Lawsuit Investigation: Did PHH Mortgage Send Illegal Notice of Default Letters?
Last Updated on September 18, 2023
At A Glance
- This Alert Affects:
- Anyone who lives in California, North Carolina, Florida, New York, West Virginia, Michigan or Washington and received a notice of default letter from PHH Mortgage after falling behind on mortgage payments.
- What’s Going On?
- Attorneys working with ClassAction.org are looking into whether PHH Mortgage sent notice of default letters that contained false threats of acceleration and foreclosure to intimidate borrowers into paying their past due amounts within a certain time frame. It’s believed that these letters may have violated a federal debt collection law, and a class action lawsuit is now being considered on behalf of letter recipients.
- How Could a Lawsuit Help?
- A class action lawsuit could help borrowers recover money and ensure that PHH Mortgage’s letters comply with consumer protection laws.
- What You Can Do
- If you received a notice of default letter (a copy of which is pictured below) from PHH Mortgage Services, fill out the form on this page to find out how you may be able to help the investigation.
Attorneys working with ClassAction.org want to hear from anyone:
- whose mortgage was serviced by PHH Mortgage Services within the past four years
- who received a notice of default letter from the company after falling behind on mortgage payments
- and who lives in California, North Carolina, Florida, New York, West Virginia, Michigan or Washington
Specifically, the attorneys believe the mortgage servicer may have violated a federal debt collection law by sending notice of default letters that contained potentially false and misleading statements intended to intimidate borrowers into making immediate payments – including by threatening loan acceleration and foreclosure. It’s now being investigated whether a class action lawsuit can be filed on behalf of borrowers.
If you received a notice of default letter from PHH Mortgage stating that your loan could be accelerated if you didn’t pay the past due amount by a certain date, help the investigation by filling out the form on this page. You may be able to help get a class action lawsuit started.
What Did the Letters from PHH Mortgage Look Like?
A copy of one of the notice of default letters can be seen below.
Why Might the Loan Acceleration Letters Be Illegal?
In the letters at issue, PHH Mortgage Services suggests that a borrower’s mortgage may be accelerated or foreclosed upon if they fail to pay the overdue amount and cure the default by a particular date. If a mortgage loan is accelerated, the borrower must immediately pay the full amount of the loan – plus certain expenses and fees incurred by the loan servicer.
The letters also imply that PHH Mortgage may initiate foreclosure proceedings if the borrower fails to cure the default.
The attorneys believe, however, that the loan servicer may have made these threats of acceleration and foreclosure without intending to carry them out. Rather, it’s possible that PHH Mortgage included false and misleading statements in its letters to intimidate borrowers into making payments on their loans, even if those payments are beyond the necessary amount to avoid acceleration and foreclosure.
It’s now being investigated whether PHH Mortgage violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), a federal law that prohibits debt collectors from making false representations or using deceptive means to attempt to collect on a debt. The FDCPA also prohibits debt collectors from threatening to take actions they do not intend to take.
How Could a Class Action Lawsuit Help?
A class action lawsuit, if filed and successful, could help compensate borrowers who received potentially unlawful notice of default letters. It could also force PHH Mortgage Services to ensure that its letters comply with federal and state debt collection laws.
What You Can Do
If you live in California, North Carolina, Florida, New York, West Virginia, Michigan or Washington, had a mortgage loan serviced by PHH Mortgage Services within the past four years, and received a notice of default letter like the one pictured above, fill out the form on this page.
After you get in touch, an attorney or legal representative may reach out to you directly to explain more about what’s involved with filing a class action lawsuit and address any concerns you may have. It costs nothing to get in touch, and you’re not obligated to take legal action just because you talked with someone.
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