Homeowner Tips | Wheatworks Blog: Financial Matters

Archive for the ‘Homeowner Tips’ Category.

RESPA: Qualified Written Request or Complaint Letter to Lenders

7/13/2008, 8:06 am

Homebuyer complaints about the slow responses of mortgage companies to borrowers’ requests for information about problems with their mortgage loan appear daily in the media. This morning’s New York Times has “The Silence of the Lenders” which offers a suggestion by Mr. Moe Bedard, president of Loan Safe Solutions, which may make your pen mightier than a telephone or email.

Mr. Bedard describes the use of a “qualified written request under Section 6 of Respa”. RESPA is the “Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act”, a Federal law which protects borrowers from unlawful activity by lenders.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development offer a sample qualified written request letter that shows what information must be included in your qualified written request for information. The sample letter is here:

HUD RESPA Sample Written Complaint to Lender Letter

The benefit for borrowers? Under Section 6 of RESPA lenders and loan services are required to acknowledge your request within 20 business days and must try to resolve the issue within 60 business days.

It’s important to remember that your qualified written request for information must not be included with your payment. It should be sent, instead, to your lender’s customer service address. You should also continue to make your required mortgage and escrow payments.

To learn more about RESPA, visit http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/res/respareg.cfm

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Tags: HUD, qualified written complaint, qualified written request, respa
Category: Consumer Safety, Financial Tips, Homeowner Tips, Real Estate Tips | 2 Comments

Update Your Home

9/3/2007, 7:10 pm

If you’ve read Wheatworks’ Financial Blog often enough, you’ve read the blog entries announcing software updates. This blog is one way Wheatworks communicates with our clients and customers about the tweaks, new features, and upgrades that are added to the financial software products Wheatworks develops.

People expect software updates. Updates usual do two things: add features and fix problems.

Have you ever considered updating your house? Updating your home can do the same thing for it as updating software does: add features and fix problems. And home updates aren’t necessarily expensive.

In fact, you probably already update your home without thinking of it in those terms. Minor updates (probably not worthy of notice) include replacing light bulbs or tightening screws on a doorknob. If your skill set allows, a step up from that might be a little plumbing. Easy plumbing updates can include installing a new faucet to replace the original kitchen faucet which has started leaking around the base.

Changing old washing machine hoses is another good, easy update. And it’s excellent, cheap insurance. If you blow a washing machine hose when you’re out of town your house will be flooded before you return.

Looking for a quick bathroom update? Add sturdy grab bars to the tub or shower area. When you slip and need them, you’ll be glad they’re there for you. Just make certain you mount them securely, fastening them to studs behind the tub surround. Poorly mounted grab bars are dangerous.

How do you determine what to update? Walk through your house with a tablet and pen. Enter a room and ask, “what does it need?” Write your answers. While most people think “home improvement” requires big bucks, it doesn’t.

Frequent, small upgrades can quickly add personal value to your home. It’s often these little things that count most in determining how much you enjoy home ownership.

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