What to do when a HomeStreet account holder dies

Often, yes. Washington's small estate affidavit (RCW 11.62.010) lets a successor collect the decedent's personal property -- including a bank account -- with no court appointment at all, if three conditions are met: the value of the estate subject to probate, EXCLUDING the surviving spouse's or domestic partner's community property interest and less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed $100,000; at least 40 days have elapsed since the death; and the claiming successor has given written notice of the claim to all other successors, with at least 10 days elapsed since that notice was served or mailed. The affidavit goes straight to the bank -- no filing fee, no judge. Note how the community property exclusion works in your favor: the surviving spouse's half of a community account is not counted against the $100,000 line. Bring the affidavit, a certified death certificate, and your photo ID to a Mechanics Bank banking center. Above the limit, or where a will names an executor, the bank pays on Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration.

Call mortgage servicing at 800-237-3194 (live agents Monday-Friday 8:00am-5:00pm PT; automated line 24/7) or email loanservice@mechanicsbank.com -- do NOT use the deposit Customer Care line or the former HomeStreet client line for this. Get the CURRENT loan number first: legacy HomeStreet loans were reissued with new numbers in the Check My Loan conversion completed in mid-2026, so an old statement quotes a dead number. Send Successor in Interest documents to Mechanics Bank, Attn: Loan Servicing, 33405 8th Ave South, Suite 100, Federal Way, WA 98003 (the PO Box 34610 Seattle address is the payment lockbox only). As for calling the loan: no, not in the situations Congress carved out. The federal Garn-St. Germain Act (12 U.S.C. 1701j-3) bars enforcing a due-on-sale clause when the property passes to a relative on the borrower's death, to a spouse or child, to a surviving joint tenant, or into a revocable living trust in which the borrower remains a beneficiary. Once Mechanics Bank confirms you as a Successor in Interest, CFPB Regulation X (12 C.F.R. 1024.31) requires it to treat you as a borrower for servicing purposes. Keep making the monthly payment during the review -- confirmation does not pause the loan.

Three things, under the Mechanics Bank Personal Account Agreement that now governs these accounts. First, the bank keeps honoring checks: even with knowledge of the death, it may pay checks drawn on the account for ten (10) days after the date of death -- so if a pre-death check should not clear, ask for a stop payment rather than assuming the death stops it. Second, money can flow backwards: the bank may freeze, offset, refuse, and REVERSE deposits and transactions payable to the deceased, which is why Social Security and pension payments that land after the date of death are routinely clawed back, and if the funds were already removed from the account the other owners agree to reimburse the bank. Third, titling decides everything: joint tenancy passes to the survivor unless there is clear and convincing evidence of a different intent on the signature card; a P.O.D. or Totten Trust account passes to the surviving named beneficiaries in equal shares unless the bank's records say otherwise; tenancy in common sends the deceased owner's share to the estate; and if the bank has any question about who owns the funds, it may freeze all or part of the account pending proof satisfactory to it. Report the death to Customer Care at 800-797-6324 (or the former HomeStreet line, 800-719-8080) as soon as you can.