all I want to do is pay my bill

We have a home equity loan. Our last payment was due on Feb. 28 and I sent a check on Feb. 19. When I was preparing our taxes last weekend, I realized I had never received the form from the lender that says how much interest we paid in 2006. I went to the lender’s Webpage to figure out how to request that form and saw they seemed to think that I had another payment due March 1, only one day after the February 28 payment.

After much detective work, I found out this: The lender did receive the check. But because I accidentally wrote the check for $40 less than I meant to (I have no idea why—just one of those stupid things), instead of crediting our account with the payment and letting me know that I still owed $40, the lender decided to apply the payment I sent to principal and record NOTHING for the payment due Feb. 28. For a reason no one can explain, they bumped my payment due date back by one day.

So apparently, even if I send them the $40 I owe plus a late fee, they will not apply the Feb. 19 payment to the amount due on Feb. 28 (or March 1). This is stupid.

What’s even stupider? When I tried to find out where to send my payment (obviously I can’t check my payment coupon because I sent that in with the check I sent on Feb. 19), I spent 10 minutes searching the Website and finally found this on the FAQ page:

Question: Where do I send my monthly payment?
Answer: Please send your monthly mortgage payment to the address printed on the payment coupon.

And in one more bizarre twist, the lender swears to me that there was a February 29 this year.

And of course, the lender told me that they didn't send the form I need for my taxes because they just purchased my loan in January. I have to contact the lender who had my loan before them. The saga continues.

tags: stupidity  

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