Mr. Brian T. Moynihan
BANK OF AMERICA
100 N. Tyron Street
Charlotte, N. Carolina 28255
Dear Mr. Moynihan,
THINK-a-little, Mr. MOYNIHAN. That’s right and you really ought to as now it is quite apparent that the two law firms representing Bank of America – Blank Rome, LLP., and Shuping, Morse & Ross, LLP., have yet to acknowledge letters which were dated on Presidents’ Day – February 20, 2012.
Your famous three words, “think a little” caught my attention. These three words were inscribed on the ring binder which was recently mailed to your office consisting of twelve sections enlisting all the details of an epic struggle by an American family to obtain the much-needed “Home Loan Modification.” The truth of the matter is that this blog has been created to highlight the struggles of an American homeowner who lived in the same home for twenty-five (25) years, and has been a long time customer of Bank of America for close to twenty (20) years.
Thomas J. Watson, Sr., the founder of IBM, once elaborated on his motto “Think” as follows:
“All the problems of the world could be settled easily if men were only
willing to think. The trouble is that men very often resort to all sorts
of devices in order not to think, because thinking is such hard work.”
True indeed. All the wise leaders, politicians, legislatures and bankers of this great country of ours were not “thinking” when they crafted the rules and regulations of “Making Homes Affordable.” What was amiss was an inclusion of a special preference to be given to those distressed American homeowners who lived in the same home for more than two decades.
Mr. Moynihan, kindly allow me to give you a brief introduction about this humble writer, Mohammed Rafiq Lodhia. I came to the United States of America as a student in September 1970. After studying for one year at the Michigan Technological University, it became known to me that I was not scholastically able to continue with my education and decided to move to New York City. Being a drop-out, in 1971, I took up an offer from Abe Katz, an NYPD Sargeant and a owner of Sarge’s Delicatessen, to work as “A Delivery Boy.” From there, I went on to work as “An Executive Waiter” at Morgan Stanley located in the Rockfeller Center. In the executive dining room, I served our nation’s finest investment bankers, Mr. Frank Petito, Mr. Robert Baldwin, Mr. Richard Fisher, Mr. Robert Greenhill, Mr. S. Parker Gilbert and many more executives. At one given time, I served Mr. Henry Morgan who dropped by one day to have lunch with his friends and colleagues at Morgan Stanley.
http://www.morganstanley.com/about/company/timeline/index.html#/leader
Those were the good old days, Mr. Moynihan. Thinking and reflecting upon the yesteryears and comparing them to the massive bailouts of our nations’ largest banks which have taken place in recent times is truly mind-boggling so to speak. All you need to do is to browse the website:
http://thefinancialbrand.com/22274/ethical-issues-lawsuits-plague-bank-of-america/
You will notice the following headline: “Ethical Issues and Lawsuits Plague BofA’s Brand.” The first paragraph reads as follows:
“Looking at BofA’s track record in court, it seems BofA has
a history of abusing all its key constituencies. At some point
or another over the last 10 years, BofA has been accused
of sticking it to their customers, their shareholders, investors,
the government and even their own employees.”
“Litany of litigations” and nothing else. What a shame? Gordon Gekko played by Michael Douglas in the movie “Wall Street,” had one thing right in his speech, that is, “The new law of evolution in corporate America seems to be survival of the un–fittest.” Just take a close look at this blog “americanhomeowner.wordpress.com” and after carefully reviewing it, you will not be able to raise the fingers on any critics let alone Bank of America customers at large. Three years of fighting tooth and nail for a “Home Loan Modification” turned out to be an absolute nightmare for “The Lodhia Family.” Can you believe it?
From having a Grade Point Average of 0.64, 1.43 and 1.69 at Michigan Tech to be followed by a sudden jump in one semester to 3.90 at the Long Island University is not something one should brag about. Surely, Bank of America consists of many senior Vice Presidents with a much higher level of intelligence, college degrees and fully capable of collectively addressing the prevailing housing crisis by helping countless American homeowners who are in dire need of a “Home Loan Modification.” On the contrary, one only gets amazed to read such headlines as “Bank of America declares living customer dead for last three years.”
http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/319440
May I politely ask, Mr. Moynihan, how many of Bank of America’s most senior executives read Peter Drucker’s books? For those who did not care to read the writings of Peter Drucker, it will certainly be wise to “Think-a-little” over the last paragraph of the obituary column found in The Economist magazine dated November 15, 2005 as follows:
“Asked which management books he paid attention to, Bill Gates
once replied, “Well, Drucker of course,” before citing a few lesser
mortals. Management theory has not evolved into the world’s
most rigorous or enticing intellectual discipline. But in Peter Drucker
it at least found a champion whom every educated person should
take the trouble to read.”
