Not so fast.....

It is easy to hit a brick wall mentally when dealing with large corporations that see you as an account  / claim number rather than a person.  50 days after the flood we received payment from the insurance company.  Before you cheer, the check is made out to us and the mortgage company.  If you have never dealt with a mortgage company in this capacity (loss coverage), I sincerely hope that you never have to. So what happens now?  The mortgage company requires us to endorse the check for the entire claim amount and give it to them.  They hold the funds and provide us payments in thirds: 1/3 paid in 7-10 business days, 1/3 paid at 50% completion after inspection that they arrange and we pay for, and the final 1/3 at 100% of work completion after the last inspection that we again pay for. They dictate all of the terms and reserve the right to with-hold payment to us based on receipts and/or inspections.  If you have been following the blog, you know that we are pretty far down the path of repairs having spent spent money and credit to bank roll the process this far.   The first allotment of money the mortgage company provides may not even cover the amount we have spent thus far!  While I can appreciate the mortgage company's desire to make sure the house is repaired, it seems very unfair that they hold all of the money for a policy that we paid for, though were not required to have.  Here is to keeping the mortgage company honest - the loan is held by Mr. Cooper, formerly NationStar Mortgage.  Expect me to report the ups and downs in the process.  Fingers cross for more ups.