PLEASE STAY AWAY FROM OAKWOOD IF YOU EXPECT TO KEEP YOUR SANITY

[Lynne S]

It's house payments and heating problems apparently, according to another thread this legal thingie showed up in

My question is this: the mortgage book has two dates on it (for example 12/1 payment 12/16 payment plus late charge..
that's a big span of tiem, what one is the one to wrry about, obviously the second, but what about the time inbetween the two?

[D. Abben]

Your loan should be OK as long as the payment as made as close to the due date as possible. Assuming the home is in a park, the mortgage portion is simple interest. The lender in the contract will usually give you 15 days to make that payment before the lender assesses a late fee. However, by then expect almost daily calls from the lender as they do track 15 day delinquency. This is standard with most finance companies. Another reason for this, is because this loan is simple interest, you can begin to compound interest which will increase your payoff. This grows especially ugly if a consumer consistantly pays over 30 days late, not to mention the negative ratings on your credit report. If you only put 5% down or less(down payment fraud in manufactured housing is a huge problem), PLEASE make your house payments on time, as you are probably upside down in your home as it is(Pay as often as possible towards principal, as litlle as an extra $25 monthly can make a big difference). Believe it or not there are no grace periods on these loans.
I know this is longwinded, but it is not prudent to see when is the latest you can pay without a little $5 penalty, because it is potentially costing you much more than that. Good Luck.

[AugustaGa]

Actually your payment is due on the 1st...Anything later than that can be and is often considered late..and the lender has the right..and duty to his stockholders and investors to start the collection process...Nothing negative is supposed to be reported to the CB's until you are 30 days late...But remember sending in the payment on or after the 15th with out the late charge means it is 30 days late..even if it was only a few dollars short..

The grace period is to accommodate the sometimes slow mail..and not penalize you...Send in so they always have it by the 1st and you will never be talking to the lender again..

[Bryan]

Karen,
Is this generally how you market yourself? This is the exact thing that has given Multi-Level marketing such a bad name.....Does Pre-Paid Legal condone spamming newsgroups that ask you NOT to post ads??? I would hazard a guess that you dont even live in a MH?

[Paula]

The problem is that Oakwood gets exempt from the Fair Debt collection rules because it does its own In-House collections.r

[D. Abben]

All companies that have collection depts are subject to Fair Debt Collection Laws. When Green Tree Financial was is business they had several large judgements against them from lawsuits filed against them for their collection practices. Companies get away with violations because most consumers do not have the time and definetely not the money to pursue them. Also, companies like OAC, Green Tree, hire just about anybody for $10 an hour and constantly threatens to fire them unless they collect a certain amount of accounts. The turnover is tremendous. I got my start in consumer finance in a position like this and the pressure is awful. I have had conversations that I have regreted but you take the attitude it's "their home or my job". Again, let me stress pay your rent first and foremost and you won't have to worry about a mortgage company and their collection practices again.

[Jennifer]

I have an Oakwood home. Since the day I signed papers Oakwood has been underhanded in their practices. What really gets me is that they want their money but never finished my house. My house is poorly made and not worth half of what I paid for it. Oakwood is in bankruptcy because they are a bad company all the way around. Someone said that a few years ago they would finance anyone, I am sure that is true. Our sales lady lent us $2000.00 to put down on the house because they were runnung a $2000.00 rebate that she would get paid back with. I later found out this was against their rules. They did WHATEVER to get us financed. That is Oakwood's fault! Bad approval's are thier fault! No company can blame Bankruptcy on their clients. They approved people they should not of, they built bad homes that people decided weren't woth the effort, they don't know how to treat their clients (even the ones that do pay), they don't know how to manage people, THEY ARE THE PROBLEM!! Buying my home was the WORST decision I ever made! I will NEVER buy another Oakwood or recommend them to anyone. That's another reason why they are having financial diffuculty because people like myself tell others to RUN from Oakwood!

[Penny]

I can totally understand where you are coming from. I too have come to close to losing my marbles over Oakwood and their unique behavior. I am trying to find out if there is a Class Action Lawsuit pending? If you know of one or would be interested in joining please feel free to respond.

[Mortman]

Jennifer,
I cannot speak for the condition of your home. But let make sure I have this
straight. You borrowed money for a loan, and were even helped by the person you bought from with down pmt money.(By the way that is illegal, when you buy a home that is fraud). You even said that the salesperson did whatever she could to get you in a home. Also by the way when you roll in fictatious down payment money you have more or less spent what little equity is in these homes. Combine that with some late payments, your house is not worth what you paid for it. You should feel fortunate that Oakwood did both the financing and set of your home. Any other lender would have made that retailer buy your loan back, and if they could not find other financing for you, guess what, your homeless.
Yes, shame on Oakwood for potential bad lending practices, however it is the customer who determines the future as they sign promissory notes and for some reason would rather walk than live up to it. Down pmt is a large part of that.(the less $$$ actual out of pocket, the more likely the repo) OAC is no different than Conseco, Greenpoint, CIT, MCI, Bombardier,and Associates(All were the nations largest MH lenders and repos were all their demise)
.
If you have issues with your home, GO FOR IT. However, leave the lending out of this because that falls on the consumer to make their payments. And withholding your payments due to issues with your home (if you are doing that, it is the worst mistake you can make, because you will lose in the end)The dealer sells the home and the finance arm makes the loan, they cannot be mingled.

[A.Thompson]

Cleda, I am sorry for your problems. You never stated in your message that you didn't believe you owed this money or that you didn't intend to pay it. I don't know the whole story; I don't know whether you have, like so many people these days, been affected by the economy, or whether you do have a problem prioritizing your finances. But no one else on the board (unless they had prior knowledge of your situation) knows your background, either. And IMO they didn't have the right to deliver such harsh judgement with such little information.

While it is obvious that there is a problem in our country with people taking on too much debt, there are also many people who have lost jobs or have had other crises happen to them. I know from experience that it is often a domino effect; one thing happens and then everything starts to fall. This can happen to very responsible people, and it could happen to any of you. It's one thing to suggest that someone try to make sure they understand how important the house payment is; it's another to respond to another person who is already having problems in a way that browbeats them further. That doesn't inspire me to share with y'all.