Letter to your mortgage servicer.

[Methuss]

Here's a letter my attorney gave which is what you use to derail mortgage servicers. You send this letter certified to your servicer and then wait. As he told me 90% of the time the servicer will not reply because if they do it will show all the hidden fees, charges and interest they have illegally applied to your account and which get hidden in your payoff amount or simply get overlooked with time.

This letter, if they fail to reply and later try to foreclose on you, creates a defense and countersuit for RESPA violations. You don't go after them for failing to respond...well you could...but its really something you keep in your back pocket for when you need it.

This letter is a “qualified written request” under the Federal Servicer Act, which is a part of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, 12 U.S.C. 2605(e). This request is made on the above referenced account. Specifically, I am requesting the following information:

1. A complete and itemized statement of the loan history from the date of the loan to the date of this letter including, but not limited to, all receipts by way of payment or otherwise and all charges to the loan in whatever form. This history should include the date of each and every debit and credit to any account related to this loan, the nature and purpose of each such debit and credit, and the name and address of the payee of any type of disbursement related to this account.

2. A complete and itemized statement of all advances or charges against this loan for any purpose that are not reflected on the loan history transaction statement provided in answer to question #1.

3. A complete and itemized statement of the escrow account of the loan, if any, from the date of the loan to the date of this letter, including, but not limited to, any receipts or disbursements with respect to real estate property taxes, fire or hazard insurance, flood insurance, mortgage insurance, credit insurance, or any other insurance product.

4. Have you purchased and charged to the account any Vendor’s Single Interest Insurance?

5. A complete and itemized statement from the date of the loan to the date of this letter of any forced-placed insurance and expenses related thereto, related in any way to this loan.

6. A complete and itemized statement from the date of the loan to the date of this letter of any suspense account entries and/or any corporate advance entries related in any way to this loan.

7. A complete and itemized statement from the date of the loan to the date of this letter of any property inspection fees, property preservation fees, broker opinion fees, appraisal fees, bankruptcy monitoring fees, or other similar fees or expenses related in any way to this loan.

8. Identify the provision under the Deed of Trust and/or note that authorizes charging each and every such fee against the loan.

9. Please attach copies of all property inspection reports and appraisals.

10. A complete and itemized statement of any and all post-petition arrears including each month in which the default occurred, and the amount of each monthly default.

11. A complete and itemized statement of any late charges to this loan from the date of this loan to the date of this letter.

12. The amount, if applicable, of any “satisfaction fees.”

13. A complete and itemized statement from the date of the loan to the date of this letter of any fees incurred to modify, extend, or amend the loan or to defer any payment due under the terms of the loan.

14. The current amount needed to pay-off the loan in full.

15. A full and complete comprehensible definitional dictionary of all transaction codes and other similar terms used in the statements requested above.

16. A complete and itemized statement of any funds deposited in any post-petition suspension account(s) or corporate advance account(s), including, but not limited to, the balance in any such account or accounts and the nature, source and date of any and all funds deposited in such account or accounts.

17. A complete and itemized statement from the date of this loan to the date of this letter of the amount, payment date, purpose and recipient of all foreclosure expenses, NSF check charges, legal fees, attorney fees, professional fees and other expenses and costs that have been charged against or assessed to this mortgage.

18. A complete and itemized statement of the amount, payment date, purpose and recipient of all fees for the preparation and filing of the original proof of claim, any amended proofs of claim, or any supplemental proofs of claim related to this mortgage.

19. The full name, address and phone number of the current holder of this debt including the name, address and phone number of any trustee or other fiduciary. This request is being made pursuant to Section 1641(f)(2) of the Truth In Lending Act, which requires the servicer to identify the holder of the debt.

20. The name, address and phone number of any master servicers, servicers, sub-servicers, contingency servicers, back-up servicers or special servicers for the underlying mortgage debt.

21. A copy of any mortgage Pooling and Servicing Agreement and all Disclosure Statements provided to any Investors with respect to any mortgage-backed security trust or other special purpose vehicle related to the said Agreement and any and all Amendments and Supplements thereto.

22. If a copy of the Pooling and Servicing Agreement has been filed with the SEC, provide a copy of SEC Form 8k and the Prospectus Supplement, SEC Form 424b5.

