A Hampton woman is suing Bank of America, saying one of its contractors wrongly repossessed her home, padlocked the doors, shut off the utilities, damaged the furniture and confiscated a pet parrot, though her mortgage payments were on time.

She returned home to find her locks had been changed, her furniture and carpets had been damaged, her belongings had been scattered and the bird missing. A notice on her door told her to contact Bank of America, which “initially falsely denied responsibility or knowledge of the invasion and refused” to help her, the suit said. The bank also acknowledged they knew the parrot’s whereabouts, it said.

In further calls, Bank of America representatives told Ms. Iannelli they couldn’t help her, told her to stop calling, said they were “tired of hearing from her” and put her on hold, told her to call back later and hung up on her, the suit said.

About a week later, Bank of America told her it had “made a mistake” and told her where she could find her parrot, but said she would have to travel to Ebensburg to retrieve it.

This isn’t the first or only instance I’ve heard of recently concerning Bank of America either foreclosing on the wrong house –once even a house they didn’t have a mortgage on– or a house that wasn’t being paid for on time. I hope she takes them to the bank with her lawsuit. Not that it will make much difference to their bottom line, since they are one of the banks sucking on the government teat.