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I was hoping I'd never have to write to The Consumerist about a company giving me grief. I never expected that it would end up being a company that I have absolutely no connections to that forced my hand.
A few months ago, I received an e-mail from Washington Mutual claiming that my online account had been activated. Seeing as how my e-mail address is pretty run of the mill I do get a lot of e-mail from people who either A) have the wrong address or B) are trying to contact people who have given out my e-mail address as their own. This was the latter case, as the fellow who opened the online banking accounts was under the delusion that my e-mail account was actually his for quite some time and I had previously received various e-mails from websites all over the web from him trying to set up accounts.
I opened the e-mail and much to my chagrin there was no opt out link. No "click here to activate the account" link that would mean that if I deleted the e-mail and never clicked the link the poor schmuck trying to borrow my e-mail address would be out of luck. So that meant I needed to call WaMu and explain the situation so my e-mail account wouldn't be tied to this person's account.The first call to customer support was laughable. When I explained the problem to the lady on the other line, she asked for my social security number. Reiterating that I had no account with WaMu, she again asked for my SSN. When I told here I had no intentions of just handing out my number, especially to a company that I did not have a business relationship with, she told me there was nothing she could do for me and that hopefully the person that started the account would, "notice after a few months and change the e-mail address."
I then hit up the Consumerist for WaMu exec information, looking to do an executive email carpet bomb. No e-mail info yet, but I did find the phone number for the WaMu executive response team. I dialed the number and talked to a lady named Rosie Alvarez who listened to my complaint and was willing to help me out. She needed to contact the person with the account in question to change the e-mail first though, and seeing how this looked to be the answer for me I agreed to wait for them to work it out. My mistake. Apparently the dolt who signed up for the online account doesn't pick up the phone, so they have been unable to contact him.
Many months have gone by now, and every month I get an e-mail telling me that my account statement is ready, and every month I call Mrs. Alvarez back asking her to remove my e-mail address from the person's account. I'm tired of being the nice guy, hoping that this will work itself out in the end. I'm not a customer of WaMu, so they have no incentive to make me happy. What steps can I take next to try and get this resolved?
Ryan Since you use gmail, we suggest you set up an email filter that automatically deletes email from WaMu so that it never reaches your inbox. (See our above illustration.) We recommend this because WaMu has no business relationship with you, and there's really nothing they can do about your request for someone else to change the email address listed on their account.
It may seem silly to you, but how does WaMu know that you're not a scammer of some kind? The other Ryan is just lucky that his account statements are going to a nice, honest person such as yourself.
New York Attorney General, Andrew Cuomo has subpoenaed the nation's two largest financiers of home mortgages, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in his investigation into the "systemic fraud" that has infected the business of real estate appraisals.
From the AG's office:
Today's announcement marks the latest expansion of Cuomo's industry-wide investigation of mortgage fraud. Last week, Cuomo filed suit against First American Corporation (NYSE: FAF), and its subsidiary eAppraiseIt, one of the nation's largest real estate appraisal management companies, for colluding with Washington Mutual to inflate the appraisal values of homes.
"In order to fulfill their duty to consumers and investors, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac must ensure that Washington Mutual's mortgages have not been corrupted by inflated appraisals," said Attorney General Cuomo. "Our expanding investigation into the mortgage industry has uncovered that Washington Mutual improperly pressured appraisers to provide inflated values that best served the lender's interest. Knowing this, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac cannot afford to continue buying Washington Mutual mortgages unless they are sure these loans are based on reliable and independent appraisals." The AG's office requested information about all of the mortgage loans Frannie Mae and Freddie Mac have purchased from any bank, including WaMu, and the mortgage backed securities associated with those loans, in addition to various other information about appraisals and valuations from originating lenders.
WaMu sold $27.7 billion dollars in loans to Frannie Mae and Freddie Mac in 2007, according to the AG.
"The integrity of our mortgage system depends on independent appraisers," said Cuomo. "Washington Mutual compromised the fairness of this system by illegally pressuring appraisers to provide inflated values. Every company that buys loans from Washington Mutual must be sure that the loans they purchased are not corrupted by this systemic fraud."
The President of the Appraisal Institute offered a quote for the AG's press release:
"I wish I could say I am shocked by the discoveries made by the Attorney General and his staff. Sadly, what allegedly happened between First American and Washington Mutual is not an isolated incident. Rather, it is symbolic of a problem that has plagued the appraisal industry for years," said Terry Dunkin, President of the Appraisal Institute. "As the allegations against First American show, the mortgage industry's dirty secret has been that banks exert tremendous pressure to extort appraisers."
New York Attorney General, Andrew Cuomo, announced today that he's suing one of the nation's largest real estate appraisal firms for conspiring with Washington Mutual to artificially inflate appraisals.
WaMu is accused of providing First American with a list of "Proven Appraisers" who had a track record of bringing in more expensive appraisals. According to law, real estate appraisals are supposed to be independent in order to avoid the obvious conflict of interest between lender and appraiser. Cuomo says internal emails prove the company knew that their actions were illegal, but caved to pressure from WaMu in order to secure future business from the lender.
"The independence of the appraiser is essential to maintaining the integrity of the mortgage industry. First American and eAppraiseIT violated that independence when Washington Mutual strong-armed them into a system designed to rip off homeowners and investors alike," said Cuomo in a statement. "The blatant actions of First American and eAppraiseIT have contributed to the growing foreclosure crisis and turmoil in the housing market. By allowing Washington Mutual to hand-pick appraisers who inflated values, First American helped set the current mortgage crisis in motion."
The emails the AG's office quotes in the statement are damning. Here they are:
- On February 22, 2007, in response to a description of the WaMu "Proven Appraiser" program as one in which "we will now assign all Wamu's work to Wamu's 'Proven Appraisers'... [and] Performance ratings to retain position as a Wamu Proven Appraiser will be based on how many come in on value," eAppraiseIT's president told senior executives at First American: "we have agreed to roll over and just do it..."
- On April 4, 2007, eAppraiseIT's executive vice president stated in an e-mail to First American: "we as an AMC [Appraisal Management Company] need to retain our independence from the lender or it will look like collusion... eAppraiseIT is clearly being directed who to select. The reasoning... is bogus for many reasons including the most