Dear John: I’m currently 40 months behind on my mortgage and have unsuccessfully been trying to work out a modification with HSBC ever since we were [first] delinquent. According to a recent Bloomberg article, HSBC has sold its mortgage division, yet HSBC still says it holds our mortgage.
We love our middle-class Long Island home. The Great Recession is behind us. We have no debt and have a combined annual income of $140,000. All we need is this mortgage problem solved, and we’re out of the woods, financially.
Our attorney tells us to just keep saving our money, wait to be served and settle this in court, because given our circumstances, “no judge in his right mind would side with the bank.” What do you think? E.D.
Dear E.D. I think you should listen to your attorney. You pay for his advice, so take it.
If the bank hasn’t yet started foreclosure, you probably have time. And I assume your lawyer has already reached out to the bank to see if some accommodation can be made.
But 40 months is a lot of months. And of course you are saving money — you haven’t paid your mortgage in more than three years. Maybe your lawyer should check with the bank and see what’s up.
Dear John: I am 82. Back in 1997, when I was 67, I had planned to start taking Social Security monthly benefits at age 70.
But when I was 67 1/2 years old, I received a large lump-sum check covering 2 1/2 years of Social Security payments, back to my 65th birthday. And since then I have been paid a monthly payment based on the rate of a person starting benefits at age 65. I am now receiving a smaller check than if I had started my payments at age 70. I wonder if what the Social Security Administration did to my monthly payment arrangement was not random but part of its planning to cut costs.
Recently I read of the Boskin Commission, set up on 1996 (one year before the SSA transaction with me), to review cutting SSA costs by lowering the consumer price index.
Was the action that SSA took with me part of a larger cost-cutting plan? Could it be still going on? M.S.
Dear M.S. I checked with Social Security, and they are stumped.
But if you forward your Social Security number to the person I mentioned to you privately, they will figure out what the lump-sum payment was and if your monthly benefits were hurt.
And as much as I don’t trust anyone in Washington (or, in the case of Social Security, Maryland), I doubt that anyone would have arbitrarily cut your payments as part of some duplicitous plan to save the country’s retirement plan.
Good luck.
Dear John: I would like to see President Obama pressed to state, “Under no circumstances will my administration ever consider or order the forcible confiscation of bank or retirement accounts.” Does there exist an intrepid reporter who will push for a clear statement such as this? R.M.
Dear R.M. The next time I run into the president, I will ask him.
As for all the other journalists out there, I doubt any of them have the guts.
Send your questions to Dear John, The NY Post, 1211 Ave. of the Americas, NY, NY 10036, or john.crudele@nypost.com.