You have to celebrate when the underdog sticks it to a big corporation in the wrong, and that’s just what happened to Bank of America – big time. After the company wrongfully tried foreclosing on a house, the homeowner turned the tables and foreclosed on the bank branch itself.
How did that happen? Florida homeowners Warren and Maureen Nyerges of Golden Gate Estates in Naples received a notice that Bank of America branch had foreclosed on their home. This came as a bit of an angry surprise to the Nyerges, as they didn’t have a mortgage with the bank. They had paid for their home in cash back in 2009.
Warren tried to straighten things out with the bank, making un-returned phone calls, talking to branch managers, even going so far as writing a letter explaining the situation to the bank president. None of it proved successful and he didn’t get so much as a returned email.
That’s when Warren hired an attorney and after two months, the foreclosure finally got dropped. However, Bank of America being in the wrong, wasn’t about to just cut the Nyerges a check for their attorney fees. The Nyerges sought out a judgement against the bank, but after five months they were still left waiting. This is where things started to really get good.
Warren returned to court and got a writ of execution, giving him permission to march into the local Bank of America branch and seize assets to recoup his legal fees. Those comfy waiting room chairs — his! The coffee maker — his! The mini fridge by the branch manager’s desk — his too! You get the idea.
Then, this happened:
”On June 3, Nyerges, two sheriff’s deputies and a moving truck showed up at the local Bank of America branch. The deputies informed the manager that he could either pay the Nyerges’ legal fees— $2,500—or the movers would start taking away the bank’s furniture and cash. The manager, after conferring with his superiors, gave the deputies a check.”
The Nyerges’ attorney, Todd Allen, is glad they could put the stressful situation to bed, but is still angry at Bank of America for being so shady about admitting wrongdoing. “Bank of America never apologized for having tried to foreclose, only for not paying the money in time,” said Allen. “If they [the bank] had taken 15 minutes to review their records on the property, they would have seen the details of the transaction.” And if that wasn’t enough, when the bank finally did apologize for the late payment, they misspelled the Nyerges name.
Nice customer service, BoA.