Want to know if you can stop making payments on the house you are in? If the Bank or Mortgage Company doesn't have the original note then they have no legal recourse to make you pay.
This letter should be sent to your mortgage servicing company. Since these are the people to whom you are writing a check every month, they bare the burden to prove that they are entitled to those payments. The following is a mortgage note and mortgage servicing agreement sample letter. You may need to make modifications to suit your specific needs.To whom it may concern:Sending the above letter to your mortgage service company is the first step in the process. They are legally obligated to respond to your request.
I own the property at the address listed above, and your bank services my mortgage.
Over the last several weeks there have been many stories documenting the problem that banks are foreclosing on homes without proof that they own the loan. I have learned that in many cases, banks like yours do not even know who owns the loans you service. Employees at several leading banks have admitted to rubber stamping tens of thousands of foreclosures every month, without even checking to make sure that the bank had a legal right to proceed with foreclosure. In some cases, banks allegedly falsified mortgage documents to cover up their mistakes. There have been reports of two banks trying to foreclose on the same home, banks foreclosing on homeowners who were current on their payments, and even of a bank foreclosing on a home where the homeowner had never taken out a mortgage to begin with. This is not merely a “technical problem”–it is the difference between having a warm bed at night and being out on the street.
As a homeowner and a customer of your bank, I am horrified. I had always believed that it I played by the rules, I would be protected, but now I know that banks like yours think the rules don’t apply to them.
To protect myself and my family, I need to know who owns my mortgage. Within thirty days, I would like to know the name, address, and phone number of the bank or investor that owns my mortgage. Furthermore, in light of the recent allegations of foreclosure fraud, I demand to see the original mortgage note proving ownership over my home loan. I would like to see copies of all endorsements and assignments of my mortgage note and where and when the assingment(s) _if any – were recorded. I also ask that you provide me with evidence of your firm being contractually retained to service my loan.
If you fail to provide the information I am legally entitled to, I will be forced to consider all options available to me to ensure that my family and my home are protected.
I ask that I receive my response in writing.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
*Important Note*: Send this letter utilizing the Certified Mail Return Receipt service through the U.S. Post Office. It will cost you approximately $5 for postage and added services, but it will ensure a paper record of your request and the bank cannot deny that they received it. Within a few days of their receipt of your letter, you will receive a green form with the date it was delivered and a signature from the person who signed for it at the bank. Keep this for your records. Failure to send with CMRR service could lead to complications if the bank denies that you sent the request.
What do I do after 30 days?
The thirty day window begins on the day the bank signs for the letter you sent via Certified Mail. Once this time period expires, you should have received a copy of all requested documentation.
If you have not received the documentation requested, or it is incomplete, or it does not prove assignment of your mortgage loan to the service company, or it does not include a copy of your title, you will need to take legal action against the bank.
This will require that you obtain an attorney. Most attorneys can be retained for less than the cost of your monthly mortgage, so this may be a cost-effective avenue to take for many of our readers. Essentially, if the mortgage service company/bank fails to deliver the requested documentation, this becomes a paper shuffle through the court system.
If all goes well, you may end up with a free house, or, at the very least, a deferment on your monthly mortgage payments (interest free) until everything is worked out with respect to paperwork. With the speed and efficiency of our current mortgage system, you may end up without having to make payments for months before everything is all said and done.
