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Is a mortgage lender obligated to maintain, and provide access to, payment and transaction history after a loan?

For example, if a mortgage is refinanced with a different lender, is the previous lender obligated to provide records of the payoff quote, final mortgage payments, and final payoff transaction to the borrower? In such a scenario, does the borrower have any recourse if this information is withheld?

Assume the borrower has no means of accessing this information (e.g. online account access has been terminated, etc.), but he or she suspects something is amiss and has no way to verify this suspicion.

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  • In the US this may well vary by state. Which state is of interest here? Jun 8, 2022 at 19:07
  • Arizona is of particular interest, but the lender is a national company headquartered in a different state, if that matters.
    – Alex
    Jun 8, 2022 at 19:32
  • Usually in real estate transactions the relevant law is the law of the location of the property. Jun 8, 2022 at 19:41

1 Answer 1

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+100

Arizona Code § 20-4-917 reads in part:

B. In addition to any statutory requirement regarding records, a record maintained by a mortgage broker shall include the following:

...

  1. A record, such as a cash receipts journal, of all money received in connection with a mortgage loan including:
    a. Payor's name;
    b. Date received;
    c. Amount; and
    d. Receipt's purpose, including identification of a related loan, if any;
  1. A sequential listing of checks written for each bank account relating to the mortgage broker business, such as a cash disbursement journal, including:
    a. Payee's name;
    b. Amount;
    c. Date; and
    d. Payment's purpose, including identification of a related loan, if any;
    ...

while Arizona Code § 20-4-1806 reads in part:

B. In addition to any statutory requirement regarding records, a record maintained by a mortgage banker shall include the following:
...
2. A record, such as a cash receipts journal, of all money received in connection with mortgage banking loans or mortgage loans including:
a. Payor's name;
b. Date received;
c. Amount; and
d. Receipt's purpose including identification of a related loan, if any;

There are addition subsections related to how long the records must be kept and additional record keeping requirements.

See also Arizona Code 6-946:

A. Every mortgage banker shall keep and maintain at all times correct and complete records clearly reflecting the financial condition of the business as prescribed by the deputy director that will enable the deputy director to determine whether the licensee is conducting the licensee's business in accordance with this article. If the mortgage banker operates two or more licensed places of business in this state, after notifying the deputy director, the mortgage banker may maintain the records at the mortgage banker's principal place of business in this state, except that a mortgage banker, with the approval of the deputy director, may maintain the records outside of this state. A mortgage banker shall, for records kept outside of this state, make the records available to the deputy director in this state not more than three business days after demand and provide for the acceptance of collect calls or provide a toll free telephone number to borrowers to obtain information from the records if the licensed places of business in this state cannot readily provide the information requested by the borrowers. Every mortgage banker shall maintain original documents, or clearly legible copies, of all mortgage banking loan transactions and mortgage loan transactions, unless the mortgage banking loan or mortgage loan is paid in full or the mortgage banking loan or mortgage loan and its servicing are sold, for not fewer than two years after the date of the mortgage banking loan closing or the date of the last disbursement of monies by the licensee, whichever occurs last. With the approval of the deputy director, a licensee that uses a computer or mechanical record keeping system is not required to keep a written copy of the records if the licensee is able to generate all information required by this section in a timely manner for examination or for other purposes. ...

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  • Dave, thank you for your answer. If you could help clarify this, I'd appreciate it. I want to make sure I'm getting the right take-away. The last paragraph implies that the "deputy director" and the borrower are entitled to the records (as specified in previous citations) for up to two years from the time that the loan is paid in full (as with a refinance) or sold to another company. Is that correct?
    – Alex
    Jun 23, 2022 at 22:22
  • 1
    @Alex I don't interpret it that way, I view "unless the mortgage banking loan or mortgage loan is paid in full or the mortgage banking loan or mortgage loan and its servicing are sold" as meaning they are no longer obligated to retain the information, unless some other statute requires them to. But don't take my word for it. Hopefully someone else will give a better answer.
    – DavePhD
    Jun 24, 2022 at 0:48
  • Ah, yes, on a re-read of that section I agree with your interpretation. I will wait for potential additional answers. Thanks.
    – Alex
    Jun 24, 2022 at 0:51

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