Monitoring loan servicing

The New York Times on Sunday examined the mortgage loan situation and its impact on every day borrowers.  It pointed readers to the HUD web site and a model Qualified Written Request letter directed at loan servicers.

Aha, I thought:  the government is helping borrowers monitor the servicing of their loans, which all too often gather miscellaneous “junk” fees, charges, and enhancements.  Checking out the sample form, I found that it assumes that the borrower has already identified the issue and has tried to contest it.

But that assumes the borrower knows there is a problem.  How does one find the problem?  HUD’s sample letter certainly won’t help.

Borrowers need to request a “life of loan” history or similar accounting so they can find out what has been added to their loan balance.  Only then do they know what they may want to dispute.  The government certainly isn’t helping.