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Household Beneficial & The House Payment from Hell

August 29th, 2006 at 04:28 pm

I decided to share the main reason why my DH and I are in the financial straits that we are. If anyone's bothered to look at our budget they'd notice our outrageously high house payment. It didn't use to be that way before we blindly trusted Household Beneficial.

Both DH and I were working when we got our house 7 years ago. Our house payment was very reasonable, less than $600, and it included an escrow account for taxes & insurance. But unfortunately we were young & stupid then. After a few years we each had racked up a ton of cc debt & had made a few other stupid decisions (like doing business with family which resulted on a repo in my DH's name!) Trying to avoid DH filing bankruptcy we added another idiotic decision to the mix and consolidated/refinanced our house & bills.

Unfortunately because we had really no idea what we were doing & the way Household Beneficial (I *HATE* that company!) did everything, they essentially screwed us over. I was paying all my bills through a non-profit debt consolidation place and it was going great. We wanted to consolidate my DH's (we weren't married then) bills. Household Beneficial didn't do what we wanted, they chose the ones to consolidate. That messed up my debt consolidation aggreement I had and didn't pay all DH's outstanding bills. It also raised our house payment up to $836, without an escrow account. Looking back I know we should of told them where to shove it, but I was younger, naive, and looked to my DH for almost all the major decisions. Unfortunately, he wasn't much brighter than me when it came to finances.

Then I lost my job before the Holidays & couldn't find another one. I was pregnant with our third son & we decided I was going to be a SAHM. Childcare alone would of taken almost all of my paycheck. Things spiraled out of control from there. My DH did end up filing bankruptcy and that was when we learned that we should of filed bankruptcy first & then refinanced the house. (Hindsight is always 20/20 they say.) The bankruptcy lawyer also told us that they've heard been many similar sob stories about how Household Beneficial railroaded their customers.

Over the years I've taken over our finances and have grown a lot smarter concerning them. That doesn't help us now though. I tried refinancing our house- not wanting any extra money, just a much lower interest rate to save money- and we can't. All because Household Beneficial used up almost all of our equity in our house. There's virtually nothing left. I was told that even if we sold our house for it's full value we would still owe Benefical a good chunk of money.

So we're stuck with a super high payment & interest rate. The only thing we can do is deal with it until we can pay the house down enough to get some equity back in it. We could try to increase the value of the house, but was honestly told that wouldn't be enough. So- if anyone's been where we are and has gotten out or has advice- I'd greatly appreciate hearing it. Thanks for listening to me rant about this and remember you was forewarned about ever dealing with Household Benefical.

7 Responses to “Household Beneficial & The House Payment from Hell”

  1. freeme journey Says:
    1156866860

    Hang in there - I looked at your budget, yup it is tight BUT at least the money is going towards your house which is increasing in value - you won't be sorry in a couple of years.
    I have noticed that since I started keeping a journal here my money seems to last longer and I think harder before I zip off to the store - aiming for no spend days has made a huge difference.
    You can do it!

  2. Anonymous Says:
    1156882493

    Following is a short piece copied from bizjournal.com about Household Beneficial. Since the lawsuit Florida brought was on behalf of (or part of) a suit brought by all the states, your state's Attorney General's office should know about this and can advise you. If not, perhaps a good lawyer can write Household for you and get your payments reduced/restructured.

    """""Household/Beneficial borrowers may apply for relief
    South Florida Business Journal - August 6, 2003


    The Florida Attorney General has said Florida consumers who had home loans with Household or Beneficial Finance will soon be able to claim settlement payments.

    Charlie Crist said his office is sending notices to tell the 41,000 Floridians who borrowed from Household or Beneficial they are eligible to share in the state's $23 million settlement with Household International.

    Under the settlement distribution plan, the attorney general said Floridians who secured loans originated with Household or Beneficial between Jan. 1, 1999, and Sept. 30, 2002, will receive forms to claim payments ranging from $100 to more than $2,000.

