Short answer: if your mortgage servicer made a mistake, or you need information about your loan, write to it. A letter with your name, details that identify your loan account, and the error you believe happened (or the information you want) triggers federal deadlines: the servicer must confirm it got the letter within 5 business days and, for an error or request without a shorter deadline, answer within 30 business days. For 60 days after it gets a notice of error, it may not report a disputed payment as late to the credit reporting companies. This page covers federal law only; other rules may apply where you live. It is general information, not legal or financial advice.
Two kinds of letters
A notice of error is any written notice from a borrower that asserts an error and includes the borrower’s name, information that lets the servicer identify the mortgage loan account, and the error the borrower believes has occurred (12 CFR 1024.35(a), eCFR, text up to date as of October 28, 2026, read October 30, 2026). A request for information has the same name and account details and says what information you want about your loan (12 CFR 1024.36(a), eCFR).
The law also uses the term “qualified written request”: written correspondence that identifies the borrower’s name and account and gives the reasons you believe the account is in error, or enough detail about the information you want (12 U.S.C. 2605(e)(1)(B), Cornell LII, read October 30, 2026). Under the rule, a qualified written request about an error is a notice of error, and one asking for servicing information is a request for information, so the same deadlines apply (1024.35(a) and 1024.36(a)). The CFPB says you or someone acting on your behalf can send one (CFPB, last reviewed September 11, 2024; this page may be out of date).
Errors the rule covers
| Covered error | Section |
|---|---|
| Not accepting a payment that meets the servicer’s written payment requirements | 1024.35(b)(1) |
| Not applying an accepted payment to principal, interest, escrow or other charges as the loan terms require | 1024.35(b)(2) |
| Not crediting a payment as of the date it was received | 1024.35(b)(3) |
| Not paying taxes, insurance or other escrow charges on time, or not refunding an escrow balance | 1024.35(b)(4) |
| Charging a fee it lacks a reasonable basis to charge | 1024.35(b)(5) |
| Not giving an accurate payoff balance when you ask | 1024.35(b)(6) |
| Not giving accurate information about options to avoid foreclosure, and about foreclosure | 1024.35(b)(7) |
| Not passing your loan information accurately and on time to a new servicer | 1024.35(b)(8) |
| Starting a foreclosure, or moving for a foreclosure judgment or sale, in violation of the federal loss mitigation timing rules in 1024.41(f), (g) or (j) | 1024.35(b)(9) and (10) |
| Any other error relating to the servicing of your loan | 1024.35(b)(11) |
A note written on a payment coupon or other payment form from the servicer does not have to be treated as a notice of error or a request for information (1024.35(a) and 1024.36(a)), and a request for a payoff balance is not treated as a request for information (1024.36(a)).
Where to send it
A servicer may set a specific address for these letters by telling you in writing, and it must use the same address for both kinds. It must tell you in writing before it changes that address, and must post it on its website if the site lists any contact address (1024.35(c) and 1024.36(b)). The CFPB says you can find this address in a notice from your servicer, on your monthly mortgage statement or coupon book, on the servicer’s website, or by calling, and that if your servicer uses a special address, you must send the letter there (CFPB, last reviewed September 9, 2020; this page may be out of date). It may be different from where you send payments (CFPB).
What the servicer must do, and by when
All the periods below exclude legal public holidays, Saturdays and Sundays.
| Step | Deadline after the servicer gets your letter | Section |
|---|---|---|
| Written acknowledgment that it got the letter | 5 days | 1024.35(d); 1024.36(c) |
| Answer on an error about a payoff balance | 7 days, no extension | 1024.35(e)(3)(i)(A) |
| Answer on a request for the name and contact details of the loan’s owner | 10 days, no extension | 1024.36(d)(2)(i)(A) |
| Answer on an error about foreclosure under (b)(9) or (10) | Before the foreclosure sale or 30 days, whichever is earlier | 1024.35(e)(3)(i)(B) |
| Answer on other errors and requests | 30 days | 1024.35(e)(3)(i)(C); 1024.36(d)(2)(i)(B) |
| Extension, if the servicer tells you in writing before the 30 days end and says why | 15 more days | 1024.35(e)(3)(ii); 1024.36(d)(2)(ii) |
For an error, the answer must either correct it and tell you in writing what was corrected and when, or say after a reasonable investigation that no error occurred, with the reasons, your right to ask for the documents it relied on, and how to ask (1024.35(e)(1)(i)). Those documents must be sent free within 15 days of your request, unless they are confidential, proprietary or privileged, in which case it must tell you so in writing (1024.35(e)(4)). The servicer may ask you for supporting documents, but may not require them as a condition of investigating (1024.35(e)(2)). For an information request, the answer must give you the information, or say after a reasonable search that it is not available and why (1024.36(d)(1)).
The servicer may not charge a fee, or require you to make a payment that may be owed, as a condition of answering a notice of error (1024.35(h)) or an information request (1024.36(g)(1)).
The pause on credit reporting
After it gets a notice of error, a servicer “may not, for 60 days, furnish adverse information to any consumer reporting agency regarding any payment that is the subject of the notice of error” (1024.35(i)(1)). The law gives the same 60-day protection for a qualified written request about a dispute over your payments (12 U.S.C. 2605(e)(3)). There is no such pause for a request for information alone (1024.36(h)). Outside the foreclosure errors in (b)(9) and (10), the servicer may still pursue its other remedies, including foreclosure (1024.35(i)(2)). The CFPB says to keep making your mortgage payments as scheduled while you wait (CFPB).
Counting the days, only for the math
This example is only for the math, and the dates are example dates with no federal holiday in between. The servicer gets your letter on Monday, March 1, 2027.
| Step | Date |
|---|---|
| Acknowledgment due (5 days) | Monday, March 8, 2027 |
| Answer due on a payoff balance error (7 days) | Wednesday, March 10, 2027 |
| Answer due on a request for the owner’s name and contact details (10 days) | Monday, March 15, 2027 |
| Answer due on other errors and requests (30 days) | Monday, April 12, 2027 |
| Latest date with a 15-day extension (45 days) | Monday, May 3, 2027 |
| End of the 60-day credit reporting pause on the disputed payment | Friday, April 30, 2027 |
The 60-day pause is written without excluding weekends or holidays, so this example counts calendar days; ask your servicer how it counts it.
When the servicer does not have to answer
A servicer may skip the acknowledgment and answer if it reasonably decides that a notice of error repeats one it already answered with no new and material information, is overbroad, or arrives more than one year after the loan was transferred from that servicer or paid off; it must tell you in writing within 5 days, with the reason (1024.35(g)). Similar limits apply to information requests that are duplicates, confidential, not directly related to your loan, overbroad or unduly burdensome, or late (1024.36(f)). If the servicer fixes the error and tells you in writing within 5 days, it need not send a separate acknowledgment and answer (1024.35(f)(1)).
How to write it
The CFPB says you may get more protections if you write a letter than if you call, and lists what to include: your name, home address and mortgage account number, using the name on your mortgage, and exactly what error you believe occurred or what information you want. It also says not to write the letter on your payment coupon (CFPB). Keep a copy and proof of when it was sent or delivered.
If there is no answer
The CFPB lists two red flags: more than 5 business days since the servicer got your letter with no word from it, and more than 30 business days with nothing after the acknowledgment. It says you can submit a complaint to the CFPB (CFPB, last reviewed September 11, 2024), at consumerfinance.gov/complaint. The law lets a borrower recover damages from a servicer that fails to comply (12 U.S.C. 2605(f)); for your own case, ask a lawyer. You can look for legal aid through the Legal Services Corporation.
Related guides
If your loan just moved, see when your loan is sold to a new servicer. For insurance the servicer bought for you, see force-placed insurance on a mortgage, and for escrow statements, see escrow shortage on your mortgage. Errors on your credit report are covered in how to dispute a loan reporting error.
Questions to ask your servicer
- What address must I use for a notice of error or a request for information?
- On what date did you receive my letter?
- Are you extending the time to answer, and why?
- Which documents did you rely on, and how do I get copies?
Checklist
- Write a letter, not a note on your payment coupon.
- Include your name, account number and the exact error or information you want.
- Send it to the servicer’s address for these letters, and keep proof.
- Expect an acknowledgment in 5 business days and an answer in 30 (7 for a payoff error, 10 for the owner’s name).
- Keep paying as scheduled while you wait.
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Sources
- eCFR: 12 CFR 1024.35, Error resolution procedures (Regulation X), current text up to date as of October 28, 2026
- eCFR: 12 CFR 1024.36, Requests for information (Regulation X), current text up to date as of October 28, 2026
- Cornell LII: 12 U.S. Code 2605, Servicing of mortgage loans and administration of escrow accounts (RESPA)
- CFPB: How do I dispute an error or request information about my mortgage? (last reviewed September 9, 2020)
- CFPB: What is a Qualified Written Request (QWR)? (last reviewed September 11, 2024)
- CFPB: My mortgage servicer has not responded to a notice of error or information request that I sent. What can I do? (last reviewed September 11, 2024)
- CFPB: Submit a complaint
- Legal Services Corporation: Find legal aid
Disclosure: Modern Lending Solutions is not a lender, loan broker or agent for any lender or loan broker, and does not make credit decisions. Any compensation we receive is paid by participating lenders, only for advertising services. This guide is general information, not financial or legal advice.