Does Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac own my loan?
By Chip Parker, Jacksonville Consumer Attorney on Dec 30, 2009 in Foreclosure Defense
As a Florida foreclosure defense attorney, one thing I’ve learned is that mortgage servicers don’t want homeowners to know who owns their loan. In about half of all foreclosure complaints I see, the servicer is the plaintiff, and the identity of the owner is not revealed in the pleadings.
Generally speaking there are 4 owners of mortgage notes: the originator (the rarest of cases), a securitized trust (known as a REMIC), Fannie Mae (Federal National Mortgage Association) or Freddie Mac (Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation).
If your foreclosure complaint is filed by an entity other than the exact originator named in the mortgage note (the note should be attached to the complaint), you need to determine whether the plaintiff is the servicer or the alleged purchaser of your home loan.
If the plaintiff is the entity who normally accepts your payment, such as Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Citi, Chase, etcetera, you can bet it is not the owner. The plaintiff may admit as much in the pleading, with a statement like, “Plaintiff, as the servicer for the owner, has the right to foreclose on behalf of the owner and holder of the note and mortgage.”
If you suspect, or know, that the plaintiff is merely the servicer of your loan, you need to determine whether Fannie, Freddie or a REMIC is the owner. To determine whether Fannie or Freddie own your loan, just go to the Fannie Mae lookup tool and the Freddie Mac lookup tool. If neither Fannie nor Freddie claim ownership, it is nearly certain that a REMIC is the purported owner of the note and mortgage.
Why do you want to know who allegedly owns your note and mortgage? Well, for one, Fannie and Freddie are essentially quasi-government entities now, and servicers are required to comply with the default servicing provisions established by these entities. Secondly, if the purported owner is a REMIC, there is a deadline by which your loan should have been completely transferred from the originator to the REMIC, and chances are that didn’t happen.
If you wish to fight your foreclosure, you should make an appointment with a skilled foreclosure defense attorney, and if the plaintiff seems to be a servicer, you should come to the consultation armed with the results of your preliminary research using the Fannie and Freddie tools.
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