Do I care?

[SecondCor521]

Penfed sent me a letter the other day asking me to pay them $6.50 by May 8th so that they can record a lien release on a property that I sold last year. They acknowledge that my loan is paid in full but claim that the county isn't aware that the lien has been released. They discovered this sorry fact in an audit of their real estate loans.

I find it surprising that the people to whom we sold the house could have bought it without the lien being removed. It's possible that my buyers paid cash, but I kinda doubt it. I would have thought that their mortgage company wouldn't lend with the lien in place.

At any rate, I'm trying to figure out why I should care. I do have an existing PFCU share account with $5.00 in it and a PFCU gas credit card that I use and pay in full monthly.

There is no mention of an adverse effect if I do not send in the $6.50. This sentence is typical of the tenor of the letter: "In order to make this an easier process for you we will record the release on your behalf but we must receive payment for the amount of the county fee from you in order to file the release."

Anyone have any suggestions as to why I shouldn't tell them to pound sand?

2Cor521

[crazy connie]

It could create future problems if you need credit or if the current owners have major issues. I might suggest that they got paid to do some work and failed to do all of the tasks they were committed to doing and suggest they eat the $6.50. Or mail them 650 pennies if ya wanna yank their chain.

[SecondCor521]

Quote:

Originally Posted by crazy connie It could create future problems if you need credit or if the current owners have major issues. I might suggest that they got paid to do some work and failed to do all of the tasks they were committed to doing and suggest they eat the $6.50. Or mail them 650 pennies if ya wanna yank their chain.

Good point. I don't know if they could legitimately ding my credit if I don't pay up.

I'm not sure what could happen if the current owners have major issues. As far as I know, they own the house. I suppose if they default on the mortgage and I get the house back that would be OK with me. Are you suggesting some sort of liability exposure?

2Cor521

[LKH]

If you really want to be ornery, you can send them 650 pennies - glued together. LOL.

L

[samclem]

Is your $5.00 in a free share (checking) account? Then how about sending them $1.60, and request that they take the remainder from your existing account. That will leave a few cents im there. Make sure youve requested paper statements and write a one cent check to yourself every few months (for deposit into your checking account.)

[crazy connie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SecondCor521 Good point. I don't know if they could legitimately ding my credit if I don't pay up. I'm not sure what could happen if the current owners have major issues. As far as I know, they own the house. I suppose if they default on the mortgage and I get the house back that would be OK with me. Are you suggesting some sort of liability exposure? 2Cor521

A true "DING" no. But often times more of a PIA like you are overextended and can't qualify for our zero % for 60 months on a new sweet car or truck... Could add a week to the process sort of thing is what I was thinking.

[SecondCor521]

Quote:

Originally Posted by crazy connie A true "DING" no. But often times more of a PIA like you are overextended and can't qualify for our zero % for 60 months on a new sweet car or truck... Could add a week to the process sort of thing is what I was thinking.

Thanks.

2Cor521

[SecondCor521]

Quote:

Originally Posted by samclem Is your $5.00 in a free share (checking) account? Then how about sending them $1.60, and request that they take the remainder from your existing account. That will leave a few cents im there. Make sure youve requested paper statements and write a one cent check to yourself every few months (for deposit into your checking account.)

In a savings account. But you have a creative mind...I like it!

2Cor521

[Niko]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SecondCor521 At any rate, I'm trying to figure out why I should care. I do have an existing PFCU share account with $5.00 in it and a PFCU gas credit card that I use and pay in full monthly. There is no mention of an adverse effect if I do not send in the $6.50. This sentence is typical of the tenor of the letter: "In order to make this an easier process for you we will record the release on your behalf but we must receive payment for the amount of the county fee from you in order to file the release." Anyone have any suggestions as to why I shouldn't tell them to pound sand? 2Cor521

I would either ignore it or, as a courtesy, forward the note on to the people who bought your property. From what you've explained, it sounds like there is no debt owed, and so PFCU probably could care less whether the lien is released. So I'm not sure how it could adversly affect you.

[youbet]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SecondCor521 I suppose if they default on the mortgage and I get the house back that would be OK with me.

