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“The right of the People to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated….” ~ From the Sixth Article, U.S. Bill of Rights, Ratified: December 15, 1791, Fourth Amendment

Marie McDonnell joined me on The Solari Report last year to help you learn how to successfully originate a mortgage without falling into the financial fraud traps and schemes that have become common in the United States: Your Mortgage: Financing Your Home Without Falling for Fraud.

Once you have successfully originated your mortgage—even when you have done things right—problems can occur, and some of them are downright fraudulent. This week, Marie returns to The Solari Report to brief us on servicing risks. She also explains what to do to ensure that your mortgage servicing goes well for the life of your mortgage—and what to do if it does not.

Marie is President of McDonnell Property Analytics. She is a Mortgage Fraud and Forensic Analyst™, a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE), and a Master Analyst In Financial Forensics (MAFF) with significant experience in transactional analysis, mortgage auditing, and mortgage fraud investigation. Her firm provides a variety of analytical services to individual clients and offers litigation support, mortgage-backed securities research, and foreclosure forensics to attorneys nationwide. McDonnell Property Analytics also advises and performs services for county registers of deeds, attorneys general, courts, and other governmental agencies.

Because mortgage servicing is a complex affair, Marie has generously prepared and provided supporting documents, including a list of servicing abuses and case studies based on people she has successfully helped to defend. When we post the audios, please login to find a wealth of handouts that support our discussion. You can use the handouts to study this topic at your convenience, including:

  • Servicing Outline: Mortgage Servicing Abuses and Case Studies
  • Flowchart: Mortgage Servicing Abuse in Escrow Accounts
  • Document Custodian Checklist
  • Glossary of Terms
  • Sample Call, Correspondence, & Payment Logs

There is one point you will hear Marie emphasize repeatedly: it is essential that you understand the documents that you are supposed to have, that you understand the documents that you sign, and that you maintain copies of everything. Unfortunately, horror stories abound of what can go wrong. However, if you take care to manage the payment and monitoring of your mortgage and do a good job of archiving your documents, you should be able to avoid potential pitfalls and present your proofs if things outside of your control go wrong—such as your mortgage being transferred to a sloppy or fraudulent servicer.

In Let’s Go to the Movies, I will review The Biggest Little Farm about filmmaker John Chester and Chef Molly Chester who decided to leave their apartment in Los Angeles with their dog Todd and become farmers by starting Apricot Lane Farm in Moorpark, California. No one ever said that creating a healthy, local food system was easy. But if you enjoy hard work and living on the land, it can be inspiring…and delicious!

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33 Comments

  1. An interesting update on the loan I got in February. I asked 10 days ago for the bank (originator) to send me a scanned full PDF copy of the original documents they had been provided by the title company. I asked them to send it to me through encrypted email. After the second call, I did receive a copy. Here are my observations.
    – The documents at closing were more than what was scanned and sent to me. I know this because I used my phone to scan every single page before I let them out of my possession.
    – The quality of what was scanned at the bank and send to me was not as good as the quality that I scanned myself at closing.
    – It took some effort and follow up to get these document from the bank.
    Presumably, I now know what the bank who originated the loan has. I was able to verify that these are the docs I signed and they don’t look tampered with at this time. But I would also not be able to verify that had I not scanned them at closing.
    I also got signed up with the online payment system and have made the first payment a full 30 days in advance so I can track it and make sure the payment registers in their system properly. I am printing to PDF and retaining all of the payment confirmation emails as well.

    1. Good work. Hard to believe we have to do things like this, but it pays. If the servicing kicks off well, chances are you are good unless you run into escrow fraud etc.. UNLESS they sell it and change the servicer. Then the risk issues may start again. At one point, my mortgage would sell every 3 months or so and then they would try to default me. Turned into a sport.

  2. An interesting update on the loan I got in February. I asked 10 days ago for the bank (originator) to send me a scanned full PDF copy of the original documents they had been provided by the title company. I asked them to send it to me through encrypted email. After the second call, I did receive a copy. Here are my observations.
    – The documents at closing were more than what was scanned and sent to me. I know this because I used my phone to scan every single page before I let them out of my possession.
    – The quality of what was scanned at the bank and send to me was not as good as the quality that I scanned myself at closing.
    – It took some effort and follow up to get these document from the bank.
    Presumably, I now know what the bank who originated the loan has. I was able to verify that these are the docs I signed and they don’t look tampered with at this time. But I would also not be able to verify that had I not scanned them at closing.
    I also got signed up with the online payment system and have made the first payment a full 30 days in advance so I can track it and make sure the payment registers in their system properly. I am printing to PDF and retaining all of the payment confirmation emails as well.

    1. Good work. Hard to believe we have to do things like this, but it pays. If the servicing kicks off well, chances are you are good unless you run into escrow fraud etc.. UNLESS they sell it and change the servicer. Then the risk issues may start again. At one point, my mortgage would sell every 3 months or so and then they would try to default me. Turned into a sport.

  3. Is there a transcript available of this most important interview?
    Now more than ever, caveat emptor.

  4. Is there a transcript available of this most important interview?
    Now more than ever, caveat emptor.

  5. A delightful yet sobering look at the corrupt and mafia-like “mortgage industry.” The gravity of their chicanery and ingenuity is truly disturbing. However, the most egregious and execrable actions or lack thereof not to mention the lack of persistence in “regulating” banks and mortgage service agencies that are so “creative” come from the regulators/legislators at both the state and federal levels. That such fraudulent and harmful practices are allowed to persist clearly reflect our system. Truly a case Caveat Emptor for buyers. There has to be a better way for our young families to be able to afford to finance home ownership. It would be truly disturbing if my children were to face some of the same issues that I was able to overcome by sheer grit and persistence.

    As an aside, the mortgage industry runs in parallel to Big Pharma and their tentacles that envelop/engulf/ruin small pharmacies as a result of the creation of Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBM), Pharmacy Services Administrative Organizations (PSAO) and the link to pharmaceutical wholesalers. The level of fraud and kickbacks, as you probably know is amazing. Sometime this year with any luck the 8th District Court of Appeals will hear/decide the case of Rutledge vs. Pharmaceutical Care Management Association. Just maybe, the cost of needed drugs will drop. Maybe you can consider exposing this subject to the subscribers.

    1. For young people, I think we have arrived at a place where it is economic to learn how to build and repair your own home.

  6. Thank you once again for an excellent interview with Marie. The interview is full of critical details. I’m learning so much on the subject.

    My question here though is quite basic… what is the name of the classical music piece that opens and closes this interview. It’s absolutely beautiful.

  7. Purchased my current home ( Homestead) in Sept. 2020 and paid monthly payments to United Wholesale. After one year received notice they had sold it to Mr. Cooper to whom I paid monthly for one year. This past December, 2022 received notice they had sold it to RoundPoint to whom I have now begun monthly payments. However, am now sending Notice of Error to Round Point because due dates not in sync with my payment because I am one month ahead in payments and neither of the previous two servicers made the correction as I had requested in certified, return receipt letters. When their statement says a payment is due for , example, March 1, it is actually for April 1 since I have already made that March 1 payment. I keep good records but frustrating.

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