WHO'S MINDING THE STORE?

We all know who the villains are in the economic meltdown of the past few years, right? In most peoples’ eyes, banks, insurance companies, and other financial institutions. (Forget, for a minute, the inability of many American corporations to think long-term, their desire to “cut overhead” at any cost, their often-false claims, etc.)

Right or wrong, most of us pretty much agree that, to a large extent, financial institutions are the villains. You’d think that these institutions, excoriated in the media and in the public discourse, would be very carefully resurrecting their reputations now, wouldn’t you? And after the public relations fiasco these institutions have faced, you’d think that they’d solicit – and heed - the counsel of their best public relations and reputation-management folks, right?

Maybe at some financial companies. But not, apparently, at Bank of America. Because – surprise! surprise! – here’s a financial company that’s burning its reputation bridges again.

Here in Florida, 452 people have lodged complaints with the State Attorney General’s office about Bank of America, relating to mis-information, stalled promises, or revocations of home-loan modifications that had been promised by the bank. Some of the complaints say that the homeowners have been trying for months to get through to B of A, in an attempt to hold onto their homes (which would also, of course, spare the bank the task of foreclosing on them, and then having to become a home-seller itself). Others are complaining that they came to a deal with the bank for a loan modification – not only verbally, but on paper – but that now the bank refuses to honor it.

The mess is receiving a lot of media coverage in Florida…a state that has been devastated by the housing meltdown. (Last year, I sold my home in South Florida. After a full year on the market, I felt lucky to have gotten half of what it had been worth just two years earlier.)

Other lenders have received complaints, as well, of course. But none of the volume of complaints against any of them comes close to the number, proportionally, against Bank of America.

I’m not taking sides here; I’m sure, in the minds of B of A executives, they have good reasons for the things that have happened. But, in an age when news spreads like a wildfire virally – and when the financial sector takes the blame for what has happened in our country – how could they have let this happen? Why haven’t they responded to these complaints in a timely manner? Why, if indeed it is true, are they changing the terms of the modifications after they have already been agreed upon? And why aren’t they bending over backwards to satisfy this relatively small group of customers (B of A has 82,000 home loans in Florida)?

Who’s minding the PR store?

Steve Winston
President, WINSTON COMMUNICATIONS
(954) 575-4089
steve@winstoncommunications.com
www.winstoncommunications.com