Taylor Bean and Whitaker Mortgage Company Update September 10, 2009

Read my interview with Bank of America spokesperson Rick Simon about how 180,000 loans were ported over from Taylor Bean and Whitaker to Bank of America’s Home Loan Services group. Find out what numbers to call if Bank of America’s collections department has been calling you.

Taylor Bean and Whitaker Mortgage Company Update September 1, 2009

Performing Freddie Mac loans were supposed to go to Cenlar, which is a legitimate loan servicing company.

When Colonial bank closed, either the bank or the FDIC took all of the Taylor Bean loans Colonial had and gave them to Roundpoint. That company was told they were servicing all of those loans.

Long story short, the loans weren’t sorted correctly, so now people are receiving letters from both companies saying they’re being serviced from both.
If you are a customer in Georgia in this situation, call the Department of Banking and Finance at (770) 986-1633 or
Toll Free at (888) 986-1633.

Read today’s blog post for more details

Taylor Bean and Whitaker Mortgage Company Update August 31, 2009

Bank of American is taking over the servicing rights for FHA loans and Ginnie Mae loans only. These government-sponsored loans made up the majority of loans Taylor Bean and Whitaker Mortgage Company was servicing. It includes roughly 100,000 mortgage loans.

According to our source at the Georgia Dept. of Banking and Finance, other servicers will be brought in for Freddie Mac and conventional loans. Those plans are still in the works, and the situation is quite fluid.

The acquisition by Bank of America should be done any day now, according to the Director of Mortgage Supervision at the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance. The big issue now on the table is how Georgia homeowners are supposed to pay their property taxes due tomorrow September 1, 2009.

All of the property tax escrow accounts for Taylor Bean and Whitaker residential loans were held at Colonial Bank, which failed earlier this month. When Colonial Bank went under, the FDIC froze all of its accounts, including thousands held as tax escrow accounts for Georgia and Florida Taylor Bean and Whitaker borrowers. The problem is will the FDIC unfreeze the accounts, or will thousands of Georgia homeowners have to pay their property taxes again because their tax bills may not be paid on time.

The Georgia Department of Banking and Finance is monitoring that situation, working with the FDIC and state representatives daily to try to develop a solution as the situation continues to change.

Bank of American has assured the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance that any payments sent directly to Taylor Bean and Whitaker will not be considered past due even if they are received after the due date.

For more details about the current situation, and how to make payments, check out this story with additional updates on the Taylor Bean and Whitaker Mortgage Company situation.

Also, check back tomorrow. We are trying to get information that will answer some of the concerns brought up in the comments on this page.

Taylor Bean and Whitaker Mortgage Company Files for Bankruptcy: August 24, 2009

Taylor Bean and Whitaker Mortgage Company announced it has filed for bankruptcy protection. The move comes after a virtual shut-down of the company after secondary mortgage market giants Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Ginnie Mae, and FHA decided not to work with the company, limiting its ability to originate and refinance mortgages. According to Inside Mortgage Finance, a trade publication, Taylor Bean and Whitaker was the third-largest FHA originator and the twelfth-largest mortgage lender nationwide.

Some 2,000 workers have been laid off from Taylor Bean and Whitaker Mortgage Company, according to media reports.

Taylor Bean and Whitaker Mortgage Company’s Notice to Mortgage Customers August 24, 2009

Taylor Bean and Whitaker Mortgage company has posted the following on its website, TaylorBeanonline.com:

AT THIS TIME, TAYLOR, BEAN & WHITAKER MORTGAGE CORP. (“TBW”) IS UNABLE TO EITHER OFFER AN ONLINE PAYMENT OPTION OR AUTOMATIC PAYMENT DEDUCTIONS FOR ITS HOME MORTGAGE CUSTOMERS. PLEASE NOTE THAT NO AUTOMATIC DEBIT PAYMENTS HAVE BEEN MADE SINCE AUGUST 10, 2009. MOREOVER, TBW IS NO LONGER SERVICING GINNIE MAE AND FREDDIE MAC LOANS.

FOR HOME MORTGAGE CUSTOMERS WITH A GINNIE MAE LOAN, YOUR LOAN WILL NOW BE SERVICED BY BANK OF AMERICA. BANK OF AMERICA CAN BE REACHED AT 1-800-669-6607. PAYMENTS SHOULD BE SENT TO:

BANK OF AMERICA HOME LOANS, LP
PAYMENT PROCESSING
P.O. BOX 10334
VAN NUYS, CA 91410-0334

FOR HOME MORTGAGE CUSTOMERS WITH A FREDDIE MAC LOAN, YOUR LOAN WILL NOW BE SERVICED BY ONE OF THE FOLLOWING SERVICERS:

IF YOUR LOAN IS CURRENT, YOUR SERVICER WILL BE CENLAR. CENLAR CAN BE REACHED AT 1-877-680-5583.

IF YOUR LOAN IS NOT CURRENT, YOUR SERVICER WILL EITHER BE SAXON OR OCWEN. SAXON CAN BE REACHED AT 1-888-422-6451. OCWEN CAN BE REACHED AT 1-800-74-OCWEN.

