Mortgage litigation is not the same as foreclosure defense. It is an affirmative step: holding a mortgage servicer accountable for how it handles a loan. Petroff Amshen LLP represents New York homeowners in disputes with servicers over the errors that cost money and disrupt a mortgage.
How Petroff Amshen Approaches Mortgage Litigation
The firm reviews the loan history, the servicer’s records, and the correspondence, identifies where the servicer failed a duty the law imposes, and litigates the claim. Mortgage servicing is governed by specific federal rules, and many disputes turn on whether the servicer followed them after the homeowner raised a problem in writing.
What are common mortgage servicing problems?
Servicing errors take recognizable forms:
- Payments misapplied, held, or not credited on time.
- Escrow accounts miscalculated, causing payment jumps.
- Failure to respond to a written request for information or a notice of error.
- Force-placed insurance added without a proper basis.
- Dual tracking, where a servicer advances a foreclosure while a loss-mitigation application is pending.
What laws govern mortgage servicing?
The Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act and its Regulation X set rules for how servicers handle payments, escrow, error notices, and loss mitigation. The Truth in Lending Act and its Regulation Z govern disclosures and certain servicing duties. New York law adds further protections. A written Qualified Written Request or Notice of Error triggers duties a servicer must meet within set timeframes, and a failure to meet them can support a claim.
How is mortgage litigation different from foreclosure defense?
Foreclosure defense responds to a lawsuit the lender has filed. Mortgage litigation is the homeowner taking the initiative, bringing a claim against the servicer for how it handled the loan. The two can overlap, and a servicing problem uncovered during a foreclosure can become an affirmative claim. Which path fits depends on the facts.
What should you document, and what can be recovered?
The record is what makes a servicing claim. Keeping mortgage statements, escrow analyses, written requests and the servicer’s responses, and proof of payments preserves the evidence a claim needs. Under RESPA and related law, a homeowner may be able to recover actual damages caused by a servicing failure, statutory damages in defined circumstances, and attorney’s fees. The remedies and their availability depend on the specific facts.
Authoritative sources: RESPA, 12 U.S.C. § 2605 · CFPB Regulation X (12 CFR 1024)
