Gary McNinch Realtor Renton WA Real Estate

If my mortgage Lender Fails, Are My Renton Home Payments Still Due?

Yesterday, I got asked this twice. Once in person and one was a call to the office of the Gary McNinch Team. Of course both people who asked this were mostly laughing. Like there is ever a chance we don't get to pay our mortgage!?!.

Thursday, federal regulators seized mortgage lender Washington Mutual. Since WAMU is local this is a monstrous hit in our local economy. That aside, the Seattle-based thrift became the third "big name" lender to close its doors since July, joining IndyMac and Lehman Brothers.

In 2007, these 3 lenders represented about 10 percent of the mortgage market and their subsequent failures are confusing American homeowners.

The most prevalent question:

If my mortgage lender fails, are my payments still due?

And the answer is an unequivocal "yes". If a mortgage lender is seized, goes bankrupt, or is otherwise closed, it doesn't change the terms of the bank's mortgages whatsoever -- just maybe the mailing address.

This is because a mortgage (and its corresponding note) is a legal contract between the lender and the lendee, signed on the date of closing. It is binding and cannot be altered by either party. The only way to "end" the contract is to pay the loan in full.

This can happen in one of 3 ways:

1. The home is sold and the mortgage is repaid
2. The home is refinanced and the mortgage is repaid
3. The home loan is paid down to $0 balance by the homeowners

So, if a mortgage company fails, its doesn't cause the loan to be paid-off and, therefore, the mortgage contracts is still valid. Payments are still due.

However, because its mortgages are an asset, the failed lender will usually transfer them to a new lender's servicing department. This means that homeowners will write the same check for the same mortgage but to a different company.

To reduce confusion around transactions like this, the government puts two safeguards in place. First, it requires the former lender to send a 15-day advance notice of the change to the homeowner. And second, it requires the new lender to do the same.

In situations like this, the onus is ultimately on the homeowner to open and read his mail, and make changes accordingly. It's especially important for people who pay their bills online as opposed by paying them manually; you likely won't get notified if you're sending payments to the wrong place. And be careful of scammers. Scammers can mail or email you a notice that "looks" to be official and try to get you to send some money to the wrong address. So the best is to double check. More great info and answers to your questions from Gary McNinch your Renton realtor. Always looking for more great clients to help buy and sell Renton homes, so send them our way.

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We all go our separate ways in our daily lives.  Busy, hurrying, being distracted, our own thoughts.  As I was coming home today, I saw a large construction crane.  On the very top was an American Flag.  Looked small from the ground, but was higher than any other point in this area of Renton.  

So it got me to pause and think.  What does it mean to be an American?  How did we get here? What battles have been fought over the generations to keep us here and free?  How will our nation look in 100 years, when our great grandkids are keeping us free?

I hope this makes you take a second to pause, consider the foundations of our nation, say a prayer for our country and especially our soldiers, law enforcement officers and firefighters.

WHEN TO FLY THE AMERICAN FLAG

The flag can be displayed on all days, but especially on:

 

 

New Year’s Day (January 1)

Inauguration Day (January 20)

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (Third Monday in January)

Lincoln’s Birthday (February 12)

Washington’s Birthday/Presidents’ Day (Third Monday in February)

Easter Sunday (Varies)

Mother’s Day (Second Sunday in May)

Armed Forces Day (Third Saturday in May)

Memorial Day (Last Monday in May, half-staff until noon)

Flag Day (June 14)

Father’s Day (Third Sunday in June)

Independence Day (July 4)

Korean War Veteran’s Day (July 27)

Labor Day (First Monday in September)

Patriot Day (September 11, half-staff until sunset)

Columbus Day (Second Monday in October)

Veteran’s Day (November 11)

Thanksgiving Day (Fourth Thursday in November)

Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day (December 7, half-staff until sunset)

Christmas Day (December 25)

 

 

HOW TO FLY THE AMERICAN FLAG

 

The flag should be raised briskly and lowered slowly and ceremoniously.

The flag should be displayed only between sunrise and sunset. If displayed at night, it should be illuminated.

The flag is never allowed to touch the ground or the floor.

When hung over a sidewalk on a rope extending from a building to a pole, the union stars are always away from the building.

When vertically hung over the center of the street, the flag always has the union stars to the north in an east/west street, and to the east in a north/south street.

The flag of the United States of America should be at the center and at the highest point of the group when a number of flags of states, localities, or societies are grouped for display.

The flag should never be drawn back, nor up in folds but always allowed to fall free.

Never fly the flag upside down except as a signal of distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property.

The flag is never flown in inclement weather except when using an all-weather flag.

The flag should be displayed at half-staff until noon on Memorial Day then raised to the top of the staff.

Thanks for listening.   God Bless America and God Bless You.

 

 

 

 

Renton and Kent homeowners are hugely multi cultural. The people who live in south Puget Sound come from all over the world. My friend and great client Sam Susan (from Romania originally) teaches ESL in Kent and there are over 80 languages native to the school district. And Renton Schools are just as diverse.

Do you remember the guy who traveled around doing the silly dance and then put it on youtube. Well Matt just spent 14 month all over the world. View his latest production and see if you know someone who has bought a Renton home that came one of the places that Matt danced with the folks. I enjoy living in a community where I have friends who have lived all over the world. I learn great new things about other cultures every day. Every day, I get hits on my website www.RentonHomeFinder.com from all over the world. That means someone in India, or Romania, or China, or Vietnam, or Canada, or Africa is looking at properties for sale in Renton, Washington, USA. Smaller world every day, one of my neighbors, emails one our homes for sale to a relative somewhere around the world and we end up talking electronically about the home. The Gary McNinch Team your Renton Realtors selling and buying Real estate and working with wonderful new clients from all over the world.