Expert: Dick Dennis - 12/8/2007

Question
I am currently serving in Afghanistan. I recently applied for a mortgage and was turned down. I already have one house in Tennessee and a mortgage. As it turns out while I have been deployed my mortgage company claims to have sent a request to my home insurance company to verify my insurance coverage. My insurance company claims to have not received this request. My mortgage company claims to have sent me two correspondences back about September, but being in Afghanistan, I have not received them. They did this because I use have my own insurance that is not escrowed. They then put "force placed" insurance on my mortgage. I do my banking and bill paying online and was never made aware of this. They pretty much, as I understand, used all the money from my escrow, which as it turns out was set up to be used for my insurance and taxes, but hasn't been since 2006. Well, they have reported me to the credit bureau as being 60 days delinquent, which I am not. I was just recently turned down for another mortgage because of this. I have been trying to get this taken care of for over two weeks and have made more phone calls than I can count. I keep getting the run around because everytime I call I have tell the whole story to someone new and I have limited time on the phones. I have spoken with their customer service, their insurance, and their mortgage departments. I need to get my credit repaired as quickly as possible and get my life straightened out. Do I have the right to take them to court over this. Is there anything I can do to save my name. How can I get this all straightened out?

Answer
It would seem to me, Cory, you should be taking the matter to Military attorney or JAG. This will probably drag out more than you would expect (you know all about "hurry up and wait.") Do you have any kin to take control of this matter? You will probably have to give that person a power of attorney to help to smooth all this out. With the notorious slow military mail, I would think that would be another reason to have a kin to help you in this. I do wish you well, Cory.