Posted on 04/01/2019 8:20:05 AM PDT by MissEdie
Freepers, whenever I have needed wisdom and great help ya'll have always come through! I'm hoping ya'll can help a dear friend of mine who is 15 days away from closing on her house when an issue arose. Bottom line is they need a letter from Chase Mortgage certifying their house/credit is in good standing to sell, but they are refusing because they are saying they have 2 mortgages on their house-but they don't. Even their credit checks stipulate one outstanding loan and it shows them in good credit. Apparently back in 2004 they refinanced their mortgage, they used the money from it to pay off the pre-existing mortgage. They are still paying on the balance from the 2004 refi. Chase is telling them something happened from the 2004 refi and they have them listed as still having 2 mortgages. When they attempted to contact the lawyer's office who handled the 2004 refi, they are no longer in business. All they need is a letter saying they do not have 2 mortgages, but Chase is refusing to write one for them. They are supposed to close on their home in 15 days and their buyer is getting antsy.
Yes to that. If this is in Texas I deal with it all time, no big deal, there a several ways to cure this problem at least in Texas.
That was my thought as well. It’s the Title Company’s job.
I ran into a bank foreclosure situation where they forced me into an out-of-state title company. Between the two of them they tried to sell the foreclosure with a quit-claim deed. Despite the fact the sale contract called for warranty deed, the sleazy outfits were trying to con us.
When you send the request explain everything in detail - especially that there is not two mortgages. Send it snail mail; certified return receipt requested. Put cc: on the bottom with all three local TV stations - and send them copies.
I think that Cher put out a song about Chase-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLTETaWswCY
Was Chase holding the paper on *both* mortgages? If not, what they need is a letter of satisfaction from the lender who held the other mortgage, not Chase. If Chase held it then they need to cough up a letter. It's not voluntary.
If the note has been paid this shouldn't be a big deal. I'm surprised the professionals handling the transaction are letting this get in the way of their deal.
Contact the first company they had a loan from when they purchased the house. They should verify that they have no mortgage due from this couple, and that their original mortgage was satisfied in 2004.
If the request is coming from a title company, and Chase is being asked to correct what information the title company has, then regardless of what has taken place with Chase regarding their mortgages in the past, something has not taken place - by someone - in the filing of completion of the mortgage that has been satisfied.
If that is the case, your friends need to (a) talk to and provide documentation OF THEIR OWN to the title company, and upon doing that ask the title company and Chase to talk to each other as soon as that is done.
Your friends needed to have kept complete records of their own, no matter what lawyers or banks did or didn’t do for them. If they didn’t keep good records themselves, they may have screwed themselves, because then they become beggars before everyone who may have had anything to with those records. If they have the right documentation, the title company may agree and admit that recording that was somehow missed, by someone, and help your friends with getting it filed correctly and quickly. They and your friends should be able to communicate those facts to Chase and get the case of the satisfied mortgage cleared up.
Don’t get me started on Chase!
I had a knock on my VA home loan benefits from a loan 20 years ago they somehow thought I’d defaulted on. I went to find the bank for my proof of payoff, but they don’t exist anymore. I went to find the title company, and they are gone too. My realtor that sold that house for me didn’t keep records beyond a few years either, and I lost all my papers from back then in a move.
The county had enough records on file to prove I paid off the loan and sold it for a nice profit. The VA fixed it for me the moment I got those to them while I was on the phone with them.
I had a very similar case many years ago, a refi turned into a Short Sale because of a Paperwork snafu. My Mortgage Broker fixed it all by tracking all the info.
The lesson I learned was to keep everything on the cloud and on disk from now on, and know that banks and title companies are a joke.
Shouldn’t a title search company be able to clear that up?
Had a similar problem when selling a car.
I went to the lender listed as the lien holder. Apparently they failed to complete the process when the loan was paid off. It was a bit tricky since the original lending company had been bought out a couple times, but they happily provided the proper documentation.
So either track down the lien holder or have an attorney do it for you. It shouldn’t take long at all.
Hopefully your friend has the refinance paperwork showing the 1st loan being paid off at the time of closing. If they have that, they have a chance of getting the error removed by Chase. Tell them not to be surprised if Chase comes back and says they are owed additional monies.
I highly recommend that your friend obtain a lawyer for this real estate transaction. It will then become the lawyer’s responsibility to ensure that everything is in order.
A little advice.
I have found that the key to resolving such issues is persistence. Anger should be a very last resort. Just keep hammering at it calmly. The people they contact really can’t afford to converse with you for very long. It will be in their best interest to help you if only to get rid of you.
This could be a MERS problem.
https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/what-is-mers.html
If it is they might never get it cleared up.
There actually are such problems as the OP describes. I’ve done work on MERS transfers (Mortgage Electronic Registration System) that would chill your blood. MERS has its hoofprints on a lot of mortgages in this country. (See, for example: https://www.totalmortgage.com/blog/mortgage-rates/mers-mortgage-transfers-deemed-illegal-by-federal-judge/10184 )
And yet, I tend to agree with your advice: find another lender. Only I’d make it a private lender. Banks are the worst way to get money (after marrying for it). They’ll always find a last-minute reason to squeeze you and torpedo the deal.
GMTA!
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