Homeowners left in a lurch after mortgage refinancing checks bounce
In early April, Jeff Franson refinanced his mortgage, switching it from Chase to SecurityNational Mortgage Co.
On a sunny Saturday in early October, as he was mowing the front lawn of his Mokena, Ill., home, a process server drove up and handed Franson papers that showed Chase was planning to foreclose on his home.
Franson was current on his mortgage with SecurityNational. But the $93,702.51 check cut by Counselors’ Title Co. to pay off the Chase loan bounced. After months of phone calls and letters between Franson, his attorney and the companies involved, Chase filed foreclosure papers.
For consumers refinancing mortgages, sitting down in a sterile conference room of a title company is considered the last step, a formality, in the loan process. After signing a thick stack of documents, borrowers leave happy that they’ve just saved money by obtaining a lower interest rate.