Tell Us If You Have Had Loan Service Problems

Did you take out a home mortgage that has since been sold or transferred to another company? Many financial institutions make loans and then sell them to other companies. Others hire outside “mortgage-servicing” firms to process monthly payments.

In either case, the borrower typically has to make monthly mortgage payments to a new company that he or she knows nothing about.

Thousands of consumers have complained that their new mortgage-servicing companies have miscalculated their impound-account payments, misplaced their checks, erroneously charged late-payment penalties or made other mistakes. Some consumers have even lost their homes as a result.

While most mortgage-servicers do their jobs professionally and accurately, a handful have been charged with being mere “boiler-room” operations designed to cheat homeowners out of thousands of dollars.

If your original loan has been sold and you have had problems since, we’d like to hear about it. Please send the details in a letter to Dick Barnes, Times Real Estate Editor, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, Calif. 90053. Or, fax it to Barnes’ attention at (213) 237-4712.