Consumer complaint received 2025-11-19 00:00:00
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process — Fees charged
Company: FIRST UNITED BANK AND TRUST COMPANY
State: OK

Complaint narrative:
On XX/XX/XXXX, I transferred my residential property into a revocable living trust. I remain the borrower on the mortgage, the trustee of the trust, the beneficiary, and the occupant. This type of transfer is explicitly exempt from lender approval under the Garn-St. Germain Depository Institutions Act, 12 U.S.C. 1701j-3 ( d ) ( 8 ), which prohibits lenders from exercising due-on-sale clauses for " a transfer into an inter vivos trust in which the borrower is and remains a beneficiary and which does not relate to a transfer of rights of occupancy in the property. '' The transfer was recorded with the county on XX/XX/XXXX, and has been public record for 35 months. In XX/XX/XXXX, my homeowners insurance carrier correctly issued a policy naming the trust as the insured party with the mortgage servicer listed as loss payee, which fully protects the lender 's interest. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, the mortgage servicer contacted me stating they discovered the trust transfer and demanded a {$100.00} " trust review fee '' to evaluate whether the transfer is allowable. They cited Section 18 of the Deed of Trust, which states : " If all or any part of the Property or any interest in the Property is sold or transferred ... without Lender 's prior written consent, Lender may require immediate payment in full of all sums secured by this Security Instrument. '' This is a due-on-sale clausethe exact type of provision that Garn-St. Germain prohibits lenders from enforcing for exempt transfers.The servicer cited XXXX XXXX Servicing Guide provisions for transfer fees and stated a review by their " legal counsel '' is required before they will acknowledge the transfer. 

I responded on XXXX XXXX XXXX, explaining that : Section 18 is a due-on-sale clause that Garn-St. Germain prohibits them from enforcing for my transfer The transfer is federally exempt and requires no lender approval or consent The servicer has no legal discretion to deny the transfer, so charging for " review '' is not a service actually performed Charging {$100.00} to " review '' a federally protected transfer violates RESPA 12 U.S.C. 2607 ( b ), which prohibits fees " other than for services actually performed '' Their own cited XXXX XXXX guide requires fees to be " actual cost '' for third-party expenses like credit reports, but they identified zero third-party coststhe {$100.00} is an arbitrary amount from their fee schedule, not itemized actual expenses The Deed of Trust only authorizes fees in connection with borrower default, and there is no default I explicitly withheld consent to the fee multiple times On XX/XX/XXXX, the servicer responded that they are " proceeding with the review '' regardless of my objections and will assess the {$100.00} fee without my authorization. They stated this is " standard process '' they " can not waive '' because doing so would constitute " preferential treatment. '' This language indicates they have systematically charged this improper fee to other borrowers for federally exempt transfers.The servicer is creating an unauthorized debt by proceeding with a fee I have repeatedly refused to consent to. They are charging me for administrative notation of a three-year-old federally exempt transfer that their systems failed to recognize earlier. This is not a bona fide service requiring paymentit is an arbitrary fee extracted for acknowledging what federal law already requires them to recognize.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation