Contacting the lender for pay off amount

[Daniel Halsted]

How do you go about contacting the lender to find out how much someone owes on there property that is already in pre-foreclosure?  Are there public / subscription web sites for this or can you just call the lender direct?  I would imagine they would not  talk directly with someone outside of the mortgage but by pre-foreclosure there must have been a trustee assigned with a law firm or am I wrong?  

[James York]

@Daniel Halsted I don’t believe what you’re trying to do is possible. What you can do is make an educated guess with the information you have available. Public record will tell you when they bought and what they paid. In some markets and with the help of a realtor, you may even be able to guess at the loan type. With this information, you can research mortgage rates at the time of purchase. With a few assumptions, you can get relatively close to what they may owe. This is in no way precise, but is likely to get you In the ballpark. 

[Bob Reinhard]

If the house is in pre-foreclosure that means the person who bought the house still owns the house and the bank does not.
Why not contact that person directly?
Much success.
Bob

[Andrew Goldman]

@Daniel Halsted I believe a title search will reveal everything you need to know.

[Chad U.]

Quote from @Daniel Halsted:

How do you go about contacting the lender to find out how much someone owes on there property that is already in pre-foreclosure?  Are there public / subscription web sites for this or can you just call the lender direct?  I would imagine they would not  talk directly with someone outside of the mortgage but by pre-foreclosure there must have been a trustee assigned with a law firm or am I wrong?  

A lender will not divulge any info regarding a mortgage, unless you're given 3rd party authorization by the borrower.   If it's at the judgment stage in a judicial state you can often find the amountowing in the court records of the foreclosure filing.

[Chad U.]

Quote from @Andrew Goldman:

@Daniel Halsted I believe a title search will reveal everything you need to know.

Nope it doesn't show the loan balance owing.

[Dwayne Poster]

the lender will have filed a petition in court to initiate the process. That filing will spell out what they seek, including the outstanding, and daily charges going forward.  You can access those docs via the court. 

[Chris Seveney]

@Daniel Halsted

As others mentioned an attorney or a lender cannot by law talk to you about the loan if you don’t have third party approval. If you were not on a loan and your wife was they wouldn’t be able to talk to you even without her permission

Best way to check is by reviewing complaints be careful though as in certain states it is considered predatory lending by contacting people in foreclosure stages.

[Marian Smith]

sometimes the deed filed ot the county clerks office and searchable online records the mortgage amount and date.  You can google interest rates for that year and use an amortization table to get a ballpark.  There may be more than one mortgage or a refinance but all should e recorded. 

[Janelle K. Eagle]

There are paid services such as PropStream or foreclosure data which may provide you balances or may provide access to the lender’s filing documents which may have balance info. No lender will give you information directly about a payoff - they’ll require you to get written (or sometimes verbal) permission from the authorized property owner. Title searches may help identify original loan amounts and positions of lenders on the property, but unlikely to reveal current balances or amounts past due. Hope this helps!

[Sam Shueh]

County recorders office or title company on liens.

[Wayne Brooks]

Anyone showing an approximate balance on a loan, other than the lender itself, is just a guess. You can easily see the original amount but that’s it. Most judicial foreclosures don’t list the total due until the final judgment hearing.