23. The name, address and phone number of any Trustee under any pooling or servicing agreement related to this loan.

24. A copy of the Prospectus offered to investors in the trust.

25. Copies of all servicing, master servicing, sub-servicing, contingency servicing, special servicing, or back-up servicing agreements with respect to this account.

26. All written loss-mitigation rules and work-out procedures related to any defaults regarding this loan and similar loans.

27. The procedural manual used with respect to the servicing or sub-servicing of this loan.

28. A summary of all fixed or standard legal fees approved for any form of legal services rendered in connection with this account.

29. Is this loan subject to any Electronic Tracking Agreement? If the answer is yes, then state the full name and address of the Electronic Agent and the full name and address of the Mortgage Electronic Registration System.

30. Is the servicing of this loan provided pursuant to any type of mortgage electronic registration system? If the answer is yes, then attach a copy of the mortgage electronic registration system procedures manual.

31. A copy of the LSAMS Transaction History Report for the mortgage loan account, with a detailed description of all fee codes.

32. Is this a MERS Designated Mortgage Loan? If the answer is yes, then identify the electronic agent and the type of mortgage electronic system used by the agent.

33. Is this mortgage part of a Mortgage Warehouse Loan? If so, then state the full name and address of the Lender and attach a copy of the Warehouse Loan Agreement.

34. Upon any default or notice of default, state whether or not the Mortgage Warehouse Lender has the right to override any servicers or sub-servicers and provide instructions directly to the Electronic Agent? If the answer is yes, then specifically identify the legal basis for such authority.

35. Is this mortgage part of a Whole Loan Sale Agreement? If the answer is yes, then state the name and address of the Purchaser, the Custodian, the Trustee, the Electronic Agent and any Servicer or Sub-Servicers.

You should be advised that you must acknowledge receipt of this qualified written request within 20 business days, pursuant to 12 U.S.C. Section 2605(e)(1)(A) and Reg. X Section 3500.21(e)(1).

You should also be advised that I will seek the recovery of damages, costs, and reasonable legal fees for each failure to comply with the questions and requests herein. I also reserve the right to seek statutory damages for each violation of any part of Section 2605 of Title 12 of the United States Code.

*Also note that mortgage servicers are required to fully answer all these questions within 60 days from the date they receive this letter in addition to acknowleding receipt of your request in the first 20 days. During that time they are forbidden to report late-pays to the bureaus as well.

[Bullishjth]

I hate to sound stupid, but i do it so well, is this something that you are recomending everyone to send in?

[Methuss]

I recommend anyone with an escrow account, an adjustable mortgage, or a HELOC send this in.

To clarify, most servicers keep 2 sets of books on each account. One that they use to generate your monthly statements and one they use internally. The internal one is how they figure your payoff and usually includes a lot of fees you never see on your statements.

Ever wonder how when you request a payoff it is usually higher than your own calculations?

In some cases, such as HELOCs, the statements you get can even be incorrect be cause of improperly calculated indexes.

[brokeinok]

Section 2605 of Title 12 of the United States Code.

What does this say specifically? Am I googling it incorrectly?

[brokeinok]

Okay... when I search the US Code site for those citations, I'm not seeing anything relating to mortgages.

[Methuss]

Okay... when I search the US Code site for those citations, I'm not seeing anything relating to mortgages.

http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/12/2605.html

[brokeinok]

Methuss.... you rule! Thank you! I needed this so badly for an ongoing mess with my mortgage servicer! I'm trying to refi and just discovered a whole more errors than I thought possible!

I also noticed the section about not reporting you late during the 60 day period of a transfer or sale of the mortgage.... jerks! They started reporting me late immediately.....arghhh!!

[Guest KARENMW67]

So, one should use this if they are going to get foreclosed on? I've read a lot of your post, you are very intelligent. smile.

[Methuss]

This could forestall a foreclosure action. But I wouldn't rely on it. It would be up to the judge if he thought it was relavent.

An example where it would be relavent is if they are trying to foreclose on you because of unpaid fees but your payments were otherwise current. If you are behind on your regular payments it won't matter to the judge if you have a pending RESPA letter...you are still in default; only the amount would be disputed.

