A vice president at one of the nation's biggest banks told ABC News that his bank works to give struggling homeowners "the runaround" by directing them to unhelpful 1-800 numbers when they call for help lowering their mortgage rates.
The anonymous banker told ABC's David Muir that despite the nation's severe foreclosure problems, managers at his bank spend just a tiny fraction of their time during meetings discussing the problem. "In our managers meeting, which can last eight or nine hours, we probably addressed mortgage modifications five minutes or less."
The practices described confirm what many have feared about the banking industry. ABC News reports:
The banker described homeowners pleading to him for help, but he said his bank is not interested in modifying mortgages, even after taxpayers helped bail out the nation's biggest banks.
"It's just not happening," said the banker.
The banker said there is significant pressure on bank employees to get customers to take on more accounts than they need because of the late fees and penalty fees that will then come from those accounts.
The banker chose to hide his identity because he was afraid that he would be terminated for speaking to the press. Below is Muir's full interview.
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