FOR ALL OTHER HOME MORTGAGE CUSTOMERS, PLEASE MAIL YOUR PAYMENT TO THE FOLLOWING ADDRESS:

TAYLOR, BEAN & WHITAKER MORTGAGE CORP.
ATTN: CASHIERING
1417 N. MAGNOLIA AVE.
OCALA, FL 34475

IT IS IMPORTANT FOR ALL CONSUMERS THAT YOUR LOAN NUMBER IS WRITTEN ON YOUR CHECK AND THAT YOU INCLUDE ANY SPECIAL PAYMENT INSTRUCTIONS SUCH AS ADDITIONAL PAYMENTS TO PRINCIPAL OR ESCROW. USE YOUR TBW LOAN NUMBER UNTIL YOU RECEIVE A NEW LOAN NUMBER FROM YOUR NEW SERVICER.

FOR QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR FHA-INSURED LOAN, CONTACT FHA’S RESOURCE CENTER AT 1-800-CALL-FHA.

FOR QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR FREDDIE MAC LOAN, GO TO THE FREDDIE MAC WEBSITE AT WWW.FREDDIEMAC.COM OR CONTACT FREDDIE MAC’S HEADQUARTERS AT (703) 903-2000.

FOR OTHER QUESTIONS, PLEASE CONTACT TBW AT 1-888-225-2164 OR 1-800-530-2602.

Taylor Bean and Whitaker Mortgage Company Shut Down

Taylor, Bean and Whitaker Mortgage Company shut its doors last Wednesday, after FHA said it would no longer do business with the company. Weeks earlier, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shut down their relationship with the mortgage brokerage and servicing company.

Last year, Taylor, Bean and Whitaker did $6 billion worth of loans. They were clearly continuing to do many loans right up to the end. When I filled in for Clark Howard on August, 5, 6, and 7, 2009, I received dozens of calls from Taylor, Bean and Whitaker borrowers who wanted to know if their refinances funded and if their loan originations were in trouble. Borrowers wanted to know if they should continue making their payments and if their real estate tax bills would be paid.

UPDATE

The latest news on the Taylor, Bean and Whitaker Mortgage Company comes from the Wall Street Journal. According to the newspaper, Bank of America Corp. is taking over the servicing of all Taylor Bean mortgages that are backed by the FHA.

Taylor, Bean and Whitaker filed for bankruptcy on August 6, just one day after the company announced it was closing its doors.

I suggested that borrowers take the following steps to find out the current status of their loans:

  1. Contact the closing attorney and try to find out if the mortgage or refinance funded. (If the closing attorney’s voice mail line is not accepting new messages and there is no information on the voice mail acknowledging the problem, you can also reach out to the state attorney disciplinary committee to file a complaint. I talked to an ethics expert with the American Bar Association who agreed this would be a prudent course if you cannot get in touch with the attorney.)
  2. Contact the escrow closing company to find out if the mortgage or refinance funded.
  3. Contact the state agency that regulates mortgage companies and the state banking regulator. In Georgia, that would be the Georgia Dept. of Banking and Finance.

Today, the Miami Herald wrote a blog about Colonial BancGroup and its acknowledgment that the federal government has opened a criminal investigation and the bank may go into receivership on August 12th. Colonial BancGroup provided funding for Taylor, Bean and Whitaker and may have had a deeper relationship with the mortgage broker.

Colonial BancGroup is FDIC insured. Even if the bank goes into receivership and shuts down, consumers will be protected up to the current limit of $250,000 per person, according to the FDIC.

Taylor Bean and Whitaker and Colonial BancGroup Hotline Information

The FDIC and Federal Reserve has a customer hotline for Taylor Bean and Whitaker customers.

FDIC 877-275-3342 Federal Reserve Bank 888-851-1920

Join us for Ilyce Glink’s How to Profit From Foreclosures on October 24, 2009

Are you interested in foreclosures? Do you want to buy one to live in or to rent out to help subsidize your retirement?

If you’re interested in foreclosures, you may want to join me for my latest event, HOW TO PROFIT FROM FORECLOSURES. It’s going to be an amazing event, filled with experts you can trust! (Why? Because my team and I will vet everyone who is going to be there. You won’t be hit up for a pitch to spend $3,500 for someone’s DVD program on how to make millions with foreclosures. It’s just excellent and honest information.)

At our event, you’ll pick up tips from top bankers, agents, lenders and REO specialists on how to find foreclosures and negotiate for them; tips from top tax experts and attorneys who know how to negotiate a foreclosure deal and keep you on the right side of the IRS when it comes to investing in foreclosures; and you’ll hear real life stories of successful investors who have made a great living and built up a fantastic amount of equity investing in foreclosures – without gimmicks and expensive DVD tutorials to sell. You’ll hear them tell you what has made them rich and successful.

Sign up now for Ilyce Glink’s How to Profit from Foreclosures and get YOUR foreclosure questions answered. There are ony a LIMITED NUMBER of early-bird tickets that will be sold. Make sure you get one!