Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in California
Mortgage sent to collections without a previous notice of deliquency
Hi, I was making my parent's 1st mortgage payment. On a couple of ocassions I couldn't make the pmt on time. When I went to the branch to make the pmt and asked how much I needed to pay, they would just tell me the regular monthly pmt + late fees. This month, after I had paid last month, I went to make the pmt and was informed the mortgage was sent to collections. My parents never got a written or verbal communication on this or saying they needed to make a pmt in order to avoid this. Their equity line keeps showing a 0 min. pmt even when they haven't made a pmt and they owe almost the full balance. Both of these loans are with WAMU which I understand is under a lot of investigations and has filed for bankrupcy. Is there anything that could be done to revert this? This bank has been causing a lot of emotional distress to my parents and I because they won't explain anything to them or send them statements. Any info. would be greatly appreciated.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Mortgage sent to collections without a previous notice of deliquency
Google for [RESPA letter]
Re: Mortgage sent to collections without a previous notice of deliquency
First, WAMU, to the best of my knowledge has not filed bankruptcy. They were acquired by JP Morgan Chase, and there is in fact a lot of inquiry into their loan practices. It sounds to me like the second has gone into default as you haven't been making any payments on their credit line. At a minimum, most HELOCs require a monthly payment of interest only for a certain number of years, then they become amortizing loans. While I agree with Attorney Stone that you should look into possible RESPA violations, be very careful about how you proceed. Just because the lender may have done something wrong when writing the loan, or in serving the loan, it will not just automatically stop the foreclosure. You need some professional assistance and I must urge you to avoid the "scam artists" out there advertising all over that they can stop foreclosures without bankruptcy, etc... I would suggest that you check out a website called mortgagelawnetwork.com which is run by a number of legitimate practitioners in the field of mortgage law. Contact one of the attorneys who posts to that site, and is in California to discuss your situation. Good luck - there is a lot of abuse by illegitimate companies offering services to people in trouble with their mortgage, so be very diligent in researching whomever you chose to work with. This is not something the average person is equipped to resolved on their own.
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