RCW 61.10.020 Condition of residential mortgage transaction—Disclosures—Notices—Harm to borrower—Compliance with federal requirements.

(1) If a borrower is required to obtain and maintain mortgage insurance as a condition of entering into a residential mortgage transaction, the lender shall disclose to the borrower whether and under what conditions the borrower has the right to cancel the mortgage insurance in the future. This disclosure shall include:

(a) Any identifying loan or insurance information, or other information, necessary to permit the borrower to communicate with the servicer or lender concerning the private mortgage insurance;

(b) The conditions that are required to be satisfied before the mortgage insurance may be canceled; and

(c) The procedures required to be followed by the borrower to cancel the mortgage insurance.

The disclosure required in this subsection shall be made in writing at the time the transaction is entered into.

(2) For residential mortgage transactions with mortgage insurance, the lender, or the person servicing the residential mortgage transaction if it is not the lender, annually shall provide the borrower with:

(a) A notice containing the same information as required to be disclosed under subsection (1) of this section; or

(b) A statement indicating that the borrower may be able to cancel the mortgage insurance and that the borrower may contact the lender or loan servicer at a designated address and phone number to find out whether the insurance can be canceled and the conditions and procedures to effect cancellation.

The notice or statement required by this subsection shall be provided in writing in a clear and conspicuous manner in or with each annual statement of account.

(3) The notices and statements required in this section shall be provided without cost to the borrower.

(4) Any borrower in a residential mortgage transaction who is harmed by a violation of this section may obtain injunctive relief, may recover from the party who caused such harm by failure to comply with this section up to three times the amount of mortgage insurance premiums wrongly collected, and may recover reasonable attorneys' fees and costs of such action.

(5) This section does not apply to any mortgage funded with bond proceeds issued under an indenture requiring mortgage insurance for the life of the loan or to loans insured by the federal housing administration or the veterans administration.

(6) Subsection (1) of this section applies to residential mortgage transactions entered into on or after July 1, 1998. Subsection (2) of this section applies to any residential mortgage transaction existing on July 1, 1998, or entered into on or after July 1, 1998.

(7) A lender or person servicing a residential mortgage transaction who complies with federal requirements, as now or hereafter enacted, prescribing mortgage insurance disclosures and notifications shall be deemed in compliance with this section.

[ 1998 c 255 § 2.]