For the old servicer: What do I enter for the ending mortgage balance?
Zero.
For the new servicer:
- Box 2 is blank on the 1098 I received, but Smart Check threw an error and demanded that I enter a start-of-year mortgage principal amount. Should I enter the amount from the start of the year, or should I enter the amount at the time the new servicer received the loan? (I am guessing the latter.)
Enter the start amount of the old "Original" loan. That "is" what you started with, and it's not your fault or within your control the fact that the old lender sold the loan to a new lender. In other words "YOUR" starting amount on the loan is what "YOU" borrowed, regardless of who you borrowed it from originally. - When asked if this is the original loan I took out to purchase this property, what should my response be? I'm guessing to answer Yes because this is neither a HELOC or a refinancing situation.
Yes, it is the "original" loan you took out. Again, just because it was sold to another lender, does not change that fact that it's still "YOUR" original loan. You have no control of ownership of the loan.