    The payment program stems from the settlement, in which Florida was a lead state, between Household International and the attorneys general and banking regulators of the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

    Household International, through its subsidiaries Household and Beneficial Finance, is one of the nation's largest sub-prime mortgage lenders. The states alleged Household International overcharged borrowers in assessed fees and interest and had misled borrowers about other loan terms such as prepayment penalties and credit insurance.

    Under the settlement, finalized in December, Household International agreed to pay $484 million to the states to be distributed to eligible Household International borrowers. The monetary settlement was the largest ever obtained by state attorneys general in a consumer protection case, the Florida attorney general said.

    As part of the settlement, Household International also agreed to reform its lending operations. Court injunctions in all 50 states restrict prepayment penalties on current and future home loans, prohibit loan "flipping" (a practice that can lead to a mortgage that exceeds the value of a home), limit up-front points and origination fees and improve loan disclosures, the Florida attorney general said. """""""

    I hope the above helps, or at least gives you some ideas.
    BTW, the above is only one of several websites about Household Beneficial's shady dealings with it's customers.



  3. Anonymous Says:
    1156882495

    Following is a short piece copied from bizjournal.com about Household Beneficial. Since the lawsuit Florida brought was on behalf of (or part of) a suit brought by all the states, your state's Attorney General's office should know about this and can advise you. If not, perhaps a good lawyer can write Household for you and get your payments reduced/restructured.

    """""Household/Beneficial borrowers may apply for relief
    South Florida Business Journal - August 6, 2003


    The Florida Attorney General has said Florida consumers who had home loans with Household or Beneficial Finance will soon be able to claim settlement payments.

    Charlie Crist said his office is sending notices to tell the 41,000 Floridians who borrowed from Household or Beneficial they are eligible to share in the state's $23 million settlement with Household International.

    Under the settlement distribution plan, the attorney general said Floridians who secured loans originated with Household or Beneficial between Jan. 1, 1999, and Sept. 30, 2002, will receive forms to claim payments ranging from $100 to more than $2,000.

    The payment program stems from the settlement, in which Florida was a lead state, between Household International and the attorneys general and banking regulators of the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

    Household International, through its subsidiaries Household and Beneficial Finance, is one of the nation's largest sub-prime mortgage lenders. The states alleged Household International overcharged borrowers in assessed fees and interest and had misled borrowers about other loan terms such as prepayment penalties and credit insurance.

    Under the settlement, finalized in December, Household International agreed to pay $484 million to the states to be distributed to eligible Household International borrowers. The monetary settlement was the largest ever obtained by state attorneys general in a consumer protection case, the Florida attorney general said.

    As part of the settlement, Household International also agreed to reform its lending operations. Court injunctions in all 50 states restrict prepayment penalties on current and future home loans, prohibit loan "flipping" (a practice that can lead to a mortgage that exceeds the value of a home), limit up-front points and origination fees and improve loan disclosures, the Florida attorney general said. """""""

    I hope the above helps, or at least gives you some ideas.
    BTW, the above is only one of several websites about Household Beneficial's shady dealings with it's customers.



  4. LuckyRobin Says:
    1156902180

    I know of several famililes in Washington that were screwed over by Household. Most people lost their homes and went bankrupt. One was the family of my daughter's best friend in kindergarten. It was awful. Washington state had a lawsuit against them awhile back and they had to pay back millions. It is worth investigating to see if your state doesn't have a class action filed against them, you may get some relief if they do.

  5. Truly Frustrated Says:
    1161057303

    I can truly relate to your frustration. I have had in the past a first and second mortgage on my main residence and a first and a second on a rental house that I sold and paid off with huge prepayment penalties to Beneficial. All I got out of it was for Beneficial to reflect on my credit report a slow pay on my main residence. Not to mention five other loans ranging from $3000.00 to $5000.00 and none reported to the credit bureaus by Beneficial.

  6. June George Says:
    1308247237

    I have a mortage with beneficial i received a letter about a class action lawsuit but i never heard anything from it can you give me some info i live in louisiana,

  7. wanda Says:
    1329592637

    we did the exact same thing. but ended up bankrupting never can catch up with the behind mortage due to being 2 months behind they no longer send me a statement so i have no idea where im at in this mortage unless i call in a a payment which is the only way i can pay now .it sucks

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