Sapulpa Woman Fighting Loan Company's Illegal 'Bully' Tactics

An Oklahoma homeowner says a loan company is illegally harassing her, even though she's never missed a mortgage payment. Now, she says she wants to warn others before they get bullied, too.

Cheryl Jackson, of Sapulpa, said Green Tree Servicing has called her house numerous times, threatening foreclosure and demanding her checking or credit card information over the phone. And she's not the only one complaining.

"Right up front he was aggressive with me--the first call," Jackson said.

She said she's always paid the mortgage for her rental property on time and has been making double payments to pay it off early.

Jackson got the loan through Bank of America, but Bank of America farmed out the collection process to Green Tree Servicing. Her last payment to Bank of America was automatically drafted from her account with no problem, but the first payment to Green Tree didn't go through, because she forgot to switch to the new system.

That's when the company started calling.

"'We have to have payment right now, on the phone, or we have to begin procedures, and you don't want to lose your home,'" she recalled.

Jackson said she mailed a check for June and July, but the representative said he was starting the foreclosure process.

"I told him, I said, 'You know, I've been looking at your company, and you should look at your company and frankly be ashamed of what you're doing,'" she said.

A Boston consumer rights firm has filed a class action lawsuit against Green Tree. The suit says the company uses illegal practices, like auto dialing the plaintiff's cell phone as many as 100 times without permission over bogus unpaid debts.

"You're harassing people, who are honest people, who are paying the bills," Jackson said.

She said she doesn't want others to be slammed with the same tactics.

"The average American doesn't know what they signed on their mortgage and doesn't know their rights, and that's what I want to make sure those people know: you have rights," Jackson said.

She said she wants to keep the house and lose the hassle, so she's refinancing with a local bank.

We called and emailed the corporate office for Green Tree Servicing Tuesday for comment. We haven't heard back from them.

Federal Trade Commission Consumer Rights Page