What To Do If You Have An Orphaned Mortgage

What happens when your parents pass away when you are a young child?

You become an orphan.

What happens when your loan officer leaves the mortgage industry?

Your mortgage becomes an orphan.

And few things in life can cause money to leak out of your personal bucket-o-money faster than an orphaned mortgage.

Typically, when you work with a loan officer, they store all of the relevant information about you and your mortgage, such as the date of your mortgage, the interest rate, the original lender, etc.  Basically, they record all of the information that is in that packet you got from the title company that you have filed away in your closet and haven’t looked at in months or years.

As the interest rates rise and fall over the next few years, a good loan officer will keep in touch with all of his clients and let them know when and if they should refinance.

If your loan officer has left the industry and is no longer keeping an eye on your mortgage for you, is there something that you can do?

Yes.

You can find a loan officer to “adopt” your orphaned mortgage.  This entails taking the time to talk with a mortgage professional and have them become the new “foster parent” to your mortgage.

Most mortgage professionals will be happy to talk to you about becoming a foster parent to your mortgage and will do so for free.  They will get to know it and keep an eye on it and let you know about any changes that are upcoming or when a good time is to make adjustments to the mortgage.

For example, if you are in a 7% fixed rate and interest rates drop to the point where it may make sense to refinance and get into a lower fixed rate, they will let you know.

Or if you are in an adjustable rate, they will track the adjustment date and let you know the best time to switch to a fixed rate, or what could possibly happen to your monthly payment if you don’t.

Taking the time to find a great loan officer to adopt your orphaned mortgage can potentially save you thousands of dollars, because a loan officer can input your information into his or her database now and let you know in the future when you can take advantage of any interest rate dips.