What to do when a Newrez account holder dies

Contact customer service — Shellpoint at 800-365-7107 or Newrez at 866-317-2347 — and submit a certified copy of the death certificate along with documents showing your authority over the loan or property, such as Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration, the will or trust, or the deed. The servicer will not discuss loan details until it confirms you are a successor in interest to the borrower or the executor/administrator of the estate.

A successor in interest is someone who receives an ownership interest in the home after the borrower dies — for example a surviving spouse, a joint owner, or an heir who inherits the property. Under the CFPB successor-in-interest rules (Regulation X, 12 CFR 1024.31, 1024.36, and 1024.38), once Newrez/Shellpoint confirms a successor in interest, that person can receive account information and apply for loss mitigation and is treated as a borrower for most servicing purposes, without being required to assume personal liability for the debt. Confirmation requires documents such as the death certificate, court documents (Letters Testamentary or Administration), will or trust documents, or a deed.

No. A mortgage is a debt secured by the home, not an asset with a payable-on-death or beneficiary designation. When the borrower dies, the loan does not disappear; it becomes an obligation that the estate or the person who inherits the home resolves through payoff, assumption, loss mitigation, or sale.

The federal Garn-St. Germain Depository Institutions Act (12 U.S.C. 1701j-3(d)) prevents a lender from enforcing the due-on-sale clause when a relative who inherits the home moves in and takes over the mortgage. The same protection covers a transfer to a surviving spouse or joint tenant and certain transfers into the borrower's living trust. This lets an inheriting family member continue the existing loan rather than being forced to refinance or pay it off immediately. Newrez/Shellpoint still requires documentation confirming the death and your ownership interest before releasing information.

First have your Successor in Interest status confirmed by the loan servicing team. Then request an Assumption Package from the Assumptions Team. Submit the completed package and supporting documents in PDF form to assumptions@newrez.com, or mail copies to Shellpoint Mortgage Servicing, Attn: Document Administration - Assumptions, 75 Beattie Place, Suite 600, Greenville, SC 29601. An assumption after death typically takes 30 to 60 days once the completed package and all supporting documentation are received.

Assumption and deceased-borrower documents go to the Assumptions team: assumptions@newrez.com, or Shellpoint Mortgage Servicing, Attn: Document Administration - Assumptions, 75 Beattie Place, Suite 600, Greenville, SC 29601. General written correspondence and notices of error go to PO Box 10826, Greenville, SC 29603-0826. Payments go to PO Box 650840, Dallas, TX 75265-0840 (overnight payments to 75 Beattie Place, Suite LL202, Greenville, SC 29601). Sending estate documents to the payment address can delay processing.