Section 31.04.290. Residential mortgage loan servicer—Requirements—Written detailed information.

(1) A residential mortgage loan servicer must comply with the following requirements:

(a) Any fee that is assessed by a servicer must be assessed within forty-five days of the date on which the fee was incurred and must be explained clearly and conspicuously in a statement mailed to the borrower at the borrower's last known address no more than thirty days after assessing the fee;

(b) All amounts received by a servicer on a residential mortgage loan at the address where the borrower has been instructed to make payments must be accepted and credited, or treated as credited, within one business day of the date received, provided that the borrower has provided sufficient information to credit the account. If a servicer uses the scheduled method of accounting, any regularly scheduled payment made prior to the scheduled due date must be credited no later than the due date. If any payment is received and not credited, or treated as credited, the borrower must be notified of the disposition of the payment within ten business days by mail at the borrower's last known address. The notification must identify the reason the payment was not credited or treated as credited to the account, as well as any actions the borrower must take to make the residential mortgage loan current;

(c) Any servicer that exercises the authority to collect escrow amounts on a residential mortgage loan held for the borrower for payment of insurance, taxes, and other charges with respect to the property must collect and make all such payments from the escrow account and ensure that no late penalties are assessed or other negative consequences result for the borrower;

(d) The servicer must make reasonable attempts to comply with a borrower's request for information about the residential mortgage loan account and to respond to any dispute initiated by the borrower about the loan account. The servicer:

(i) Must maintain written or electronic records of each written request for information regarding a dispute or error involving the borrower's account until the residential mortgage loan is paid in full, sold, or otherwise satisfied; and

(ii) Must provide a written statement to the borrower within fifteen business days of receipt of a written request from the borrower. The borrower's request must include the name and account number, if any, of the borrower, a statement that the account is or may be in error, and sufficient detail regarding the information sought by the borrower to permit the servicer to comply. At a minimum, the servicer's response to the borrower's request must include the following information:

(A) Whether the account is current or, if the account is not current, an explanation of the default and the date the account went into default;

(B) The current balance due on the residential mortgage loan, including the principal due, the amount of funds, if any, held in a suspense account, the amount of the escrow balance known to the servicer, if any, and whether there are any escrow deficiencies or shortages known to the servicer;

(C) The identity, address, and other relevant information about the current holder, owner, or assignee of the residential mortgage loan; and

(D) The telephone number and mailing address of a servicer representative with the information and authority to answer questions and resolve disputes; and

(e) Promptly correct any errors and refund any fees assessed to the borrower resulting from the servicer's error.

(2) In addition to the statement in subsection (1)(d)(ii) of this section, a borrower may request more detailed information from a servicer, and the servicer must provide the information within fifteen business days of receipt of a written request from the borrower. The request must include the name and account number, if any, of the borrower, a statement that the account is or may be in error, and provide sufficient detail to the servicer regarding information sought by the borrower. If requested by the borrower this statement must include:

(a) A copy of the original note, or if unavailable, an affidavit of lost note; and

(b) A statement that identifies and itemizes all fees and charges assessed under the loan transaction and provides a full payment history identifying in a clear and conspicuous manner all of the debits, credits, application of and disbursement of all payments received from or for the benefit of the borrower, and other activity on the residential mortgage loan including escrow account activity and suspense account activity, if any. The period of the account history must cover at a minimum the two-year period prior to the date of the receipt of the request for information. If the servicer has not serviced the residential mortgage loan for the entire two-year time period the servicer must provide the information going back to the date on which the servicer began servicing the home loan, and identify the previous servicer, if known. If the servicer claims that any delinquent or outstanding sums are owed on the home loan prior to the two-year period or the period during which the servicer has serviced the residential mortgage loan, the servicer must provide an account history beginning with the month that the servicer claims any outstanding sums are owed on the residential mortgage loan up to the date of the request for the information. The borrower may request annually one statement free of charge.

[ 2015 c 229 § 35; 2013 c 29 § 10; 2010 c 35 § 9.]

2015 c 229 § 35; 2013 c 29 § 10; 2010 c 35 § 9.