Save the Dream :
Ohio's Foreclosure Prevention Effort
Contact Your Mortgage Servicer
Why Contact Your Servicer?
Many servicers understand that individuals and families can face temporary job loss,
serious illness, or other major life events that can impact their ability to pay
their mortgage. It is important that you contact your mortgage servicer to explain
your situation if you anticipate any difficulty in making your mortgage payment.
Many servicers are willing to work with you if you contact them immediately. Be
sure to have information prepared for the conversation so that the company is best
able to assist you when you call.
To determine who your mortgage servicer is:
- Check your monthly mortgage billing statement.
- Check your payment coupon
book.
To find out how to reach your servicer:
- Check your monthly mortgage billing statement.
- Click here for
a list of servicers.
- Check your phone book.
- Search on the Internet.
Contact your servicer!
By clicking here
you can view a list of phone numbers for various mortgage servicers. Call your servicer
today, and ask to speak with the loss mitigation department.
Information to Have Ready When You Call:
Gather the following financial information:
- Your loan account number.
- A brief description of your circumstances.
-
Recent income documents such as:
- Pay stubs.
- Benefit statements from Social Security, disability, unemployment,
retirement, or public assistance.
- If self-employed, have your tax returns or
a year-to-date profit and loss statement available for reference.
- List of household expenses.
Be prepared to answer the following questions:
- What caused you to miss your mortgage payment(s)?
- Do you have any documents
to back up your explanation for falling behind?
- How have you tried to resolve
the problem?
- Is your problem temporary, long-term, or permanent?
- What
changes in your situation do you see in the short term and in the long term?
-
What other financial issues may be stopping you from getting back on track with
your mortgage?
- What would you like to see happen?
- Do you want to keep
the home?
- What type of payment arrangement would be feasible for you?
What to expect:
- Expect to have more than one phone conversation with your loan servicer.
-
Your loan servicer will usually mail you a "loan workout" package containing information,
forms and instructions.
- Complete the forms and return them to your mortgage
servicer quickly if you want to be considered for assistance.
- The completed
package will be reviewed before the servicer talks with you about a solution.
-
If you do not hear back from the loan servicer in a reasonable amount of time after
submitting the workout package (generally 7-10 days), contact your loan servicer
again and continue to follow up.
What to do when working with your servicer:
- Keep notes of all your communications with the loan servicer including:
- Date and time of contact.
- Nature of the contact (face-to-face, phone, e-mail,
fax, or mail).
- First and last name of the representative.
- The outcome.
- If you make any oral request to your loan servicer, follow up with a letter reiterating
the oral request.
- Send your letter by certified mail, return receipt requested,
so you can document that the loan servicer received your correspondence.
- Keep
copies of your letter and any enclosures.
- Meet all deadlines the loan servicer
gives you.
- Stay in your home during the process because you may not qualify
for certain types of assistance if you move out.
- If you do not hear back from
the loan servicer in a reasonable amount of time after communicating with the company,
contact it again.
- Continue to follow up.
Sources: Federal Trade Commission,
HUD, Home Loan Learning Center