4 ms·

Yes they can. I had a mortgage that was sold to Washington Mutual (no longer in business). They did an audit of my escrow account and sent me a check for $200

Yes they can. I had a mortgage that was sold to Washington Mutual (no longer in business). They did an audit of my escrow account and sent me a check for $2000. I called and said this seems to be mistake. They said no. OK then. Two months later I get a notice from the county that the second half of property taxes was overdue. WaMu pays after several phone calls. Then sends me a notice that my escrow account is $5000 in appears. So WaMu says that the 2000 was a mistake and I need to send that back, and that they are allowed to maintain an excess balance for taxes and insurance, so I need to send them another 3000 to bring the account current. I refinanced with a different organization that week. I was very happy to see them crater during the financial crisis.

lotsofpulp 3y ago
That is a shitty mortgage servicing operation, not changing the terms of service.
- Dylan16807 3y ago
  You don't think another company coming in and demanding $3000 be paid early is changing the terms? Whatever you want to call it, it's bad. Even if it was authorized before, it's a very significant change to start demanding it. The practical terms have changed.
  - lotsofpulp 3y ago
    I assume every mortgage has terms to include funding an escrow account with the next ~12 +/- 6 months of property tax + insurance. For sure, there is an adverse impact to a borrower who is not well versed in how mortgages work, but in terms of financial agreements, but unfortunately, the US does not punish financial companies for negligence in customer service.
    - Dylan16807 3y ago
      The old company wasn't using that term, though. I think activating a major term is reasonable to talk about as a change.
  - jjav 3y ago
    > You don't think another company coming in and demanding $3000 be paid early is changing the terms? No, because if (as here) the original mortgage contract included an escrow account, that contract surely allowed the mortgage holder to demand money to keep the escrow balance where they want it to be. So no, they didn't change the terms of the mortgage contract.

lotsofpulp 3y ago

That is a shitty mortgage servicing operation, not changing the terms of service.

Dylan16807 3y ago
You don't think another company coming in and demanding $3000 be paid early is changing the terms? Whatever you want to call it, it's bad. Even if it was authorized before, it's a very significant change to start demanding it. The practical terms have changed.
- lotsofpulp 3y ago
  I assume every mortgage has terms to include funding an escrow account with the next ~12 +/- 6 months of property tax + insurance. For sure, there is an adverse impact to a borrower who is not well versed in how mortgages work, but in terms of financial agreements, but unfortunately, the US does not punish financial companies for negligence in customer service.
  - Dylan16807 3y ago
    The old company wasn't using that term, though. I think activating a major term is reasonable to talk about as a change.
- jjav 3y ago
  > You don't think another company coming in and demanding $3000 be paid early is changing the terms? No, because if (as here) the original mortgage contract included an escrow account, that contract surely allowed the mortgage holder to demand money to keep the escrow balance where they want it to be. So no, they didn't change the terms of the mortgage contract.