Bank called widow 48 times a day, lawsuit says

A Hawaii woman is suing Bank of America for allegedly calling her up to 48 times a day for her mortgage payment after her husband died of cancer.

The 63-year-old woman, Deborah Crabtree of Honolulu, claims the bank's "robo-calling" debt collectors rang her phone every 15 minutes, from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m.

It all started Aug. 3 of last year, the day after Crabtree's husband died. Bank of America called Crabtree to request the monthly loan payment on one of her two mortgages. The couple's mortgage payments, totaling nearly $3,000, were due on the first of the month.

According to the lawsuit, Crabtree told the bank that she had only $5,000 for her expenses, which included burying her husband and preparing for his wake. She said she had asked for 30 days to get everything in order and promised to pay as soon as she received her husband's life insurance benefit.

The bank allegedly said that Crabtree had enough for the first mortgage payment and continued to call her every day for the next week.

Things got worse. On the morning of her husband's wake, Crabtree set up a speakerphone so long-distance friends and relatives could call with condolences.

You know where this is going. Every 15 minutes, people at Crabtree's house heard Bank of America calling to collect the debt, the lawsuit claims. The bank allegedly called every 15 minutes for the next week.

Bank employees said they couldn't stop the computer-generated calls from going to Crabtree's phone, the lawsuit claims. The calls are designed to stop only after a mortgage payment is made. Post continues following a video about another lawsuit, filed against Bank of America last year.

Bank of America would not comment on Crabtree's case, CNN reports.

A couple of weeks later, Crabtree mailed the mortgage payments, including late fees, to the bank. The bank asked for documents proving her husband had died, which it subsequently lost, and requested them again. Then the bank wouldn't talk to her because they said only her husband's name was on the "note" -- even though Crabtree was listed on the mortgage documents as a borrower.

You can read through Crabtree's complaint here (via Courthouse News). If what she's saying is true, it's a pretty damaging case.

The Social Security Administration usually tells the bank of a person's death within a month or two, but sometimes it's faster than that. And one expert tells CNN that creditors sometimes race to be the first to collect after a death before the money is gone.

Does that mean calling while family members are still grieving? Yes, in some cases. It's legal, but it's not very respectful.

Earlier this year, the Federal Trade Commission decided against a "cooling-off" period that keeps collectors away after a person's death. The commission said that collectors are already banned from contacting family members "at unusual or inconvenient times."

I'd say a wake is about as inconvenient as it gets.

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