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Let's face it. Everyone makes mistakes. Mistakes can even be made with your mortgage lender or broker regarding your monthly payments. Although everything should be on record and generally automated, things can happen and the best thing you can do to protect yourself is track all payments.
It is not unusual for mortgage loans to be bought and sold among those who provide mortgage services. Your mortgage service provider is responsible for collecting your monthly mortgage payment, crediting your account, making the necessary adjustments to the monthly payment if you have an adjustable rate mortgage, and also handles the escrow if you have one.
If your mortgage service provider should ever sell your loan, than they should provide you a letter and the new information from your new mortgage service provider. Be sure to know who you can contact if there are any issues with your account, or if you need to speak with the service provider about adjusting terms or refinancing. Complete notice should be given to you, and you have a right to ask for all the information regarding your new mortgage service provider.
When these loans are bought and sold, sometimes information can be lost or distorted, causing a mishap on your monthly payment. In order to be prepared to fix any problems that might occur by the transfer of your loan, or even just basic human or computer mistakes, you should keep all paperwork in a safe record keeping place. You should keep all mortgage documentation including monthly billing statements.
In addition, it is really a good idea to keep records of all canceled checks and bank statements. Having all this information in a safe place can serve as proof if you have a claim against your original mortgage service provider, or a new one.
If you receive a billing statement and you do not understand a certain charge or fee, write the service provider for an itemized explanation of every charge and what it is for. You have the right to understand every item you are paying for.
If you do have a dispute, however, do not stop paying your mortgage payments! This can cause many more problems including a step towards foreclosure! Address the issue in writing and speak to those who can resolve the issue. Changes can be made later to the payments that you have made by debiting money if necessary, to your account. Never just stop paying payments if something is wrong with your monthly mortgage billing statement.
Do not ignore or avoid a mortgage provider's contact with you, whether it is a letter or phone call. Many issues can arise, a lost payment in the mail, a need for a copy of your home owner's insurance, or perhaps to offer a refinancing program that you may be interested in. whatever the reason, mortgage service providers generally do not contact you without a specific, usually important reason.
These things that you can do can protect your best interest if ever there is a discrepancy. Also, you can have all your mortgage information at your finger tips if ever you need to review a billing period or see how much money you are paying in interest. You never know when a mistake is going to happen, so stay prepared and ready for anything. As a home owner, it is a responsibility that you must adhere to if you do not want small issues to turn into major problems.
About the Author:
John R Blakefield is a mortgage and real estate specialist. For more information, articles, news, tools and valuable resources on home mortgages or investment loans, refinancing, debt solutions, visit this site: http://www.scourtheweb.com/mortgage/.
Read more articles by: John R. Blakefield
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