Remember, it was none other than Peter Drucker who proclaimed “The Computer Is A Moron.” Click on “Comedy of Errors” on this blog and you will instantly notice a near perfect example of clumsiness triggered by the “Robo-Drafted Letters” generated by your bank’s computers. The most shocking one was the letter we “The Lodhias” received from Jenae Moore, Customer Service Representative, who blatantly lied by mailing yet another one of those computer generated letters stating, “Thank you again for taking the time to talk with me about your financial situation.” What a false statement, why lie to “A Customer”? Well, not to mention many law firms representing Bank of America are also busy mailing “Robo-Drafted Letters” notifying and threatening of “Foreclosures” without “Thinking.” Andrew Grove, the legendary chief of Intel remarked, “Drucker is a hero of mine. He writes and thinks with clarity – a standout among a bunch of muddled fad mongers.” In fact, what we American homeowners are witnessing is that Bank of America is being operated by a highly undisciplined “Scare Mongers.”
Interestingly, in Mr. Warren Buffet’s annual letter to the shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway, Inc., he thoughtfully reminds them to “Be sure to visit the Bookworm.” http://www.bookwormomaha.com It has been said that Mr. Buffet, the Sage of Omaha at a tender young age was known as a bookworm who read to satisfy his passion for knowledge. I must admit that I have been a self-made man in spite of being a college drop-out. My immense respect for Peter Drucker is included in this blog for all of my fellow Americans to read. Let me remind you, Mr. Moynihan, that it was Peter Drucker who once said, “The single most important thing to remember about any enterprise is that there are no results within its walls. The result of a business is a satisfied customer.” Sadly, with all the educated senior executives working at Bank of America it seems like the majority takes cover behind their computers and are totally out of touch with their respective “Customers.” One cannot help but agree with the statement of Gordon Gekko when he cautioned the shareholders of Teldar Paper Company as follows:
Mr. Crownwell, Teldar Paper has 33 different Vice Presidents
each earning over two hundred ($200,000) thousand dollars
a year. Now, I have spent the last two months analyzing what
all these guys do, and I still can’t figure it out. One thing I do
know is that our paper company lost 110 million dollars last
year, and I bet that half of that was spent in all the paper
work going back and forth between all these vice presidents.
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/MovieSpeeches/moviespeechwallstreet.html
“Banking industry is back on its feet” as pointed out by Warren Buffet in his letter dated February 25, 2012. He went on by stating that “At Bank of America, some huge mistakes were made by prior management. Brian Moynihan has made excellent progress in cleaning these up, though the completion of that process will take a number of years.” Not quite yet, Mr. Moynihan. Adam O ‘Daniel, Finance Editor of Charlotte Business Journal wrote that, “Moynihan on the other hand, hasn’t yet received the benefits of ‘excellent progress.’ The CEO’s pay was slashed in 2011 to about $ 6 million in stock and $ 950,000 in salary from a package worth more than $ 10 million in 2010.” Mr. O’Daniel is correct that there has been little or no progress at Bank of America, especially, when it comes down to “Making Homes Affordable” for the millions of American homeowners.
Mr. Moynihan, recall your stern statement, “We have a right to make profit.” With the same token, we the American homeowners also have a right to get straight and honest answers from one of our nation’s largest banks and all of its officers. What we object to is that while acting as a “CEO,” you have personally forgotten how to play the role of a “Chief Executive Officer.” Listen to Peter Drucker and you will know the importance he placed on a single powerful word, “Responsibility.”
