Foreclosures & Bank Fraud
Some Examples Of Issues To Dispute In A Qualified Written Request
When attempting to get information from a lender or servicing company, homeowners can take advantage of their legal opportunities under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act to send a Qualified Written Request (QWR). A QWR is meant to help borrowers raise disputes with their mortgage servicer and have those issues addressed in a timely manner.
Homeowners, however, may not know what items to ask of the lender, or why they are requesting certain documents or records relating to the loan and its servicing. Most questions revolve around various disputes that borrowers may have with a creditor, including balance owed, dates when payments were made, and the nature of the relationship between the company getting receiving collecting payments and the true owner of the loan.
For instance, homeowners may wish to request a complete payment history including the days that payments were made, as well as the amount the lender claims it received. Also requested could be a breakdown of how the payment was applied, whether to principal, interest, taxes, property insurance, late fees, suspense accounts, or any other charges.
For homeowners facing foreclosure, a description of all charges and fees on the account could be disputed, for which a QWR may be necessary. Borrowers could request that all of the arrears and payments relating to the foreclosure be itemized and justified by the servicing company. This can be an especially demanding request for the bank to fulfill, as many often just make numbers up for delinquent accounts.
Any change in the monthly payment should also be carefully looked at and disputed if the homeowners did not specifically agree to it. Even if they did, if the amount does not look agreeable, it may be worth disputing and having the servicer check into the loan. Homeowners can request the financial institution to explain how the new amount due was calculated and why it was increased.
As with any foreclosure case, there will be a whole range of issues that are specific just to that particular case. Thus, the issues described above should not be taken as an comprehensive list of QWR questions at all. Homeowners will inevitably run into their own issues when attempting to stop foreclosure, and they will be able to build their own Qualified Written Request letter to the servicing company in order to attempt to resolve any problems.
