
I am trying so hard to understand what processes are occuring and of course the Equity Accelerator people who were charging us for the service they were providing are denying any culpability for the frozen payments. No one anywhere can explain why Taylor Bean was consistantly given the witheld funds to "play" with long after our loans were sold. Mine was sold to Wells Fargo. Wells Fargo uses Equity Accelerator programs as well. It seems that a transfer of the account should have been made at the time the loans were sold. I guess what spins me up the most is the 3rd world callcenter Taylor Bean is hiding behind. These poor schmucks in the call center have been giving me the same broken english excuse since August. After 3 months, I have my monthly's under control again but I don't see where anyone is under pressure to move this problem closer to resolution. I am considering a class action suit against the Equity Accelerator people as they should have some responsibility in this situation as they were profiting from the transfer of the mortgage funds. I find it hard to believe that they have no liability whatsoever in this matter. At least the presentation of possible legal action should get someone to free up information as to what is going on behind the scenes. I have an appointment next week with a law firm that specializes in these matters. I will know more then as to what rights we have in getting to our frozen assets.
tonyc says
I had been getting the same rhetoric as posted here. After reading comments posted on another site, I called the Equity Accelerator program folks. They told me that the funds were still there and that they were waiting for approval from the bankruptcy court to give them approval to release the funds. Then they would contact me to ask how to return the funds. They expected this authorization in the coming week. This contradicts what TBW has told me, which was the checks were sent two weeks ago to the new servicer. Of course, the new service cannot confirm or deny this. I don't know who to believe anymore.
Wally says
I have been getting the same runaround from Equity Accelerator as everyone else. A month ago I got a letter stating that the $900 that had been sitting in limbo was now available. Of course, the letter hoped that I would continue to use them as my middle man for an equity building program! Nice try. So I called not too soon after receiving the letter to have this $900 refunded back into the checking account it had been automatically drafted from. Everyone was very clear with "Roger" on the phone over in India that this money would be returned promptly. 3 weeks later today, still no $900 showing up in my checking account. So I called this 3rd world call center for probably the 20th time again today, only to have them inform me that the letter they sent me saying the money could be released was a MISTAKE; and the person I talked to saying the money would be refunded to my checking account had been MISTAKEN. Of course, they saw no need to inform me of this MISTAKE, either by phone or letter. Their story, once again, is that the monies haven't been freed up by the Bankruptcy Court, the same story they have been pushing for 4 months - and that they have no word when the monies will be freed up. I feel strongly that they are using this opportunity to just sit on everybody's money, collecting what profit they can off of it. There seems to be no one MAKING them be accountable. I would certainly be willing to sign on to a class action suit. They really shouldn't be allowed to get away with 1) making these funds vulnerable to TB&W's malfeasance 2) and claiming that the funds are tied up in Bankruptcy with no compunction to inform their affected customers promptly and regularly off any updates in the situation. They really could care less and we seem to have no recourse. It's beyond infuriating!