Perry Sheraw, the founder and executive Vice President of eBusiness Appraisal in her current article, “CEOs Behaving Badly: The Top 4 CEO Lawsuits” under the subtitle, “Brian Moynihan oversaw a robot foreclosure army” wrote, “Did Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan create the robo-signing program that his company used to illegally foreclose on thousands of homeowners? Probably not, but as the head of the bank, it’s his responsibility to own up to it.” Yes, Mr. Moynihan, it is your very own “Responsibility” and not to mention, the “Robo-Drafted Letters” released by Bank of America and your law firms are nothing but a sheer act of “Irresponsibility.”
http://www.business2community.com/leadership/ceos-behaving-badly-the-top-4-ceo-lawsuits-0137052
Another striking article worth reading was published in The Washington Post dated February 25, 2012. The article titled, “Foreclosure Settlement A Failure Of Law, A Trump for Bank Attorneys,” was written by Barry Ritholz, Chief Executive of Fusion IQ, who opined that “Judges take affidavits extremely seriously.” However, from all the sincere efforts put forth by us “The Lodhias,” for the past three years, we can now safely conclude that “The Hardship Affidavit” submitted to Bank of America was simply stashed away in the waste bin of the computer. Let’s face it, computers are absolutely incapable of analyzing the human hardship of distressed American homeowners. Little wonder that Peter Drucker was undoubtedly precise with his astute statement: “The Computer Is A Moron.”
Enough with these written words.
For the past three years, all we “The Lodhias” received from Bank of America were monthly mortgage payments inflated by close to 40%, hiding the real identity of the so-called “Mysterious Investor,” and the repetition of “Foreclosure Notices” in spite of paying for the “Three Months Trial Period.” We are speechless, Mr. Moynihan!. What makes us wonder is that while Mr. Warren Buffet who controls a substantial amount of shareholdings of Bank of America can only be able to pinpoint that the “Banks Victimized By Excess of Ousted Homeowners”? Perhaps someone working at Berkshire Hathaway, Inc., will be able to realize how an honest American family can be royally mistreated by Bank of America only if they thoroughly read the contents of this blog. After all, there is always three sides to every story. What Mr. Buffet and many wise leaders of this great country of ours do not fathom is that priority should be given to those American homeowners who have lived in the same home for 20 years or more.
At long last, “Homeowners Bill of Rights” comes forth as one of the most delightful news for many distressed American homeowners. Banks hold the homeowners accountable for non-payments of the mortgage payments. Then why can’t the homeowners hold the largest banks accountable for mistreating them? “Deceptive Servicing Practices”, as pointed out by U.S. Attorney General, Eric Holder, Jr., and Shaun Donovan, Secretary of the U.S. Housing and Urban Development, must come to an end by “Holding Banks Accountable“.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/shaun-donovan/holding-banks-accountable_b_1279073.html
This blog is enough of an evidence not only for Bank of America, but for all of my fellow American homeowners to see the end result of a monumental effort by “The Lodhia Family.” Common sense and fairness should be the two key driving factors to set the housing crisis in order. Mr. Moynihan, recollect your words, “Fairness Is Our Concern”? May we ask “Where is it?” We “The Lodhias” are again faced with yet another foreclosure scheduled for April 3, 2012 even after fulfilling our obligations to honor the grossly inflated three monthly trial payments. We have done everything in our power to display “Good Faith”. Rest assured that we take this matter very personally and do not want to be tossed out of our home on account of one stupid computer. If family members are willing to help, then the gesture of cooperation should not be left to the computers but to the humans who are working at Bank of America. President Barack H. Obama has eloquently expressed his concern in the following words:
“And this housing crisis struck right at the heart of what it means
to be middle class in America: our homes – – the place where
we invest our nest egg, place where we raise our family, the
place where we plant roots in a community, the place where
we build memories.”
The Importance of a Homeowner Bill of Rights
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2012/02/housing_bill_of_rights.html
Last but not the least, we “The Lodhias” are part of the American society and we have together built many memories in the home we have lived in for the past 25 years. All we ask for is “A Face-To-Face Meeting.” Is that too much to ask, Mr. Moynihan? Believe it or not, the only humans capable of helping distressed American homeowners are at the branch offices, and not anywhere else.
Humans, not computers, can understand hardships.
THINK-a-little, MR. MOYNIHAN.
Very respectfully yours,
Mohammed Rafiq Lodhia
Loan No: 872195598
think-a-little.info 