Per RESPA this is "...the date on which the mortgage payment of a borrower is first due to the transferee servicer." Loan is assigned same date as closing. Auditors are saying the effective date of transfer should be the first payment due date rather than the closing/assignment date. Anybody had to deal with this issue? What was your conclusion?

This is a defined term, 12 U.S.C. Sec. 2605 Servicing of mortgage loans and administration of escrow accounts --
Disclosure to applicant relating to assignment, sale, or transfer of loan servicing
(i) For purposes of this section:

(1) Effective date of transfer.--The term “effective date of transfer” means the date on which the mortgage payment of a borrower is first due to the transferee servicer of a mortgage loan pursuant to the assignment, sale, or transfer of the servicing of the mortgage loan.

That said, there is also this in RESPA itself, §3500.2 Definitions. In the case of a home equity conversion mortgage or reverse mortgage as referenced in this section, the effective date of transfer is the transfer date agreed upon by the transferee servicer and the transferor servicer.

The hair the auditor is splitting is "...the date the mortgage payment is first due". Is that the first payment date or the date servicing is transfered? We've used the servincing trasfer date for years and now this comes up.