Brandy, the Paranoid Mortgage Customer

[EricKei]

Remind her not to consume whatever "product" she's supposed to be selling.

[Ghel]

Yeah, definitely.

I forgot to mention... before I got hold of Brandy's mom, the Branch Manager and I visited Brandy's house to try to talk with her. There was no answer at the door, but we made an interesting observation that is further evidence of her paranoia. On one corner of the house, Brandy has installed 3(!) cameras, one pointing along the side of the house, one pointing down the front (towards the front door), and one pointing out toward the street. She also had a motion light set up above the garage door.

There was a dog lead by the front steps and dog toys in the yard, but no dog barking when we knocked. Either her dog is really laid back or she doesn't have a dog any more.

Also no car in the driveway. She must have gotten rid of the truck and motorcycle that don't run any more and parked her new car in the garage. Hmm...

ETA:

OMG, there's always some drama with this customer. She didn't make the payment she promised, so I called her this morning. She didn't answer and no voicemail. No surprise there. I was surprised when she actually called me back. She said she was on the phone with the police about her stalker when I called, which is why she didn't answer. She mentioned a name, which is the first time she's told me the surname of her stalker. It's a surname I recognize - there's at least 3 men in town with that last name that it could be, but I didn't press for a first name. She said she's filed at the state and federal level regarding her stalker. He's threatened to burn down her house. She said it might be better for her to sell her house and move. I'm sympathetic, but it strains credibility.

I found it amusing that she complained about the "druggies" in the area at the end of the call. I had to bite my tongue.

[Ghel]

Brandy promised to make a payment yesterday when I talked with her. She didn't make the payment. And she didn't answer the phone yesterday afternoon when I tried to call her to "remind" her.

I mentioned to a CW the name Brandy gave me for her stalker. She said she knows who he is. Not by name, but by his nickname - "Fly."

I got hold of Brandy this morning. She went on this tirade about how her stalker is sending her threatening texts (she just got a new phone - how did he get the number?) and she's going to have to spend her mortgage payment on taking out a restraining order against him. (I thought she already had one? Maybe it was only temporary?) I told her she needed to make her mortgage payment. She said there wasn't any point when she was going to have to move out of her house because of her stalker. I insisted she make her payment. "Then you're going to have to call the police and tell them I can't afford a restraining order!" <click>

She effing hung up on me!

We have a pre-foreclosure collection letter out that expires at the end of the month. Sounds like we'll be pursuing foreclosure when that expires.

[Kagato]

Sounds to me like she was trying to chain-play sympathy cards in an attempt to get you/the bank off her case. Looks to me like she has burned through all her chances though.

[Buzzard]

Actually pay her debts? But how would she get her chemical recreation if she spent all her money on paying her debts?

Yeah, it never gets better until they put it together enough to want to change. She's happily spinning away, and the money isn't going to happen unless she's forced to cough up.
It's likely in the bank's best interest to keep to the limit of the agreement and not give any extra lenience. Without constant pressure, there's no reason to pay up, so any money will go... somewhere. As to what could be recovered on forclosure... I really don't want to investigate. Meth makes for some really strange habits, and a whole lot of things disassembled for 'reasons', that never get put back together right. Just hope that she doesn't get the bright idea that the walls have copper wiring that could be sold for a quick buck.

[taxguykarl]

Is there still a moratorium on evictions in your neck of the woods, Ghel? Our excuse for a governor is talking about extending it My parents were right to unload their rental property when they did.

[Ghel]

Yes, until at least Sept. 11. So we'd have to wait until that expires to actually pursue foreclosure.

It's also why the Squatter is still living in that trailer. At least she's mowing the lawn.

[Ghel]

Brandy wasn't answering my calls again, so I called her mother today. "Hi, sorry to bother you, but Brandy isn't answering her phone. Would you be able to get a message to her asking her to call me back? Thanks!"

That apparently prompted Brandy to call me back, finally. She was in the middle of filling out an online application for COVID-19 housing assistance. At this point, I don't actually care that she'd been out of work for months before COVID-19 even existed. I just want her to pay her past due mortgage payments, so if she can get some money from the state, more power to her. She asked me what the bank's name was (Hint: we're not US Bank ). She asked me her loan number (it's on every past due notice we send you). She asked me how much her monthly payment was and how much she was past due (also on those notices).

