Countrywide Screws Its Customers

The home mortgage business has been hurting lately. Many parts of the country are experiencing record defaults on home loans and foreclosures. The situation has gotten so bad that it has even begun to effect the stock market.

But even though many companies made loans they should not have made and are now beginning to feel the financial effect of that, there are some things that a company should not do. One of those things is to go back on their word.

Back when hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated the coastal areas of Louisiana, Missippi and Texas, the mortgage lender Countrywide decided they would get a little good PR by offering to help. They told their customers in these areas that they could have a three to six month grace period, where they would not have to make payments. They assured these customers there would be no penalties, and the payments would just be tacked on to the end of the loan.

Sadly, many of their customers took them at their word and took advantage of the "grace period". That turns out to have been a very bad mistake, since Countrywide has now shown they cannot be trusted. They are now breaking their promise to those customers.

The company has sent those customers a demand for immediate payment of the money that was not paid during the faux "grace period". Those who cannot make all those payments in one lump sum face foreclosure.

It may be true that when they made the offer, Countrywide could not forsee the current troubled mortgage crunch. But even though the company may now be in financial trouble, it is wrong for them to break their word to their customers. Like an individual, a company is only as good as its word and they are showing their word is no good.

What is wrong with these company executives? Don't they realize that by breaking their word they are doing even more harm to their company than their financial problems ever could?