A letter arrives saying your mortgage has been transferred to a company you have never heard of. When you are already behind, it feels like an escalation. Usually it is not — mortgages are bought, sold and transferred as a normal part of lending.
What does not change
The terms of your mortgage. A transfer does not let anyone rewrite your rate, your amortisation or your payment. Your obligations and rights carry over.
The Alberta process also does not change. Foreclosure still runs through the Court of King's Bench whoever holds the mortgage.
What might change
Who you pay, and where. Verify this before you send money anywhere.
Who you deal with, and how they operate. Some purchasers of mortgage debt are more aggressive than the original lender; others are simply administrators. Any arrangement you had should carry over — but you need it in writing, which is why written confirmation matters so much.
The two things to check
Verify the transfer is genuine. Payment-redirection fraud exists and a mortgage transfer letter is an obvious vector for it. Contact your original lender using the number on an old statement — not one printed on the new letter — and confirm the transfer and the new payment details. This takes ten minutes and prevents a serious loss.
Confirm any existing arrangement in writing. If you had an arrears arrangement or a deferral agreed, send the new holder the documentation and get written confirmation they will honour it. Do not assume it travelled with the file.
If they are more aggressive
Your position has not weakened. The same rules apply, the same court process applies, and the same free advice is available. If contact becomes unreasonable, there are limits on collection conduct.
Keep your records
Everything from the original lender — statements, correspondence, agreements. Transfers are exactly when things get lost, and your file may be the only complete one.
Questions people ask
General information about the Alberta foreclosure process — not legal or financial advice, and nothing here guarantees an outcome. Every file is different.