Maybe I don't understand how these things work, but since you are not the mortgage holder, how could you wind up getting the house back if they default on the mortgage?

[Martha]

You don't care and the Penfed debt should show as paid on your credit report.

The buyers probably had title insurance (if they financed) and the title company didn't worry as they sent the payoff to PenFed. The title company should have collected for any satisfaction fees. Though usually they are pretty good at following up to get the satisfaction recorded. You don't want to have to pay those fees twice. Let the title company worry about it.

[OAG]

I had the same experience with another credit union but the amount was the same and the lien was in the state of FL for a vehicle that I had financed with the credit union (2.75% loan that I just could not pass up). Usually they tack this on the final payment but, in this case, I guess they forgot. If you ignore it I assume the buyers will actually have the hassle and expense to get it released -- could cause them a problem for which they are not guilty of creating, I might add. Personally, I would just pay them the $6.50 and forget about it.

[Nords]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SecondCor521 Anyone have any suggestions as to why I shouldn't tell them to pound sand?

You have to decide if the cost of the $6.50 now is a better deal than the hassle factor you might have to go through if PenFed and the recorder's office screw up your life.

Frankly I'd pay $6.50 now to avoid having the paperwork $%^&ed up rather than taking a chance later of having to spend far more than $6.50 in effort & fees to un$%^& it. But I didn't start ER with that attitude and I regard it as an improvement over the way I used to see things like this.

In Hawaii that recording fee would be $25 and they wouldn't get around to it for over a year.

Usually a credit union's rules say that your $5 is your share of the union's equity and not available for credit or withdrawal. In other words you can't do anything with your $5 unless you resign your membership and close your accounts.

[TromboneAl]

Do you get a lot of junk mail concerning the loan even though it is paid off? That might stop if the payment is recorded.

[Martha]

Al, we haven't had a mortgage for several years and everything is properly recorded. We haven't had a student loan for years. Nevertheless, we get junk mail all the time from our old mortgage lender trying to sell us refinancing or HELOCs and junk mail from Sallie Mae trying to sell us something.

[Nords]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Martha Nevertheless, we get junk mail all the time from our old mortgage lender trying to sell us refinancing or HELOCs and junk mail from Sallie Mae trying to sell us something.

That's our #1 source of junk mail and I wish there was some way to turn off the recorder's data access. Using it to verify title searches is one thing, but using it to spam should be fee-ed & taxed to the point of unprofitability.

[SecondCor521]

Niko - Penfed apparently cares because they can get in trouble with federal regulators if their records aren't in order, I guess. That's what the letter said.

youbet - I dunno either.

Martha - Thanks. Yes, the debt shows as paid in full on my credit report. I contacted the title company that handled the transaction and am waiting to hear back from them.

OAG - I don't see how the buyers would be affected -- presumably they're just happily making payments on their mortgage. They have contacted us from time to time with questions about the house, so I'm sure if there were any problems that needed my help they would contact me.

Nords - it's more the principal of the thing. They are hassling me for $6.50 nearly a year after the fact to pay to fix a mistake they made. And if they think I owe it and I don't pay, I am wondering what they could/would do to me. As far as I can tell, they can't do anything except maybe ding my credit report.

TAl - Nope. I get junk mail about mortgages, but they're all trying to sell me mortgage life insurance on my current mortgage. This is the first piece of paper - junk mail or otherwise - I've gotten on this loan since I received the "your mortgage is paid in full" letter from PenFed shortly after the closing.

Thanks to all for the replies.

2Cor521

[SecondCor521]

Update:

I got an email from the title company saying that PenFed has in fact filed a lien release already, so I plan to inform PenFed that their records are doubly messed up and to get back to me if there's still an issue.

2Cor521

[MikeD]

I try not to help lenders with their problems if I can get away with it. My credit union lost a form that I had signed and asked me to sign another one. Trouble is, it was the one where I promised to pay them back and allow them to repo my vehicle if I didn't. I kept replying to them that I didn't see any benefit to me in doing so, after all, I was making my payments in a timely manner. They just kept say "It will make our records complete." I finally refused, continued to pay on time until the loan was paid up, and never had any problem.

Mike D.