Protection for Homebuyers

Due to federal law, homebuyers are protected with certain provisions during the loan process and the loan servicing process following a settlement. The circumstances in which your protected are widespread.

Some of them include:

• Your lender overcharged you during settlement without reimbursement.

• A settlement service paid or received a kickback for a business referral.

• You were mandated to use a company affiliated with your real estate agent, builder, or originator.

• Your loan servicer failed to pay your taxes or insurance premiums in a timely manner.

• You don't receive a response from your loan servicer regarding a request for information or a reported error.

• You were charged for insurance you don't need or overcharged for force-placed insurance.

For more information on title insurance, contact Cambridge Title Company by email at info@cambridgetitleco.com or by phone at 224-330-1886.

Loan Servicing Information Requests & Errors

For questions regarding your loan, or if you believe an error was made, you can send a written notice to your loan servicer. More so, the servicer is required to respond to you.

Payoff statements

By sending a request for a payoff statement, you can learn how much you need to fully pay off your loan. In most cases, the servicer must respond in seven business days of receiving your request.

Information Requests

For information on your loan, you can send a separate letter to your servicer, listing your name, mortgage loan, and the desired information. Please be aware that the address for information requests may be different from the billing address. Within five days, your loan servicer must send you a written acknowledgement of your request. The servicer must send you a written acknowledgement within five business days of getting your information request. Additionally, most requests require a 30-day investigation and follow-up period. However, if your request was merely for contact information pertaining to the loan's owner, your servicer only has ten days.

Error Resolution

In the event of an error, send a written notice, including your name, mortgage loan, and the alleged error. Possible errors include:

• Applying payments incorrectly
• Charging improper fees
• Providing inaccurate foreclosure avoidance information
• Starting a foreclosure sale in violation of the mitigation rules
• Creating a loan servicing error

Like other notices, this should be a separate letter from any payment mailings. If the servicer gave you an address to use for error notices, you must use that address. Also, just like with information requests, your servicer must provide written acknowledgement within five days and has 30 days to investigate the error. Having said that, if the error pertains to a lack of a payoff statement, the servicer has only seven days to provide you with one.

Your servicer is not allowed to charge you a fee for responding to requests for information or for correcting errors unless your request is for a beneficiary notice (if a fee is permitted under applicable law).

For additional information on loan closings, contact Cambridge Title Company by phone at 224-330-1886 or by email at info@cambridgetitleco.com.

Mortgage Loan Billing Information

Each billing cycle, your loan servicer is required to send you a written mortgage statement with quite a few items. Today, we're going to review the list of necessities.

Current Bill

The first item seems like the obvious, but in addition to your bill, you should be informed of how much will be divided between principal, interest, and escrow. For mortgage loans with multiple payment options, you should also be told of how each option will affect your total principal balance. In addition, if there's a late fee, you should know how much it will be and what date you need to send the bill by to avoid the fee.

Past Payments

This category reveals information on the total of your past payments. Similar to your current bill, it should also mention how those past payments were applied towards principal, interest, and escrow. Along with this, you should know when those payments were made and how they affect your credit towards the overall loan. For partial payments, the notice must clearly indicate what must be done to apply them towards your loan's balance.

Delinquency Information

Many fall behind on their loans. For this reason, the mortgage statement should include information on how to contact a housing counselor for assistance. For those 45 days or more behind on their loan payments, you should know:

• Delinquency date
• Account history dating back six months
• Amount needed to bring your loan payments back to speed
• The risk(s) of delinquency
• Options aside from foreclosure
• Whether or not the foreclosure process has begun

Other Account Information

This category includes several miscellaneous information points. First, you should be told what your current interest rate is. If that rate is scheduled to change,  the statement should tell you the date of change. If you pay off your loan early, you should also be told of any prepayment penalty. When it comes to reaching out to your loan servicer, general contact information, including address, should be available.

For more information on mortgage loan billing, contact Cambridge Title Company by phone at 224-330-1886 or by email at info@cambridgetitleco.com.

Loan Servicing & Escrow Disclosure

Your loan servicer is the organization that collects your loan payments, which can be different from your lender. Either when you first apply for your loan or within the following three business days, Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) requires that your lender or mortgage broker tell you in writing whether someone else may be servicing your loan.

After your settlement, if your loan servicer transfers the servicing of your loan to a new servicer, RESPA requires that you be notified in writing at least 15 days before the transfer. This notice must also inform you of when the transfer is effective and when you will begin making payments to the new servicer. Thirdly, the notice letter must include the new servicer's contact information along with any other information pertinent to your loan's servicing.

In the event that your loan requires an escrow account, your servicer must present you with an initial escrow account statement at your settlement or within the following 45 days. This statement will show all of the payments that are expected to be deposited into your escrow account and all of the
disbursements that are expected to be paid from the escrow account during the year.

On an annual basis, your servicer will review your escrow account and send you a disclosure which should include the prior year’s activity. Also, this disclosure must indicate any adjustments in the escrow payments needed for the upcoming year. However, if your loan is overdue by more than 30 days, you will not receive this disclosure. Remember that your monthly payment can increase if your taxes or insurance payments increase.

For additional questions pertaining to loan servicing and escrow services, contact Cambridge Title Company by phone at 224-330-1886 or by email at info@cambridgetitleco.com.