This isn’t really a hypothetical question. I did just find out that WaMu is being shut down, supposedly tonight, by the FDIC and then JP Morgan is buying their “core” operations. And my mortgage is with Washington Mutual and I’ve got a great rate (too good to mention today) so I don’t want to take it anywhere else.
What do I do now?
A couple of things:
- Keep making my payments to Washington Mutual until I get notification of something different.
- When I get notification of something different, call both Washington Mutual and JP Morgan independently to verify that the letter is indeed legitimate.
- If I have an escrow account (I don’t), I’d be extra vigilant about making sure that the taxes and insurance are paid on time.
Besides for that, I’d go to sleep tonight and not worry about it at all. The FDIC is not only responsible for making sure that accounts are safe, they are also responsible for making sure things get transitioned in an orderly fashion.
Nothing to be worried about as an existing customer with a mortgage with WaMu.
Last 5 posts in Uncategorized
- Welcome, Julie Messina! - June 29th, 2009
- Mortgage Market Update - June 22nd, 2009
- Five Lies Buyer Brokers Tell Home Buyers (About Commissions) - June 18th, 2009
- Why Is My Appraisal Taking So Long? - June 17th, 2009
- Welcome, Chris Jones! - June 12th, 2009
- Stumble it!
- Categories: Uncategorized
Comments
9 Comments so far
Washington Mutual « Straight Talk about Mortgages and Real Estate
[...] Posted on September 25, 2008. Filed under: banks | I just heard that Washington Mutual is being shut down by the FDIC and bought by JP Morgan. My mortg… [...]
David G from Zillow.com
WOW. RIP WAMU. Great advice Tom, thanks!
Washington Mutual at tvanderwell on SmartHippo.com
[...] I just heard that Washington Mutual is being shut down by the FDIC and bought by JP Morgan. My mortg… [...]
Diane Tuman
I saw a WaMu employee early this AM while walking my dog. She is a tech manager and said she put “40 hours in” by Tuesday of this week and “something had to be done.” She assured me everything is cool, but that my bank is now JP Morgan. Thankfully, I only have my checking account there, so no big loss if it did tank. But, thanks for the reassurance, Tom.
Arizona Mortgage Rates Roundup September 26, 2008 — Phoenix Area Real Estate Blog
[...] Vanderwall does a nice job of explaining what this means to people who have a mortgage or money with Washington Mutual on the Zillow Mortgage Blog. This failure is the largest bank failure in US history and will [...]
Mortgage Market Week in Review - to Bail or not to Bail? « Straight Talk about Mortgages and Real Estate
[...] The Biggie (so far): Last night, the FDIC came in and finally shut down Washington Mutual. They are the largest bank failure in the history of our country. The interesting thing is that they did the shut down in a way that isn’t going to cost the FDIC any money (Whew - that could have been a big one!). No word that I’ve heard of yet on what happens to their loan portfolio. My mortgage is with Washington Mutual and I’m going to keep sending my payments to Washington Mutual until I get notification of something different. If you’ve got concerns about that, check out what I wrote over at Zillow’s blog. [...]
Mortgage Market Week in Review - to Bail or not to Bail? | BloodhoundBlog: National real estate marketing and technology blog | Realtors and real estate, mortgages, lending, investments
[...] The Biggie (so far): Last night, the FDIC came in and finally shut down Washington Mutual. They are the largest bank failure in the history of our country. The interesting thing is that they did the shut down in a way that isn’t going to cost the FDIC any money (Whew - that could have been a big one!). No word that I’ve heard of yet on what happens to their loan portfolio. My mortgage is with Washington Mutual and I’m going to keep sending my payments to Washington Mutual until I get notification of something different. If you’ve got concerns about that, check out what I wrote over at Zillow’s blog. [...]
Mortgage Market Week in Review - to Bail or not to Bail? at tvanderwell on SmartHippo.com
[...] The Biggie (so far): Last night, the FDIC came in and finally shut down Washington Mutual. They are the largest bank failure in the history of our country. The interesting thing is that they did the shut down in a way that isn’t going to cost the FDIC any money (Whew - that could have been a big one!). No word that I’ve heard of yet on what happens to their loan portfolio. My mortgage is with Washington Mutual and I’m going to keep sending my payments to Washington Mutual until I get notification of something different. If you’ve got concerns about that, check out what I wrote over at Zillow’s blog. [...]
Smiley Face Friday | Zillow® Blog
[...] been a long week, with banks continuing to collapse (my WaMu is now JP Morgan and I’m told everything’s cool), the $700 billion bank bailout wearing everyone down [...]