Part II of a Three Part Series

In Series Number One, we reviewed the merits of the Good Faith Estimate and its value to the borrower for transparent disclosure of facts and figures.     In the Part Two, we need to address the “service” aspect of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act.

When you apply for a home mortgage, you may think that the lender, or loan originator, will service the loan until it is paid off or your house is sold. However, in today’s market mortgage, servicing rights often are bought and sold. The Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) is a consumer protection statute which affords you certain disclosures and strategies for problem resolution with your mortgage and/or escrow account.

Duty of Loan Servicer to Respond to Complaints. If you have questions or problems with the servicing of your loan, the servicer is required to respond to you. Write to your servicer and call it a “qualified written request under Section 6 of RESPA.” It should be a separate letter and not mailed with your payment. The mortgage servicer must                respond to you within 60 business days of receipt.

A Sample Complaint Letter would include the following because the specifics are important:
Attention Customer Service:

Subject: [Your loan number]
[Names on loan documents]
[Property and/or mailing address]

This is a “qualified written request” under Section 6 of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA).

I am writing because:

• Describe the issue or the question you have and/or what action you believe the lender should take.
• Attach copies of any related written materials.
• Describe any conversations with customer service regarding the issue and to whom you spoke.
• Describe any previous steps you have taken or attempts to resolve the issue.
• List a day time telephone number in case a customer service representative wishes to contact you.
• I understand that under Section 6 of RESPA you are required to acknowledge my request within 20 business days and must try to resolve the issue within 60 business days.

Sincerely,

[Your name]

REMEMBER: This letter SHOULD NOT be included with your mortgage payment, but should be sent separately to the customer service address.

And, it is very important that you continue to make the required mortgage and escrow payment until the request is resolved.

Loan Transferred to New Servicer. Your loan servicer is required to notify you in writing at least 15 days before the servicing of your loan is transferred to a new servicer. The notice must include the following information:

* The effective date of the transfer, the date your current servicer will stop accepting payments and the date the new servicer will begin accepting them.
* The name, address, and toll-free or collect call telephone number for the new servicer.
* Information that tells whether you can continue any optional insurance, such as mortgage life or disability insurance, and what action, if any, you must take to maintain coverage.
* A statement that the transfer of servicing does not affect any term or condition of your mortgage documents other than the terms directly related to the servicing of the loan.

Treatment of Payments During Transfer Period. During the 60-day period beginning on the effective date of the transfer, the payment may not be treated as late if you mistakenly send it to the old mortgage servicer instead of the new one.

Escrow Account. RESPA does not require that you maintain an escrow account for the purpose of paying property taxes, hazard insurance, etc. Nor does RESPA have any jurisdiction over the decision of the lender or servicer to require or terminate an escrow account. RESPA does, however, provide you with the following protections with regard to the escrow account:

• If your lender or mortgage servicer requires you to maintain an escrow account for the purpose of paying property taxes, hazard insurance, etc., RESPA requires that the servicer pay such items by the dates due to avoid a penalty or late charge.
• RESPA sets limits on the maximum amount of money the servicer may require you to maintain and pay in the escrow account. (More information about escrow accounts, including how to calculate the maximum amount RESPA allows the lender to require in the escrow account.)

Multistate Home Lending www.multistatehomelending.com and The Manufactured Home Lending Source www.mh-lending.com are committed to full and complete disclosure. All of our loan officers are registered with the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry (Registry), a database established by the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) and the American Association of Residential Mortgage Regulators to support the licensing of mortgage loan originators by the States. As part of this registration process, mortgage loan originators must furnish to the Registry background information and fingerprints for a background check. The S.A.F.E. Act generally prohibits employees of an agency-regulated institution from originating residential mortgage loans without first registering with the Registry.

The manufacturer of Digitek, Actavis Totowa LLC, issued a nationwide Class 1 recall of all strengths of Digitek tablets on April 25, 2008. The Class 1 recall was issued on the basis that the product poses a substantial risk of serious injury or death.The Digitek tablets were distributed by UDL Laboratories, under a UDL label and by Mylan Pharmaceuticals, with a “Bertek” label. For information with regard to the Digitek litigation The following is a summary of the basis for liability against Activis for the manufacturing defect which is believed to result in patient injury and death. For complete information with regard to the Digitek litigation you may refer to our Digitek pharmaceutical product liability lawyers discussion of the respective merits of class action lawsuits and individual lawsuits against the manufacturer. (more…)

By: R. Sebastian Gibson, Attorney At Law

It is January 21, 2008, and not only is the word ARecession@ being used more and more frequently by analysts, we are now starting to also hear the word ADepression@ as a possible outcome of this economic crisis facing the United States and possibly the rest of the world.

As this article is being written, the stock markets around the world have started to fall more precipitously with most of the markets in Europe, Asia, China, Latin America and Canada falling from 5% to 8% overnight. U.S. markets are expected to fall over 500 points when the U.S. markets open again for business on the Tuesday following the Martin Luther King holiday. (more…)

By: Realtor And Attorney, R. Sebastian Gibson

There is usually little to be gained by attempting to find someone to blame when a calamity such as the current housing crisis occurs. Even if one were to determine exactly what was done wrong, there is little chance that by the time another such crisis is about to occur, that such a determination will be remembered or have any value.

Indeed, what may be about to cause the world’s next depression, is quite unlike what caused the depression of the 1920s. (more…)

Many high quality manufactured home developments were first developed as rental or lease communities and later through the resident or homeowner association efforts or through owner determination, the development was converted to resident ownership. One of the most popular methods of park conversion was through a condominium plan. (more…)

Many mobile home parks and manufactured home communities began as rental parks where space rent was dictated by location, size, date of purchase and cost of living increases. It has become increasingly popular for residents to desire a greater control over their living situation and costs associated with their residences, thus converting the park to resident ownership has become a rising trend. (more…)

by R. Sebastian Gibson, Attorney and Realtor, Rancho Mirage, California

The bad news is there for anyone to see. It’s on the newspapers, it’s on the TV and it’s coming from all the financial advisers. The housing market in California is looking bad, real bad. New home sales are down, existing home sales are down, mortgages are hard to get. The latest pronouncement is that the housing problems may not peak until 2009, two years from now. In the interim, articles are now coming out in the financial sections that we can expect double digit declines in the price of housing over the next few years. (more…)

by R. Sebastian Gibson

As of October 2007 with Halloween approaching we have both good news and bad news as they relate to the housing market in the Coachella Valley. Trick or Treat. You want the good news or the bad news? Good choice. We’ll discuss the good news first. (more…)

By Sebastian Gibson

There is a common misconception that if you don’t use a Realtor or a real estate agent to buy or sell property California, you can save money. This could not be further from the truth. (more…)

By Sebastian Gibson

A year ago, population projections for the Inland Empire and for the
Coachella Valley in particular were dynamic. The Coachella Valley
was growing at a rate of 29.5 percent compared to 9.7 percent for
California as a whole and 4.9 percent for the U.S. as a
whole.The Coachella Valley real estate was growing by 47 people per day. In the
Temecula Valley real estate, the rise in the past six years has been even
more dramatic, rising by 62.7 percent. (more…)