Taylor Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Company Update: September 1, 2009

ThinkGlink spoke with Sandra Sheley, director of mortgage supervision for the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance. Here is an edited version of the conversation. See the bottom of the story for additional links, resources, phone numbers, and websites.

Questions About Taylor Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Company From ThinkGlink.com Visitors

On a recent blog, we’ve had dozens of questions and comments from ThinkGlink.com site visitors who are Taylor Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Company customers looking for answers. Click this story link to see some of their questions and comments.

What’s happening to the Taylor Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Company loans at this point?

According to Sandra Sheley, the first group of Taylor Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Company loans to be redistributed were loans backed by Freddie Mac. If the loans were “performing,” meaning that the borrowers were current on their payments, the loans were supposed to go to Cenlar. However, when Colonial BancGroup shut down, they took all of their loans into the warehouse and gave them to RoundPoint and told them that RoundPoint would be servicing that group of loans. However, state officials have discovered that the loans haven’t been divided up correctly. That’s why some borrowers are receiving two letters, one from Cenlar and one from RoundPoint.

What should you do? If you’re getting two letters and you were on time with your payments before Taylor Bean & Whitaker folded, you should make your payments to Cenlar. Click here for details on Cenlar and a copy of their Welcome Letter.

If you live in the state of Georgia, you should call the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance: (770) 986-1633. Toll Free: (888) 986-1633
If you live in another state, call that state’s department that regulates banks, finance companies, and mortgage servicers, says Sandra Sheley.

What is RoundPoint? Some Taylor Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Company customers think it is a scam.

According to Sheley, RoundPoint isn’t a scam. It’s a legitimate mortgage servicing company that Freddie Mac has chosen to take on a bunch of the Taylor Bean & Whitaker loans. It’s unfortunate that Roundpoint Mortgage Servicing Corporation doesn’t have a better website, but ThinkGlink has confirmed it is a legitimate company.

What is Cenlar?

Cenlar is also legitimate loan servicing company. The FDIC made a deal with Freddie MAc that Cenlar would take over a large number of Taylor Bean & Whitaker loans. Read Cenlar’s welcome letter to Taylor Bean & Whitaker mortgage customers here. The article also contains contact information for Cenlar.

What if my payments were late or I stopped making mortgage payments to Taylor Bean & Whitaker?

If your loans were late or delinquent or you’ve stopped paying your mortgage, you’re considered to have a “non-performing” loans. According to Sheley, these loans will be divided between two different servicers, Ocwen and Saxon. The loans haven’t been assigned yet.

We’re hearing from customers that they’ve made their payments, but can’t get any confirmation. What should Taylor Bean & Whitaker customers do?

“I would be surprised if you could get a confirmation,” Sheley told ThinkGlink.com, adding “We are in a state of flux. I would suggest you save your receipts and records. Mortgage servicers are assuring borrowers that they won’t be charged late fees for the first 60 days and there will be no negative impact on credit report.”

Sheley said that the mortgage lenders have been receiving payments, but have not had time to post all of them. They may not have entered everyone’s information into their computer systems yet. And, there may not be a way for borrowers to check online to see if their mortgage payments have been received.

Your best bet? “Keep all of your receipts and records proving that you made your payment. If you can prove you paid it, then you paid it.” If you can’t get the mortgage company to believe you, call your state’s department that regulates banking and finance.

If loans haven’t been assigned to a new lender or mortgage servicer, who owns them? Where should the payments be made?

According to Sheley, Taylor Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Company customers should be getting a letter with information on where to make payments.

If you get two letters, one from Cenlar and the other from Roundpoint, you should make your payments to Cenlar. If you get two letters from any other two mortgage servicing companies and are a GA customer, call the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance office. They will get in touch with Taylor Bean & Whitaker and figure it out. All other Taylor Bean & Whitaker customers should contact their state mortgage regulator.

My August Taylor Bean & Whitaker payment wasn’t debited from my checking account. Now, Bank of America’s debt collectors are after me. What do I do?

One Taylor Bean & Whitaker customer told ThinkGlink.com their loan went to Bank of America. But Bank of America didn’t debit the August payment from their account. When they called Bank of America to follow up, the company said not to worry,. However, now Bank of America’s debt collection department said they’re behind in their payments. What should they do?

According to Sheley, this shouldn’t have happened. She said “all customers who are having a problem with Bank of America auto-debiting payments should contact Bank of America’s Home Loans Customer Service (800) 669-6607.”

(ThinkGlink.com contacted Bank of America for comment and we are waiting for them to respond. Check back for an update.)

I refinanced my loan with Wells Fargo just before Taylor Bean was suspended. Taylor Bean’s check bounced. What should I do?

According to Sheley, you should contact your state mortgage regulator and ask for the individual who is handling all of the Taylor Bean complaints. This isn’t a Wells Fargo issue. It’s a Taylor Bean issue and most likely happened because the refinance was caught in the middle of the mortgage servicing company being shut down and its accounts frozen by regulators.

It’s September 1st and real estate property taxes are due in Georgia. Any decision made on who is paying property taxes for Taylor Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Company customers?

“This is mostly just bad news for Taylor Bean & Whitaker customers,” said Sheley. “The back story is the escrow accounts were at Colonial BancGroup. Colonial got taken over by the FDIC and the FDIC froze all of Colonial’s accounts.”

Shelley said that Colonial BancGroup was in bankruptcy court on Friday. The FDIC proposed that the frozen accounts should go to the FDIC, which would handle them and payments owed. Yesterday (August 31, 2009), Taylor Bean & Whitaker filed a countermotion. A hearing has been scheduled for September 11th, but the parties are talking over the issue to see if they can resolve it.

Bottom line: property taxes will not be paid with funds that were held in escrow by Taylor Bean & Whitaker or Colonial BancGroup. Worse, Sheley says that no homeowners insurance premium payments have been made since July. ThinkGlink.com is following up with our sources to get some answers to the questions about paying property taxes and homeowners insurance.

Resources for Georgia Residents

Director of Mortgage Supervision
Georgia Department of Banking and Finance
770-986-5036

Read More About Taylor Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Company

Taylor Bean and Whitaker Mortgage company Hotline Information for Borrowers

[Taylor Bean Whitaker Mortgage Company Customer Advice From Freddie Mac[(https://www.thinkglink.com/article/2009/09/01/taylor-bean-whitaker-mortgage-company-customer-advice-from-freddie-mac)

Taylor Bean and Whitaker, Colonial Bank, Bank of America Update – August 31, 2009

Taylor Bean Whitaker Mortgage Company Update

Taylor Bean Whitaker Mortgage Company Customer Advice From Cenlar

Check out today’s blog for more details.