About to lose your home due to fees coming out of nowhere? This is a three-part article on saving money on your mortgage loan. For more detailed information, follow-up with my article on Rogue Mortgage Servicers. (A link is provided in the resource section.
1. You will need to determine who holds the "servicing" rights on your mortgage loan. Look on your monthly coupon for payments. The name of the servicer, and the address, will appear on the coupon/note. Your mortgage company may not service the loan in your state, or they may sell the servicing rights on your loan.
2. Next, you will have to send in a "qualified written request" to the mortgage servicer. Do not, again, I repeat, do not send a payment with a qualified written request. Include your name, property address, loan number, response address, and a request for your account summary. Again, do not include a payment with your request. Your mortgage servicer will provide the address for qualified written requests. Ensure that you send your request to the correct location. Contact customer service if you are unsure of the correct address.
3. Within three weeks (this includes business days), you should received acknowledgment of your request. Within 60 days, a resolution should have occurred.
4. Upon receipt of the account summary, review the payment history, escrow accounts, taxes, etc. If any fees appear that violate your contractual agreement, contact the servicer by writing another qualified written request and ask them to refund the fees.
5. Check for a pattern to determine whether all of your payments are marked late. Priority mail (with proof of receipt) costs less than $6.00 through the U.S. Postal Service. It is cheaper to mail your payment with proof of receipt than to allow an unscrupulous mortgage service to set your payment aside and have and added late fee of $50.00 plus accrued interests (because your original payment was returned).
6. Payments must be applied or return. They cannot be held for ten days or put in an escrow account in excess of amounts allowed by law. Contact HUD when your mortgage servicer fails to follow the law. - 15224
1. You will need to determine who holds the "servicing" rights on your mortgage loan. Look on your monthly coupon for payments. The name of the servicer, and the address, will appear on the coupon/note. Your mortgage company may not service the loan in your state, or they may sell the servicing rights on your loan.
2. Next, you will have to send in a "qualified written request" to the mortgage servicer. Do not, again, I repeat, do not send a payment with a qualified written request. Include your name, property address, loan number, response address, and a request for your account summary. Again, do not include a payment with your request. Your mortgage servicer will provide the address for qualified written requests. Ensure that you send your request to the correct location. Contact customer service if you are unsure of the correct address.
3. Within three weeks (this includes business days), you should received acknowledgment of your request. Within 60 days, a resolution should have occurred.
4. Upon receipt of the account summary, review the payment history, escrow accounts, taxes, etc. If any fees appear that violate your contractual agreement, contact the servicer by writing another qualified written request and ask them to refund the fees.
5. Check for a pattern to determine whether all of your payments are marked late. Priority mail (with proof of receipt) costs less than $6.00 through the U.S. Postal Service. It is cheaper to mail your payment with proof of receipt than to allow an unscrupulous mortgage service to set your payment aside and have and added late fee of $50.00 plus accrued interests (because your original payment was returned).
6. Payments must be applied or return. They cannot be held for ten days or put in an escrow account in excess of amounts allowed by law. Contact HUD when your mortgage servicer fails to follow the law. - 15224
