Need help with your home mortgage or avoiding foreclosure? If you’re calling a bank, be prepared to wait. It turns out, even if you’re a congresswoman, you’re put on hold – for awhile.

Rep. Maxine Waters, D-CA, spent more than two hours trying to get help from someone at Bank of America for a constituent family who was struggling to keep up with their mortgage payments. In front of rolling ABC "Nightline" cameras, Waters was repeatedly put on hold for long stretches, disconnected, transferred to extensions that didn’t work and switched to a recording which directed her to the bank’s website. How helpful!

Even though Bank of America later apologized, Waters says, just to add insult to injury, this is what the average troubled homeowner faces.

"The average American trying to negotiate a loan modification will not be able to get it done," she said. "It will be impossible for them to get in touch with the right person, and even if they get in touch with a so-called counselor, they have a cookie-cutter kind of direction that they go in."

An ABC News investigation found that the process of reaching out for help can be disorganized and frustrating, and far from consumer friendly. Click here to read the entire story.