A Qualified Written Request or QWR is a method of disputing errors you believe to be on your mortgage or requesting information from your mortgage lender about your mortgage. A QWR has to be in writing and was intended to force mortgage-lending companies to maintain some sense of transparency and to allow homeowners to get important information about their mortgage. A mortgage lender must comply with a QWR request made by a homeowner within 60 days of receiving the request and must provide written notice to the homeowner within 20 days acknowledging receipt of the request.
If a mortgage lender fails to comply with either the time limits imposed or does not provide the complete information requested from a QWR they are subject to damages for non-compliance. For non-compliance for individual requests a mortgage lender is liable for any actual damages incurred by the homeowner and statutory damages up to $1,000. Non-complying lenders are also liable for any court costs and attorney's fees incurred as a result of non-compliance. Some lenders attempt to claim that certain information is outside the scope of a QWR but there are no limits placed on what information can be requested from a QWR.
Sending a QWR to your mortgage lender is a powerful tool to get information necessary to defend your foreclosure case. While it is possible for homeowners to send a QWR to their lender without the help of a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer, a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer is trained in foreclosure defense and knows the specific documents that hold the most importance to defending your foreclosure case.
