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My First Chapter 13 Mortgage Mediation: A Waste Of Time Because Bank Unprepared

I was involved in my first mortgage modification today under the Orlando bankruptcy court’s mortgage mediation program for Chapter 13 debtors. The scheduled mediation was a complete waste of time.

The bankruptcy court issued its newly adopted standard mediation order requiring attendance of a bank representative with full settlement authority. A mediation conference was scheduled at the office of the creditor’s attorneys. Before the scheduled mediation conference my office prepared a notebook containing all of the debtor’s relevant financial information such as pay stubs, bank statements etc. My client, I , and the mediator (a bankruptcy attorney himself) showed up on time at the designated location. The location was a 35 minute drive to and from my office and about the same distance from my client’s location.

When we all sat down to begin discussions the bank (Bank of America) representative announces he is unable to proceed with the mediation because he does not have escrow information from his own bankruptcy department. He says the bank will need a few days to acquire their own data and compute offers to present my client. The mediation is continued; the meeting adjourns with nothing accomplished. A total waste of two hours of time for my client and myself.

The mediation program is new. Some snafues will occur. What really ticked me off, however, was that the BOA representative did not even apologize for ruining a mediation conference scheduled mutually in advanced pursuant to a court order. Not one word of apology or regret for BOA's  lack of preparation. Don't they teach their employees manners? Who do they expect is going to pay for my time and the time my client took off from work? I may address that issue later in this bankruptcy.

So, if you are getting ready for  a Chapter 13 mortgage mediation do not assume the bank representative will be prepared at the scheduled conference. I will for all future mediation conferences confirm in writing prior to the meeting that the bank and their attorney have all the information they need from the debtor, and that they also have all the information from their own records which they need to proceed. Unless the bank attorney confirms their total and complete readiness to mediate with my client I am not getting up from my desk.  I've  wasted enough of my time.