You just received notice that one of your loans will be serviced by a new company – the third in 2 years. Many of you know how aggravating it can be dealing with loan servicing companies, particularly when the newest servicer has incorrect records.
Your rights are governed by a federal law known as “the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act” (RESPA). If you have questions or problems with the servicing of your loan, the servicer is required to respond to you. Write to your servicer and call it a “qualified written request under Section 6 of RESPA.” It should be a separate letter and not mailed with your payment. The mortgage servicer must respond to you within 60 business days of receipt.
Your loan servicer is required to notify you in writing at least 15 days before the servicing of your loan is transferred to a new servicer. During the 60-day period beginning on the effective date of the transfer, the payment may not be treated as late if you mistakenly send it to the old mortgage servicer instead of the new one.
RESPA does not require or prevent a lender from maintaining an escrow account for the payment of taxes and insurance. However, if a lender does escrow for taxes and insurance, RESPA limits the amount that can be escrowed. It also requires that you are provided with an annual detailed disclosure about amounts paid on your behalf.
