Get to know your new home and keep track of who owns your mortgage.
Congratulations! You’ve made it through the process and your dream home is yours! You have moved in, unpacked, and are getting to know your new neighborhood. But wait. What’s this? A few months or years after you move into your house, your lender may tell you that your mortgage has been sold to another mortgage company. What does this mean?
Many people think that the lender who originally financed their home will be the same mortgage company they will send their payments to for the life of their mortgage. But in reality, the servicing rights of many mortgages are bought and sold in the financial markets, much like stocks and bonds.
If your mortgage is sold, your new mortgage company has certain responsibilities to you and it is very important for you to know them. There are federal laws designed to protect you, and you should learn what they are.
If your loan has been bought and sold several times, you are probably confused about who your mortgage company is and where your payments should go. There are several resources that can help you confirm who your mortgage company is.
- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has housing counselors nationwide who can help you locate your mortgage company and answer many other questions you may have.
- MERS® Servicer ID (Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems) is a database of mortgage loans and can help you determine the identity of your mortgage company if your lender registered the loan on the MERS® System.
It is also extremely important to be a proactive homeowner and keep track of the moneys you’ve paid to your mortgage company. After you close on your home, they should be sending you regular statements of your monthly payments and your balances. Scrutinize this for any fees (i.e., late fees) and other charges you may have been assessed. Keep in mind that even if you were only a few days late with your payment, they may have already penalized you.
Your mortgage company should have also paid your property insurance payments and your property taxes. If they have, you should have received a receipt from your county letting you know that your taxes have been paid when due, and a statement from your mortgage company informing you that they’ve paid your property insurance bill when due. If they failed to do one or both, contact them immediately.