Thanks for the compliment...but I'm not that smart. I'm facing the possible loss of my own home due to job loss and the associated bankruptcy I had to file. The advice I'm giving will hopefully help others avoid (or at least fight off) a similar fate. So even those of us that have more than average consumer knowledge can still make a major mis-step.

[Tony]

Methuss.... you rule! Thank you! I needed this so badly for an ongoing mess with my mortgage servicer! I'm trying to refi and just discovered a whole more errors than I thought possible!

I also noticed the section about not reporting you late during the 60 day period of a transfer or sale of the mortgage.... jerks! They started reporting me late immediately.....arghhh!!

Can someone help me... I had a mort. with WAMU and fell behind one month. they said if I paid them extra each month i would be find but they would report me late... they sold it to another company and two months before i was done catching up... and they also reported me immediatley.... Is this legall, and inf n how can i fight this.. Thanks

[Methuss]

Can someone help me... I had a mort. with WAMU and fell behind one month. they said if I paid them extra each month i would be find but they would report me late... they sold it to another company and two months before i was done catching up... and they also reported me immediatley.... Is this legall, and inf n how can i fight this.. Thanks

Did you get the repayment agreement in writing? If not you have no claim.

Mortgage/servicer companies use something called a suspense account to hold the money you send them aside until the full amount due is available, then they credit the account. Unless you have a written forebearance agreement, all they do is collect interest off the amount they hold and pocket it.

So, for example, if you repayed one month of arrearage over a four month period, each payment would be behind by one month until payment #5 (explained why 5 below) when a double payment is applied to the account. Each time you make a payment the amount is first applied to the oldest past-due payment and the rest goes into a suspense account.

So this is what happens on paper:

*January you miss the payment. You arrange to repay it with four partial payments on top of a regular payment in February.

*You make your payment uder those terms in February. They post your January payment and put the 1/4 extra into a suspense account. February is considered late.

*In March you make another payment. This pays the late February amount and another 1/4 goes into the suspense account. March is considered unpaid/late.

*In April you make another payment. This pays the late March payment and another 1/4 goes into the suspense account. April is considered unpaid/late and 3/4 of a payment is now sitting in the suspense account.

*In May you make another payment. This pays the late April payment and another 1/4 goes into the suspense account. May is still considered late because you have 3 months of late fees they have been adding on for the prior months and taking from the suspense account.

*In June you discover you are still late because the suspense account didn't have enough in it to cover May's payment once they took out the late fees. So one more extra payment is needed to bring everything current. In the meantime, you have gotten five consecutive 30-day lates reported to the credit bureaus.

The only way to avoid this is to have a forebearance agreement in writing that spells out your repayment schedule. As long as you meet the written agreement, you will have proof that you were not late and that it was just their funky accounting system (it's also a RESPA and FCRA violation for them to report lates if you have a written forebearance agreement).

[harleygirl]

Will this do anything for someone who is already in foreclosure?

The reason I ask is that we offered our lender the payments without the late fees for the 90 days we were behind. They declined and said we owed almost double that to be considered current.

I am just beginning research and I have seen some statements that might indicate we can stop the foreclosure if we make the required payments even without the late fees.

[Magda]

We have an adjustable mortgage with escrow and a HELOC, we're in the process of a refi (with a rate lock) due to close around May 14; no lates, no danger of foreclosure. Is this something we should send in?

When I saw our pay-offs I questioned why they were higher than the amounts on my statements or my calculations (jeez, I'm an accountant and I couldn't come up with their numbers no matter how I tried to work 'em!) and I wasn't very satisfied with the loan processor's explanation.

[Methuss]

Yes, Magda, you should send this RESPA letter. It will force them to explain the payoff amount they have calculated. Unless you put off your refi, you will have to deal with them post settlement by sueing them for overcharging the payoff. I'm betting they will ignore your QWR (Qualified Written Request).

