Make your servicer fix mistakes (notice of error)
12 C.F.R. § 1024.35(a)
In plain words
If your mortgage servicer made a mistake — like not crediting a payment, charging a wrong fee, or giving a wrong payoff amount — you can send a written "notice of error." The servicer must confirm it got your letter within 5 business days. It then has to fix the error or explain in writing, after a reasonable investigation, why it thinks there was no error, usually within 30 business days.
Who is protected
Any borrower with a federally related mortgage loan (not a HELOC).
When it applies
- Covers most first and second mortgages on a home. It does not cover home-equity lines of credit (HELOCs).
- Send it in writing to the address the servicer designated for errors, if it named one. Include your name, your loan account, and the error.
What you can do
Send a notice of error
Write down exactly what the error is, with dates and amounts. Mail it by certified mail to the servicer's error-notice address (check your statement or the servicer's website). Keep a copy and the receipt.
Deadline: Send it as soon as you see the error. The servicer does not have to answer a notice sent more than 1 year after the loan was paid off or servicing moved to another company.
Open the toolTrack the servicer's answer dates
Add the 5-business-day acknowledgment date and the 30-business-day answer date to your deadlines.
Deadline: Acknowledgment within 5 business days; answer usually within 30 business days (7 for payoff errors), and before a foreclosure sale for some foreclosure errors.
Open the tool
Honest limits
- A notice of error by itself does not stop a foreclosure, except for certain errors about the foreclosure itself that the servicer must answer before the sale.
- It covers servicing errors (payments, fees, escrow, payoff, loss-mitigation handling), not complaints about the original loan terms.
- The servicer may skip duplicate, overbroad or late notices. To win money in court you generally must show actual damages.
- This is general legal information, not legal advice, and it does not promise any result. A HUD-approved housing counselor or a lawyer can look at your facts.
The law
- Federal regulationRESPA / Regulation X — notice of error
12 C.F.R. § 1024.35(a)
Exact part: (a)
What it says: A servicer must follow the error-resolution rules for any written notice that names the borrower, identifies the loan and says what the error is.
Read the official texthttps://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-12/part-1024/section-1024.35#p-1024.35(a) - Federal regulationRegulation X — response to a notice of error
12 C.F.R. § 1024.35(e)
Exact part: (e)
What it says: The servicer must correct the error or investigate and explain in writing why no error occurred, within set time limits.
Read the official texthttps://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-12/part-1024/section-1024.35#p-1024.35(e) - Federal regulationRegulation X — no negative credit reporting for 60 days
12 C.F.R. § 1024.35(i)
Exact part: (i)
What it says: For 60 days after getting a notice of error, the servicer may not report adverse information about the disputed payment to credit bureaus.
Read the official texthttps://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-12/part-1024/section-1024.35#p-1024.35(i) - Federal lawRESPA — qualified written request
12 U.S.C. § 2605(e)
Exact part: (e)
What it says: Servicers must acknowledge and respond to a borrower's qualified written request about the servicing of the loan.
Read the official texthttps://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title12-section2605&num=0&edition=prelim - Federal lawRESPA — damages
12 U.S.C. § 2605(f)
Exact part: (f)
What it says: A servicer that fails to comply is liable for the borrower's actual damages, and more if there is a pattern of noncompliance.
Read the official texthttps://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title12-section2605&num=0&edition=prelim
Court cases
- Homeowner wonCited for this rightRenfroe v. Nationstar Mortgage, LLC
Renfroe v. Nationstar Mortg., LLC, 822 F.3d 1241 (11th Cir. 2016)
a servicer that answers a borrower's written request without a reasonable investigation may be liable under RESPA when the borrower alleges resulting damages
- Homeowner wonCited for this rightMarais v. Chase Home Finance LLC
Marais v. Chase Home Fin. LLC, 736 F.3d 711 (6th Cir. 2013)
a borrower who alleges actual damages, such as added interest, caused by a servicer's deficient response to a qualified written request states a RESPA claim
- Homeowner lostCited for this rightMedrano v. Flagstar Bank, FSB
Medrano v. Flagstar Bank, FSB, 704 F.3d 661 (9th Cir. 2012)
a RESPA written request must relate to the servicing of the loan, not to the validity or original terms of the loan
- Homeowner lostSame topicBoren v. U.S. National Bank Ass'n
Boren v. U.S. Nat'l Bank Ass'n, 807 F.3d 99 (5th Cir. 2015)
a lender may abandon a prior acceleration by giving notice that it seeks less than the full accelerated balance, which restarts the four-year limitations period
- Homeowner lostSame topicWhittier v. Ocwen Loan Servicing, L.L.C.
