servicerguide

Servicer transfers

My loan got sold to a new servicer and they lost my payment. Now what?

The short answer: first, breathe: when your loan transfers, federal rules give you a 60-day grace period — the new servicer cannot charge you a late fee if you sent the payment to the old servicer on time. Second, assemble proof from both sides. Lost payments in transfers are a paperwork problem, and paperwork problems are solvable.

The 60-day rule that protects you

When servicing transfers, federal mortgage rules give you a grace period of about 60 days from the transfer date. During that window, if you sent a timely payment to the old servicer, the new one can't treat it as late or charge a late fee. This is the single most important fact in a transfer mess — and servicer representatives sometimes "forget" it.

Why payments go missing in transfers

  • The old servicer forwarded the payment late or to the wrong account.
  • The new servicer applied it to the wrong loan (common with common names).
  • The payment is sitting in a suspense or unapplied account — which is legal but must be resolved →
  • Auto-pay didn't carry over — new servicers almost never inherit your old autopay setup.

Your proof-of-payment kit

  1. From the old servicer: confirmation the payment was received, the date, the amount, and where it was forwarded.
  2. From your bank: the cleared check image or the ACH confirmation with the date and recipient.
  3. From the new servicer: a full payment history showing what's applied and what's missing.
  4. Send it all in writing to the new servicer as a formal notice of error: "My payment of $[amount] on [date] is missing. Investigate and correct." That triggers their duty to investigate and respond, generally within about 30 business days.
Rebuild your autopay on day one Never assume autopay survived a transfer — it almost never does. Set up new autopay with the new servicer immediately, and keep paying manually until the first automatic draft clears. A missed payment during the gap is the most common way transfer chaos becomes a credit-report problem.
Informational only — not legal or financial advice.

Mortgage rules vary by loan type, servicer, and state. Check your own loan documents and official federal resources, or talk to a licensed professional, before acting.