Harleygirl, you are not "in foreclosure" until they have filed a lawsuit against you to foreclose the mortgage. Get the letter out ASAP. Failure to respond to this letter can be used to put the brakes on a foreclosure suit because all the information requested in this letter is what they would have to provide the court as proof they own the Note and that their accounting is accurate. It won't stop the foreclosure, but it will throw it to trial if you cite it as an affirmative defense and that will give you more time. The lender may also become more agreeable to a deal if they think they will be subject to closer scrutiny by the court. They like uncontested foreclosures because they can ask for whatever they want with no dispute. Shine a light on it and, like roaches, they will scurry for cover.

[msekinah]

my mortgage servicer told me i haad to pay my home i nsurance with my mortgage payment. I've been paying faithfully, but i got a letter of cancellation from my carrier. Thanks for the advice of this letter.

I've been frantically trying to raise my scores so I can refinance into a fixed rate loan.

thanks

[delaware_silverfox]

Thank You so very much. I am currently in foreclosure because I lost my employment due to medical disability. Its very complicated. Since my husband was not a part of the loan, he is fighting to keep his interest in the home. He wasn't even aware that I took out this loan. I am bipolar and have severe problems managing my funds . So here we are now in the deposition stage. Although he is hurt by my actions, my husband told me he wouldn't do anything to jeopardize my future. So, we are thinking about selling the home so that he can get the equity due to him while paying off my mortgage loan part. Countrywide is my service provider/mortgage holder. Should I send this letter to Countrywide or to the attorney they retained?

I think it would help because their fees are enormous and if we can sell and ask for the unreasonable fees to be removed from the quoted pay off, it would really, really help.

[1time2many]

delaware_silverfox,

You need to go to loansafe.org, you may be able to fight this off with there help.

[Aerovette]

...

Huh?

*spam removed...Amerikaner83

[OMGWhatHaveIdone]

Could a letter like this be used if the mortgage is a government backed loan? The mortgagor is the USDA and they also service the loan.

I'm just wondering here because I do not have a conventional type of loan so I don't think I have all of the hidden costs and fees that one would normally ask for proof of in the letter here.

[admin]

I wrote this up....

http://www.creditinfocenter.com/mortgage/loan-restructuring.shtml

[reeno]

just reading your post. your making me nervous,you can be forclosed if you have unpaid late fees

[OMGWhatHaveIdone]

I wrote this up....

http://www.creditinfocenter.com/mortgage/loan-restructuring.shtml

Great article for someone who has a conventional loan through a bank, however, I will ask again....

What sort of help is out there for someone who has a loan through the government - more specifically, the USDA's Rural Development. I have a 502 home loan through them. Although I am already on a subsidy, it doesn't help that every year while my property and school taxes have gone up, my income has not. This puts my escrow account further behind, and in order to make up for that, my monthly mortgage is increased. I am in PA and have already gone through the HEMAP program. I can not go through that again, as it was a one time deal.

So I'm pretty much stuck here with no way of being able to resolve this problem.

[admin]

OMG - I wish I knew. This is a little known program that's recently been used out of desperation by people who couldn't get any other kind of loan.

[hanginbyathread]

I originally got my loan through UC Lending and they sold it to EMC Mortgage Servicing not even a year later. I got the loan end of 1996 for 35000. Has escrow and variable rate. Been in and out of trouble making payments for the last several years. I now owe 37000. Has been in different stages of foreclosure several times and is currently in pre-foreclosure. I have had a forbearance a few times. After not meeting the requirements they would send it back into foreclosure charging all these lawyer fees each time. They keep saying after so many payments they will try to refinance but I seem to mess up just on time to miss out on that. I have sent them thousands over the last twelve years and am losing ground. I am afraid if I send this letter at this time it will accelerate the foreclosure process. I am trying to dig up all my transactions with them but I foolishly am not a good records keeper. The original lender knew someone who beefed up the original appraisal so I could get the amount needed due to the house being in disrepair but it was my parents house and I had to finance it to do repairs and buy out my siblings. A lot of repairs did not get done due to a major increase of material prices in that time frame and I doubt the house is worth the amount owed currently. I live in NY.

[BigTom]

I'm facing the possible loss of my own home due to job loss and the associated bankruptcy I had to file.

Methuss -- :idea:Are you still out of work? Seems like your knowledge and experience could be valuable in today's economy.