Mortgage Company Billing Errors – Merely Transferring the Account Does Not Eliminate Legal Responsibility

Some borrowers run into trouble with their mortgage companies that is not of their own doing.  One thing the mortgage servicer likes to say is that it isn’t their problem, the prior servicer handled that – and the borrower is still in default or owes some fee.

However, the subsequent servicer has liability for this.

State v Family Bank of Hallandale, 667 So2d 257 (Fla. 1st DCA  1995) is a case that can be used to show subsequent servicer liability:  The law is well established that an unqualified assignment transfers to the assignee all the interests and rights of the assignor in and to the thing assigned.

In other words, the assignee steps into the shoes of the assignor and is subject to all equities and defenses that could have been asserted against the assignor had the assignment not been made.

This means that the new servicer can’t just play dumb and blame someone else for billing or handling mistakes.

We handle stuff like this.  Knowing rules and case law can help immensely when faced with thousands of dollars of mortgage related fees or even a foreclosure.