On the House: Paid in full but not yet free and clear

Ralph Zimmerman did something that most of us wish we could, but few of us manage:

In 1996, Zimmerman paid off the mortgage on the Whitpain Township house he bought in 1983. Thirteen years instead of 30, when fixed interest rates were as high as 18 percent and rarely lower than 8 percent.

In 1994, the loan was sold to PNC Mortgage, a change he was informed of promptly. He sent the remaining two years of monthly mortgage payments to PNC.

This summer, Zimmerman decided to buy a second home. He was going to use the equity he had accumulated in the house he's owned free and clear for 13 years to secure the mortgage.

But at settlement, the title company told Zimmerman that the mortgage he had paid off still showed up as a lien on the books at the Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown.

"After numerous calls and a lot of grief from PNC, I was told their mortgages were sold to Washington Mutual, and WaMu said they just sold everything to Chase," Zimmerman said. "I have faxed and e-mailed all documentation I had and have gotten nowhere." He has hired a lawyer, too.

The title company accepted the proof he submitted, because both houses he owns are in his name, but it would not have done that if he had been selling his first home. He has all his tax forms from every year, and, most important, the payoff documentation from PNC.

Zimmerman said PNC told him it could do nothing because its records don't go that far back and "they sold all the mortgage information."

"Why would they sell a mortgage that was paid off?" he asked. "I thought I was great paying it off. Now, I have to worry.

"Will anyone take responsibility to remove the lien?" he asked.

I contacted Ed Kozmore, vice president of PNC media relations, and Michael Fusco at JPMorgan Chase, to see whether this could be fixed easily.

As has been the case several weeks running, Fusco got the Chase staff working on the problem quickly. Kozmore, a first-timer on the "On the House" rescue team, got on the stick quickly as well, but not before apologizing for the way customer-service representatives apparently had dismissed Zimmerman's inquiries.

Why the customer-service reps acted that way, especially when Zimmerman had proof that he'd paid off the mortgage, has no justification.

After being stymied for weeks, Zimmerman has now received six telephone calls from three people: one from PNC and two from Chase.

"They all assure me they will take care of it some way, but they are not sure if it will be PNC or Chase," Zimmerman said. "In fairness to Chase, they just merged with WaMu, so they are late to the problem."

Both have requested more documentation, which Zimmerman's lawyer is handling.

Though Zimmerman said he will not feel satisfied until the matter is cleared up and the lien is taken off the books, "at least it seems that someone is paying attention."

Inquirer real estate writer Alan J. Heavens is the author of "Remodeling on the Money" (Kaplan Publishing). His columns appear Fridays in Home & Design. "On the House" appears Sundays. Contact Alan J. Heavens at 215-854-2472 or aheavens@phillynews.com.