Utahns struggling to pay a Bank of America mortgage are invited to meet face-to-face with bank employees Thursday through Saturday in Salt Lake City and Ogden.
The event is intended to provide a way for an estimated 4,800 Wasatch Front homeowners behind on their BofA mortgages — or who may be in that situation soon — to request a loan modification, a bank spokeswoman said.
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Event details
When » 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Thursday through Saturday.
Where » Grand America Hotel, 555 S. Main St., Salt Lake City, and Ogden Eccles Conference Center, 2415 Washington Blvd., Ogden
To sign up » Bank of America customers can register to participate by going online to www.bankofamerica.com/homeownerevent or calling toll-free 1-855-201-7426. Appointments are preferred and are available from 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. each day. Walk-ins are welcome.
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"We’ll have underwriters on site who can look through loan documents and provide a decision during the event," spokeswoman L. CaCera Richmond said. "Many people will get an answer (about their loan modification) that day."
In a loan modification, a lender agrees to change the terms of a loan, such as lowering a borrower’s interest rate, loan amount or both in an effort to make the monthly payment more affordable.
The event is among dozens being conducted nationwide by BofA in an effort to help address the effects of the nation’s foreclosure crisis and to do a bit of image-mending. BofA, the largest home loan servicer in Utah, has been criticized for the way it has dealt with customers struggling to repay its mortgages.
The Utah event will run from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily, Thursday through Saturday, at both the Grand America Hotel, 555 S. Main St., Salt Lake City, and Ogden Eccles Conference Center, 2415 Washington Blvd., Ogden. There is no cost to attend.
Bank of America customers can register online at www.bankofamerica.com/homeownerevent or by calling toll-free, 855-201-7426. Appointments are preferred and are available from 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. each day, but walk-ins are welcome, Richmond said.
Richmond underscored that people who are already behind on their mortgage or those who are headed that way may attend the event. She also said it may take up to several hours for a borrower to work through a modification request with a Bank of America employee.
Many loan modification requests made by borrowers to banks are initiated and managed via phone, which has left many frustrated. The event could prove valuable because it provides an opportunity for face-to-face interaction, said Jennifer Rohn of credit counseling agency AAA Fair Credit, based in Salt Lake City.
She said representatives of her agency will be at the BofA event to provide free credit counseling.
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