How to fix an improperly recorded mortgage?
In November of 2011, I refinanced my mortgage for a much lower rate. I went thru a broker and in the process switched the mortgage to a bank I’ll call WF. The closing was held at the broker’s office and I used a title company that they recommended. The broker helped me do a CEMA, which let me avoid the mortgage recording tax, because I had paid it a few years prior. At the closing the broker told me that the refinance would be processed as two loans, one for $10K and a larger one. The borrowed amount did not change. I was told that the two loans would be consolidated with WF and that in the end I would have one loan with a single monthly payment. The broker told me that this maneuver was necessary so the loan wouldn’t be classified as a jumbo loan, which would disqualify it for the CEMA (weird because my loan is nowhere near the NYC Jumbo limit). Eager to get the refinance done I signed the paperwork. I paid the recording tax on the $10K loan but not on the larger one. I recently tried to refinance again and was told that it could not be processed with a CEMA because a title search showed two mortgages on my property. This issue has also halted a HELOC application; the bank said it would not take a tertiary position on the property. It appears that the loan consolidation described to me at the closing was not recorded properly. WF seems to have consolidated the loans on their end; I get one statement and make one monthly payment. The mortgage broker and the title company both point at WF, who has been largely unhelpful and unresponsive. I’m hoping to get advice from the Brownstoner community on how to get the mortgage registered properly so that I can access the equity that I have in my property. Thanks in advance.

longhaul
in Mortgage 12 years and 5 months ago
1
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adam_dahill | 12 years and 5 months ago
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Do you have the bank attorney’s contact info? NY is an attorney state the bank’s attorney would have prepared the CEMA. I would start there. They may have recorded it incorrectly or the collateral docs may have been lost and some lenders will not accept a lost affidavit and they will use that as the excuse.