Failure To Read "Junk Mail" Lands One Maryland Homeowner In Foreclosure

The Baltimore Sun reports:

• John Woodard says the notice from his new mortgage company looked like typical junk mail. But it wasn't. It was a letter telling him that his recently refinanced loan had been sold to another lender. By the time the Rosedale homeowner realized he had been paying the wrong lender, he owed thousands of dollars in late fees and he soon racked up more in lawyer bills from fending off foreclosure. "My mortgage company never notified me to send the checks somewhere else," he said. "I did get something in the mail from the new company, but it looked like an advertisement so I thought it was junk." Woodard's story is a cautionary tale in the age of bankrupt mortgage companies and failing lenders.

For more, including the potential problems homeowners face when mortgage lenders go out of business and (1) loan payments get lost or misdirected or (2) lenders fail to pay your home's real estate taxes and insurance out of your mortgage escrow account, see The mortgage handoff (With lenders struggling and home loans shuffling, it's up to homeowners to keep tabs on their mortgages) (Try here if link expired).