Your lender is required to inform you of any plans to
sell your mortgage to a mortgage servicer after closing. The new
servicer could be another bank, another lender, an
investor or a third-party processing company that services
mortgages. You could have several mortgage servicers over the life
of your mortgage.
The mortgage servicer collects and processes your
monthly mortgage payments. They then forward your payment to the
investor that owns your mortgage. The servicer will act on the
investor's behalf should there be any problems with the mortgage.
The servicer pays your property taxes and homeowners' insurance
premiums from your escrow account.
You will receive an annual mortgage statement that
breaks down what portion of your mortgage payments were applied to
principal, interest, taxes and insurance. It will also make
adjustments to your escrow payments in order to cover any changes in
taxes or insurance premiums.
The servicer will counsel and assist you in overcoming
delinquencies due to missed loan payments. A forbearance or deferral
of payments may be extended to help you in times of financial
difficulties. If the loan becomes seriously in default, the servicer
may foreclose on the property in order to protect the investor's
interest in the property and salvage the equity in the home.
If your mortgage servicer is changed you will be
notified in writing of the changes by both your original servicer
and the new servicer. Pay attention to the transfer date and contact
information for the new servicer.
The new servicer is required to stand by the terms and
conditions of your original mortgage agreement. You must be notified
if there are any changes to the terms of your homeowners' insurance.
During the transfer of servicers, there is a 60-day
grace period in which you cannot be charged a late payment. This
protects you from mistakenly sending a mortgage payment to your old
servicer.
You should put any questions or disputes with the new
servicer in writing and continue to make all payments while you
settle the dispute. Federal law requires the servicer to investigate
and make corrections within 60 business days.
If your mortgage servicer has changed, you should
carefully examine your mortgage statements and make sure that all
payments have been recorded. You should also check to see that your
taxes and insurance premiums have been paid on time. Keep copies of
any letters, canceled checks and other paperwork relating to your
mortgage in case you have a dispute.
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