Whittier v. Ocwen Loan Servicing, L.L.C., 594 F. App'x 833 (5th Cir. 2014) (per curiam) (unpublished)
a RESPA claim against a servicer fails without evidence of actual damages caused by the violation
- Homeowner lostSame topicMartins v. BAC Home Loans Servicing, L.P.
Martins v. BAC Home Loans Servicing, L.P., 722 F.3d 249 (5th Cir. 2013)
a mortgage servicer acting for a properly assigned mortgagee may foreclose in Texas without possessing the original note, and an oral promise to modify a large loan is not enforceable
- Homeowner wonSame topicJesinoski v. Countrywide Home Loans, Inc.
Jesinoski v. Countrywide Home Loans, Inc., 574 U.S. 259 (2015)
a borrower exercises the Truth in Lending right to rescind by notifying the lender in writing within three years, without needing to sue within that period
- Partial winSame topicReinagel v. Deutsche Bank National Trust Co.
Reinagel v. Deutsche Bank Nat'l Tr. Co., 735 F.3d 220 (5th Cir. 2013)
a Texas borrower may challenge an assignment of the loan on any ground that renders it void, though not on grounds that make it merely voidable
- Partial winSame topicCulhane v. Aurora Loan Services
Culhane v. Aurora Loan Servs., 708 F.3d 282 (1st Cir. 2013)
a mortgagor may contest the validity of a MERS assignment to the foreclosing entity, although the MERS framework itself is lawful
Related rights
Get information from your servicer (request for information)
12 C.F.R. § 1024.36(a)
You can ask your servicer in writing for information about your loan — for example your payment history, who owns your loan, or how your escrow was figured. The servicer must confirm it got your request within 5 business days and answer within 30 business days. If you ask who owns your loan, it must tell you within 10 business days.
Read this rightNo foreclosure while your complete application is being reviewed ("dual tracking")
12 C.F.R. § 1024.41(f)(2)
If you send a complete application for help before the foreclosure is started, the servicer cannot start the foreclosure until it has decided and any appeal is over. If you send it after the foreclosure started but more than 37 days before the sale, the servicer cannot ask for a foreclosure judgment or order of sale, or hold the sale, until it has finished the review — unless you are denied and the appeal is over, you reject the offers, or you do not follow an agreement.
Read this rightYour payment must be credited the day it arrives
12 C.F.R. § 1026.36(c)(1)(i)
When your servicer gets a full monthly payment (principal, interest and escrow), it must credit it to your loan as of the day it is received. It cannot hold your payment and then charge you a late fee or report you late because of its own delay.
Read this rightDispute errors on your credit report
15 U.S.C. § 1681i(a)(1)(A)
If your credit report has something wrong or incomplete — like a payment reported late that you made on time — you can dispute it with the credit bureau for free. The bureau must investigate, usually within 30 days, and fix or delete information it cannot verify.
Read this rightNotice when a new company becomes owner of your loan
15 U.S.C. § 1641(g)
When your mortgage loan is sold or assigned to a new owner, the new owner must tell you in writing within 30 days. The notice must include who the new owner is, how to reach it, the date of transfer, and where the transfer is recorded.
Read this rightThe right to cancel some home-secured loans (rescission)
15 U.S.C. § 1635(a)
For some loans that put a lien on the home you live in — like many home-equity loans or refinances with a new lender — you can cancel within 3 business days after closing. If the lender did not give you the required notices and disclosures, that time can stretch up to 3 years. You cancel by sending the lender written notice.
Read this right