Fees

Review your billing statements carefully to make sure that any fees the servicer charges are legitimate. For example, the fees may have been authorized by the mortgage contract or by you to pay for a service. If you do not understand what the fees are for, send a written inquiry and ask for an itemization and explanation of the fees. Also, if you call your mortgage servicer to request a service, such as faxing copies of loan documents, make sure you ask whether there is a fee for the service and what it is.

Inquiries and Disputes

Under RESPA, your mortgage servicer must respond promptly to written inquiries, known as qualified written requests (see Sample Complaint Letter to Lender). If you believe you've been charged a penalty or late fee that you don't owe, or if you have other problems with the servicing of your loan, contact your servicer in writing. Be sure to include your account number and clearly explain why you believe your account is incorrect. Your inquiry should not be just a note on the payment Coupon supplied by your servicer, but should be sent separately to the customer service address.

Within 20 business days of receiving your inquiry, the servicer must send you a written response acknowledging it. Within 60 business days, the servicer either must correct your account or determine that it is accurate. The servicer must send you a written notice of the action it took and why, along with the name and telephone number of someone you can contact for additional assistance.

Do not subtract any disputed amount from your mortgage payment. Some mortgage servicers might refuse to accept what they consider to be partial payments. They might return your check and charge you a late fee, or claim that your mortgage is in Default and start foreclosure proceedings.

Fair Debt Collection

By law, a debt collector is a person who regularly collects debts owed to others. Your mortgage servicer is considered a debt collector only if your loan was in default when the servicer acquired it. If that's true, you have additional rights that you can read about in the FTC's brochure "Fair Debt Collection."

Your Credit Report

Many mortgage companies provide information about your payment history to credit bureaus, companies that maintain and sell consumer credit reports — which contain information about your credit payment history — to other creditors, employers, insurers, and businesses. Both the credit bureaus and the information provider have responsibilities for correcting inaccurate or incomplete information.

If you believe that your mortgage servicer has provided inaccurate information to a credit bureau, contact the credit bureau and the servicer. Tell the credit bureau in writing (see Sample Dispute Letter to Credit Bureau) what information you believe is inaccurate. Include copies (NOT originals) of documents that support your position. In addition to providing your complete name and address, your letter should clearly identify each item in your report you dispute, state the facts, and explain why you dispute the information, and request deletion or correction. You may want to enclose a copy of your report with the items in question circled. Send your letter by certified mail, return receipt requested, so you can document what the credit bureau received. Keep copies of your dispute letter and enclosures.

Credit bureaus must re-investigate the items in question — usually within 30 days — unless they consider your dispute frivolous. They also must forward all relevant information you provide about the dispute to the information provider. After the information provider receives notice of a dispute from the credit bureau, it must investigate, review all relevant information provided by the credit bureau, and report the results to the credit bureau. If the information provider finds the disputed information to be inaccurate, it must notify all national credit bureaus so they can correct this information in your file. Disputed information that cannot be verified must be deleted from your file.

• If your report contains erroneous information, the credit bureau must correct it.
• If an item is incomplete, the credit bureau must complete it. For example, if your file showed that you were late making payments, but failed to show that you were no longer delinquent, the credit bureau must show that you're current.
• If your file shows an account that belongs to another person, the credit bureau must delete it.

When the re-investigation is complete, the credit bureau must give you the written results and a free copy of your report if the dispute results in a change. If an item is changed or removed, the credit bureau cannot put the disputed information back in your file unless the information provider verifies its accuracy and completeness, and the credit bureau gives you a written notice that includes the name, address, and phone number of the provider.

Also, if you request it, the credit bureau must send notices of corrections to anyone who received your report in the past six months. If a re-investigation does not resolve your dispute, ask the credit bureau to include your statement of the dispute in your file and in future reports.

In addition to writing to the credit bureau, tell the servicer in writing that you dispute an item. Include copies (NOT originals) of the documents that support your position. If a servicer specifies an address for disputes, it is important to send your dispute to that address. If the provider then reports the item to any credit bureau, it must include a notice of your dispute. If you are correct — that is, if the disputed information is inaccurate — the information provider may not report it again.

If You Have a Complaint If you believe your mortgage servicer has not responded appropriately to your written inquiry, contact your local or state consumer protection office. You also should contact the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to file a complaint under the RESPA regulations. Write: Office of RESPA and Interstate Land Sales, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh Street, S.W., Room 9154, Washington, DC 20410. In addition, you may want to contact an attorney to advise you of your legal rights. Under certain sections of the RESPA, consumers can initiate lawsuits and obtain actual damages, plus additional damages, for a pattern or practice of noncompliance. In successful actions, consumers also may obtain court costs and attorney's fees. You may want to contact a housing counselor to discuss your situation. You can call HUD's hotline at 1-800-217-6970 for a referral to a local HUD-approved housing counselor. You also may wish to contact the FTC.

The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop and avoid them. To file a complaint or to get free information on consumer issues, visit www.ftc.gov or call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357); TTY: 1-866-653-4261. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.