Defend Yourself: Even Lenders Make Mistakes ... Sometimes WHOPPERS!

Every major mortgage lender has a plan for dealing with the public.  They have processes for handling customer inquiries.  They have computer systems to ensure accuracy.  They even record your calls for “quality assurance purposes.” 

But here’s the thing: Mortgage lenders also have humans.  And humans -- even well-intentioned ones -- can make mistakes and provide incorrect information to homeowners and borrowers.

These are just some of the errors we’ve seen lenders make:

• One bank told a borrower that a payment was coded as late due to a returned check when it was not.  They later admitted that the representative misread their computer screen.
• Another advised a borrower that they were eligible for a loan modification program when they were not.  The representative didn’t verify all the requirements for the particular program.

A third lender informed a borrower that they were not eligible for a loan modification when they were.  The representative was simply not aware of a program that another rep was able to find.

Here’s a whopper: A lender told a borrower that their foreclosure sale had been postponed, when it had not and the foreclosure sale proceeded.  Yikes!

These sorts of mistakes don’t happen often.  The lender’s representatives are typically well-trained and have systems to eliminate errors like these.  But in this high-stakes environment of foreclosure, even once is one time too many.

Your only defense is to get organized and take names and numbers.  You must take notes.

If you are working on a loan modification, short sale, or any other special program with your lender, here are some things you should document in your notes each and every time you call your mortgage company:

1. Date and time of your call
2. Telephone number that you called – Most mortgage companies have several telephone numbers and you want to be sure you can get back to the one that was most helpful to you (or prove that you called in the first place).
3. Full name of the person that you spoke to – If you are transferred to a different department, get the name of each person. (Some companies won’t allow their representatives to provide their full names.  If that happens, ask for two things:  Their employee ID number and the name of their supervisor.)
4. City and state of the work location of the person you spoke to – Large mortgage companies have several locations.
5. And of course, document the details of what you were told (amounts due, programs available, documents required, and deadlines that must be met).

It’s also a good idea to get in the habit of documenting these things when calling your credit card companies and your utility companies as well.

They have humans working over there too.