Mortgage mess puts homeowner on brink of foreclosure

NEW YORK (WABC) -- If you have a home mortgage, it's very probably your loan will change hands two or even three times, going from one loan servicing company to another. But what does that mean for you?

Deb Conte says she felt like she was going to have a heart attack after getting a foreclosure warning from her mortgage company.

She's lived in her home for nearly 20 years. The single parent raised her daughter here and is now struggling to put Jacqueline through art school.

Last year DiTech took over her mortgage. She says nearly overnight her monthly mortgage ballooned from around $800 to nearly $2,000

Deb says DiTech was charging her for property taxes that she already paid.

For two decades Deb says she always paid her own taxes, so she contacted DiTech.

Meanwhile the mortgage mushroomed, to nearly $6,000.

Then, the foreclosure threat arrived.

"I couldn't afford a lawyer," Conte said. "So I said I'm calling Nina."

Just minutes after 7 On Your Side called DiTech, a representative dialed up Deb.

And a day later, there was no more escrow exasperation. The fear of foreclosure was lifted after their lender cleared up the taxing mortgage mix-up and apologized.

Citing privacy concerns, DiTech said it couldn't comment on their customer's situation.

The big takeaway: If you're notified your mortgage company changes, go over your new statement to make sure all amounts are correct.

If you pay your mortgage online, make sure you change your payment's destination.

And during the transfer, if you happen to send a payment to the wrong company you have a 60 day grace period before getting late fees.