§ 1024.33 - Mortgage servicing transfers.

§ 1024.33 Mortgage servicing transfers.

(a) Servicing disclosure statement. Within three days (excluding legal public holidays, Saturdays, and Sundays) after a person applies for a reverse mortgage transaction, the lender, mortgage broker who anticipates using table funding, or dealer in a first-lien dealer loan shall provide to the person a servicing disclosure statement that states whether the servicing of the mortgage loan may be assigned, sold, or transferred to any other person at any time. Appendix MS-1 of this part contains a model form for the disclosures required under this paragraph (a). If a person who applies for a reverse mortgage transaction is denied credit within the three-day period, a servicing disclosure statement is not required to be delivered.

(b) Notices of transfer of loan servicing -

(1) Requirement for notice. Except as provided in paragraph (b)(2) of this section, each transferor servicer and transferee servicer of any mortgage loan shall provide to the borrower a notice of transfer for any assignment, sale, or transfer of the servicing of the mortgage loan. The notice must contain the information described in paragraph (b)(4) of this section. Appendix MS-2 of this part contains a model form for the disclosures required under this paragraph (b).

(2) Certain transfers excluded.

(i) The following transfers are not assignments, sales, or transfers of mortgage loan servicing for purposes of this section if there is no change in the payee, address to which payment must be delivered, account number, or amount of payment due:

(A) A transfer between affiliates;

(B) A transfer that results from mergers or acquisitions of servicers or subservicers;

(C) A transfer that occurs between master servicers without changing the subservicer;

(ii) The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) is not required to provide to the borrower a notice of transfer where a mortgage insured under the National Housing Act is assigned to the FHA.

(3) Time of notice -

(i) In general. Except as provided in paragraphs (b)(3)(ii) and (iii) of this section, the transferor servicer shall provide the notice of transfer to the borrower not less than 15 days before the effective date of the transfer of the servicing of the mortgage loan. The transferee servicer shall provide the notice of transfer to the borrower not more than 15 days after the effective date of the transfer. The transferor and transferee servicers may provide a single notice, in which case the notice shall be provided not less than 15 days before the effective date of the transfer of the servicing of the mortgage loan.

(ii) Extended time. The notice of transfer shall be provided to the borrower by the transferor servicer or the transferee servicer not more than 30 days after the effective date of the transfer of the servicing of the mortgage loan in any case in which the transfer of servicing is preceded by:

(A) Termination of the contract for servicing the loan for cause;

(B) Commencement of proceedings for bankruptcy of the servicer;

(C) Commencement of proceedings by the FDIC for conservatorship or receivership of the servicer or an entity that owns or controls the servicer; or

(D) Commencement of proceedings by the NCUA for appointment of a conservator or liquidating agent of the servicer or an entity that owns or controls the servicer.

(iii) Notice provided at settlement. Notices of transfer provided at settlement by the transferor servicer and transferee servicer, whether as separate notices or as a combined notice, satisfy the timing requirements of paragraph (b)(3) of this section.

(4) Contents of notice. The notices of transfer shall include the following information:

(i) The effective date of the transfer of servicing;

(ii) The name, address, and a collect call or toll-free telephone number for an employee or department of the transferee servicer that can be contacted by the borrower to obtain answers to servicing transfer inquiries;

(iii) The name, address, and a collect call or toll-free telephone number for an employee or department of the transferor servicer that can be contacted by the borrower to obtain answers to servicing transfer inquiries;

(iv) The date on which the transferor servicer will cease to accept payments relating to the loan and the date on which the transferee servicer will begin to accept such payments. These dates shall either be the same or consecutive days;

(v) Whether the transfer will affect the terms or the continued availability of mortgage life or disability insurance, or any other type of optional insurance, and any action the borrower must take to maintain such coverage; and

(vi) A statement that the transfer of servicing does not affect any term or condition of the mortgage loan other than terms directly related to the servicing of the loan.

(c) Borrower payments during transfer of servicing -

(1) Payments not considered late. During the 60-day period beginning on the effective date of transfer of the servicing of any mortgage loan, if the transferor servicer (rather than the transferee servicer that should properly receive payment on the loan) receives payment on or before the applicable due date (including any grace period allowed under the mortgage loan instruments), a payment may not be treated as late for any purpose.

(2) Treatment of payments. Beginning on the effective date of transfer of the servicing of any mortgage loan, with respect to payments received incorrectly by the transferor servicer (rather than the transferee servicer that should properly receive the payment on the loan), the transferor servicer shall promptly either:

(i) Transfer the payment to the transferee servicer for application to a borrower's mortgage loan account, or

(ii) Return the payment to the person that made the payment and notify such person of the proper recipient of the payment.

(d) Preemption of State laws. A lender who makes a mortgage loan or a servicer shall be considered to have complied with the provisions of any State law or regulation requiring notice to a borrower at the time of application for a loan or transfer of servicing of a loan if the lender or servicer complies with the requirements of this section. Any State law requiring notice to the borrower at the time of application or at the time of transfer of servicing of the loan is preempted, and there shall be no additional borrower disclosure requirements. Provisions of State law, such as those requiring additional notices to insurance companies or taxing authorities, are not preempted by section 6 of RESPA or this section, and this additional information may be added to a notice provided under this section, if permitted under State law.

[78 FR 10876, Feb. 14, 2013, as amended at 78 FR 80104, Dec. 31, 2013]