12 U.S.C. §2605 — Servicing of mortgage loans and administration of escrow accounts
12 U.S.C. §2605 is the RESPA statutory anchor for mortgage-servicing obligations: servicing-transfer disclosure and notices, 60-day late-fee grace, QWR timing, escrow administration, and force-placed-insurance procedure.
Verbatim regulatory text
Verbatim provisions from 12 U.S.C. §2605 — Servicing of mortgage loans and administration of escrow accounts — each quote is a verified substring of the regulator-published source snapshot, not retyped. Quoted for reference; this is not legal advice. The operational layer (P&P updates, prompts) lives in the regulation update kits.
12 U.S.C. §2605(a) — Servicing disclosure at application
Each person who makes a federally related mortgage loan shall disclose to each person who applies for the loan, at the time of application for the loan, whether the servicing of the loan may be assigned, sold, or transferred to any other person at any time while the loan is outstanding.
12 U.S.C. §2605(b)(2)(A) — Transferor notice 15 days before transfer
Except as provided under subparagraphs (B) and (C), the notice required under paragraph (1) shall be made to the borrower not less than 15 days before the effective date of transfer of the servicing of the mortgage loan (with respect to which such notice is made).
12 U.S.C. §2605(d) — 60-day late-fee grace during servicing transfer
During the 60-day period beginning on the effective date of transfer of the servicing of any federally related mortgage loan, a late fee may not be imposed on the borrower with respect to any payment on such loan and no such payment may be treated as late for any other purposes, if the payment is received by the transferor servicer (rather than the transferee servicer who should properly receive payment) before the due date applicable to such payment.
12 U.S.C. §2605(e)(1)(A) — Acknowledgment of QWR within 5 days
If any servicer of a federally related mortgage loan receives a qualified written request from the borrower (or an agent of the borrower) for information relating to the servicing of such loan, the servicer shall provide a written response acknowledging receipt of the correspondence within 5 days (excluding legal public holidays, Saturdays, and Sundays) unless the action requested is taken within such period.
12 U.S.C. §2605(e)(2) — QWR substantive response within 30 days
Not later than 30 days (excluding legal public holidays, Saturdays, and Sundays) after the receipt from any borrower of any qualified written request under paragraph (1) and, if applicable, before taking any action with respect to the inquiry of the borrower, the servicer shall—
12 U.S.C. §2605(g) — Escrow account administration
If the terms of any federally related mortgage loan require the borrower to make payments to the servicer of the loan for deposit into an escrow account for the purpose of assuring payment of taxes, insurance premiums, and other charges with respect to the property, the servicer shall make payments from the escrow account for such taxes, insurance premiums, and other charges in a timely manner as such payments become due.
12 U.S.C. §2605(k)(1)(A) — Force-placed hazard insurance requires reasonable basis
obtain force-placed hazard insurance unless there is a reasonable basis to believe the borrower has failed to comply with the loan contract’s requirements to maintain property insurance;