Then she told me more drama. "You know how I told you I had that series of break-ins about a year ago?" Yeah, you told me that even after that, you never changed the lock on your garage. "Well, my stalker," she gave me his full name this time, "he tried to convince the police chief that I was committing insurance fraud. And when he dropped off the letter, he was wearing one of the stolen shirts. Right there on camera. What an idiot." Sounds awful, Brandy.

Then she wanted me to email her a bill for her loan showing what she's past due. No problem. I emailed her the last 2 collection letters, including the Right to Cure Default.

She's supposed to hear back from the state within 5 days. Maybe we'll actually get paid then.

[EricKei]

September 11?? Interesting date for them to choose >_>

Maybe we'll actually get paid then.

Well, now you've gone and jinxed it

[Ghel]

September 11?? Interesting date for them to choose >_>

I think it's just coincidence. It was a month out from when the moratorium on foreclosures and evictions was set to expire before.

[Ghel]

A very strange update. I don't know if I can explain it all.

We, unsurprisingly, still haven't gotten a payment from Brandy. And as of yesterday, her phone is "unreachable" according to the message I get when I try to call her. We're also getting pressure from the president of the bank and the chairman of the board to do something. They have no advice for what we should do, just something.

So the Branch Manager and I went to visit Brandy today. She was home. Her beat-up pickup truck was in the driveway. This is the vehicle that Brandy claims was damaged by her stalker/ex-boyfriend. But apparently it works well enough to drive. She told us she's trying to sell her Jeep, which is the vehicle she bought supposedly because the truck wouldn't run.

Anyway, Brandy answered the door but refused to open the not-really-screen door. (It was a screen door with glass in it like some people do for the winter.) Her two big dogs came to the door with her - a Saint Bernard and a Pyrenees, I think. She said they would get out if she opened the door, and that seemed reasonable. The most reasonable she seemed the whole visit.

BM introduced himself. We told her she needed to make a payment. She started talking about getting COVID assistance money, while flipping through a dayplanner. She rambled about needing to email something to someone in order to get the COVID money, but her internet wasn't good. Or her scanner didn't work. Or something. She wasn't very clear. She asked if I would be able to email something to the COVID assistance place for her. I said ok just so we could move on, since she seemed stuck on it.

Since this money didn't seem like it was coming any time soon, we brought up her unemployment. She's supposed to get her next check next week, and we got her to agree to make at least one payment when she gets that. But we had to go over it several times because she kept going back to the COVID money she applied for.

At some point, she claimed that she had fallen in her driveway and hit her head, and that's why she couldn't think straight. We didn't buy that for a second.

She brought up her stalker again, saying that she's finally taken care of things with him. She finally got the police to listen. She can't use the excuse that she needs to take out another restraining order again. Knowing her, though, she'll probably try.

Before we left, I asked for her new phone number. She said she had a brand new iphone (but can't afford to pay her mortgage ), but she didn't know the number. I asked her to call me with it as soon as she figures out what it is.

[Buzzard]

Sounds like 'par for the course' to me. Every available penny goes to fun things, leaving the important basics to slide until something unpleasant forces a change. (at which point, scramble and shift blame to try to push back deadlines) As long as she's got any kind of protection from eviction, there will be all kinds of new toys in her life. When she finally has to pay up or move... there may be some slightly dented new toys at the pawn shop. (and/or someone else talked into letting her live there)

[Ghel]

Yeah, and I suspect that the biggest "fun" thing that she's spending so much of her money on is meth.

I forgot until just now (there was just so much off about this visit) - she said she will be starting a new job in December in a city that's an hour and a half drive away. That's a hell of a commute. And what company hires someone but doesn't have them start for 3 months?

[Buzzard]

Anything that comes out of that mouth, consider it to be some kind of lie. She's in full-on deflect mode, on chemical overdrive. She'll (cheerfully) spin you half a dozen stories for why you should give her more time and not force things to happen NOW. Said stories don't need to actually agree with each other, or even be internally coherent, just so long as they cause JUUUUUST enough pause to let her keep doing whatever the hell she wants. (and not paying up)

Seriously, her income could effortlessly double overnight, and she'd STILL have "trouble" paying the mortgage.

[Victory Sabre]

) - she said she will be starting a new job in December in a city that's an hour and a half drive away. That's a hell of a commute. And what company hires someone but doesn't have them start for 3 months?

Even a longer drive during winter in Minnesota.

I actually do have a friend who lives here in central MN, but works at the MSP airport, an hour and a half drive, though it's almost all freeway. She also does 4 10 hour days a week.