Stupid Bank!!!! Rant

What planet do I live on?

As the economy spirals into the toilet, and the conservatives discuss all those irresponsible homeowners going in over their heads, "shame on you for believing the mortgage broker," "shame on you for believing the bank," "shame on you for believing in the American dream"...it now slams us right between the eyes.

Last year, we sold our home in Daly City, and bought our home, here in Oakland. We did well. We built equity in our home in the fog, and moved into the sun. BZ got to build his dream studio, and got to shed a commute and high rent in downtown SF.
Life has been good. The sale of our first home got us into the new house and paid for most of the studio. We needed an additional home equity line to help with the studio bathroom and to have as an emergency fund as BZ built up his East Bay biz.

Other than the new bathroom and a few property tax bills, we have not had to dip too heavily into the line of credit. Its just nice to know its there in case of...anything. We don't have a big savings to pull from, our paychecks barely cover what needs to be covered. We figure, when you live in the Bay Area, its going to be tight. And that is OK.

This week we got a letter from WAMU reducing our equity line to the amount we already had taken out. There goes the emergency fund. The letter states that the reduction in the loan is based on the decreased value of our property. I asked how they re-assessed the value of our home, and I was told they looked at some local area numbers online. Online?

Why am I angry? No warning. They reduced the account value in half. We had budgeted to write one more check from the account this week. I guess we can't do that. The reduction of the account instantly lowers our credit rating. That's nice.

The bank manager told me that they just found out about these letters this week and that all the banks are sending them. I guess the banks haven't all received their executive bail outs yet. The bank guy on the phone said the same thing. I asked for next steps and they both said I needed to pay for another appraisal to get my loan back. Will I be reimbursed? The teller says no, the phone banker says..."I don't know yet, no one knows yet."

Fine print: the loan fine print does reserve the right to change the terms of the loan based on changes in the value of the property. Who would ever think they would re-assess the value of your home less than a year after giving you the loan in the first place? Shame on me, stupid home owner, dumb-ass American.

Silver lining? Bush is sending me a check in the mail!!!!!!! Not as large as the one Bear Stearns gets but...it might help pay for the moving truck. Thanks Asshole.