Consumer Law

Who Or What Is The "Servicer" Of My Mortgage?

By M. Stan Herring

Often we see clients who are facing foreclosure and the reason is, at least in part, misconduct on the part of the mortgage servicer.

We often assume the company we make our payments to - Litton Loan, Bank of America, Wachovia, Wells Fargo, etc. actually owns the note.

But many times the note is owned by someone else and it is instead a "servicer" that we send our payments to and who sends us our monthly bills, etc.

A servicer can be defined as the company responsible for the following items:

1. Sending out bills
2. Accepting payments
3. Applying payments
4. Handling the escrow account
5. Imposing charges and fees
6. Handling any bankruptcy claims
7. Carrying out foreclosures.

The significance of being a servicer is certain laws apply including RESPA - Real Estate Settlement Practices Act. Existing state and federal laws can be very helpful when dealing with a servicer that lies, adds bogus fees, misapplies money, etc.

In future posts we will discuss these types of issues, particularly as they relate to wrongful and illegal foreclosures which are happening with greater frequency around the country and in Alabama.

If you live in Alabama and would like to meet with us to discuss your pending or prior foreclosure, feel free to contact us through our website or you can call us at 205-879-2447 or register for our free Alabama Foreclosure Seminar which will occur November 3, 2009, at 4 pm in our office in Birmingham, Alabama.

Full post as published by Alabama Consumer Blog on October 29, 2009 (boomark / email).