WASHINGTON -- Jackie Ramos, whose 2009 video detailing her termination from Bank of America became a viral hit, is back on YouTube with another bone to pick with the banking giant.
Ramos, 26, recently posted a video titled "Bank of America Stole My House!" In the video, she says she lost her home following the death of her four-year-old son's father, Tim Woods, last April. While the foreclosure process was still underway in mid-December, Ramos said the bank put locks on the home.
Unfortunately for Ramos, her name was not on the mortgage. Further muddying the picture, she had already moved out of the Fairburn, Ga., home at the time of Woods' death.
According to Ramos, Woods purchased the home in 2008 after receiving a fixed-rate mortgage from Bank of America. But by the end of 2009, Woods and Ramos began to notice increases in their monthly mortgage payments.
Eventually, Ramos said, the bank explained that the extra charges were premiums for a mortgage life insurance policy. According to Ramos, Woods agreed to keep paying for the insurance with the understanding that the policy would cover the balance on his loan in case of death. Ramos said she was listed as the beneficiary on this policy.
"I was there when he spoke with Bank of America," she told the Huffington Post. "They said, 'Okay, we'll enter into the paperwork so if anything happens, [the house] will go to her.'"
At the time of Woods' death, Ramos had moved out of the home and begun dating another man. On the night Woods died, Ramos said, Woods confronted her and her boyfriend. "He found out I was dating someone new and he attempted to harm both me and my friend," Ramos said. Fairburn police told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the shooting occurred during a scuffle over a gun. Authorities had attempted to subdue Woods with a Taser before the gun went off.
Police later determined Woods' death was not considered the result of a "police-involved shooting" because the officer involved in the scuffle did not have possession of the gun, but Ramos says Woods committed suicide.
Ramos said the bank then denied the existence of the policy and refused to speak to her because she and Woods had not been married. Woods, Ramos said, had no will and did not designate an executor of his estate. She is not on good terms with his family, who say the house shouldn't go to her no matter what.
She and her son have since moved into a home she purchased in September.
In a statement to the Huffington Post, Bank of America declined to comment on Ramos' case as a matter of policy.
"Due to Bank of America's privacy policy, we have not discussed the Borrowers Protection Plan or the loan with Ms. Ramos, because she is not a borrower on the loan," said Bank of America spokeswoman Jumana Bauwens. "The Georgia State Probate court has appointed an Administrator for Mr. Woods' estate and Bank of America has communicated directly with that Administrator ... [we] cannot discuss the specific details of our customers' benefit requests."
According to Bank of America's Borrowers Protection Plan, "Suicide or intentionally hurting yourself" are not protected causes of death, nor is "Death that occurred during or as a result of breaking the law."
A former employee of Bank of America, Ramos was fired after taking a stand against what she felt were unfair lending policies. The video she made detailing her experience led to a story on the Huffington Post and an appearance on "The Daily Show."
"You guys stole my home, you guys stole my memories and you guys stole something from my four-year-old," she says in the new video. "You guys are a bunch of crooks, and I will let everyone know."
Arthur Delaney contributed reporting.
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