Mortgage Payment Lost?

[RWebb]

Got a call from Wells Fargo tonight - from their collections dept. of all things. They said my payment was overdue

I have it paid right out of a mutual fund account - directly. So logged on and sure enough, it was paid on Jan. 29th ~ 2 weeks ago. Or at least my mutual fund was debited the exact amount it should have been on that date. So I told her no, it was not late - I am looking at the proof right in front of me.

The woman said that their Cust. Svce. Dept was closed for the evening and to call tomorrow (by which time, if the payment really WAS made they will be able to hit me with a nice fat late charge).

I am wondering what is up - I'm sure Wells Fargo would like to make a little extra cash, but not sure if they often make errors of this type - or if maybe the mutual fund co. messed up somehow.

Another complexity is the County raised my property taxes recently and Wells Fargo sent me a letter to pay $xx if I wanted to keep the monthly right where it was before (or do nothing and see the monthly payment go up). I didn't want to mess with changing the monthly, so I sent them a check form another account to pay the extra for escrow.

I had a long series of problems some years ago with GMAC and it was clear that they were doing some "creative accounting" in order to generate late fees.

Anybody have any problems with Wells Fargo?

[stomachmonkey]

No issues with WF.

Q, did she give you the number to call back?

Been a lot of phone phising scams popping up lately.

If I get a call from one of my financial institutions re an issue that I'm not aware of I hang up and tell them I'm calling right back then use the number from my card or statement.

If it's on the up and up I would not sweat it.

The money was debited from your account. You have proof/verification.

If it disappeared into the ether it's their problem, not yours, they will find it and you should not be liable for a late charge.

Had something similar happen to couple of cars loans. Money came out for both but only one showed up on the other end.

Took a bit to sort out but told em, not my problem.

[mikester]

I use wells myself but haven't had any problems. They have actually been quite good.

As far as the escrow - We had that with our original mortgage but through some foul ups by the escrow company (estimated the taxes wrong) we ended up just eliminating that from our mortgage payments and handling our property taxes on our own.

I would highly recommend not leaving the tax bits in the hands of someone else because if it gets screwy they aren't to blame - YOU are.

In our situation the previous owners of the house had only owned it for a few months. Not long enough to have to make a real tax payment nor long enough for the county to send them a bill. So the escrow company estimated our taxes based on the previous sales information from the county. Then the county updated their records and we ended up behind on our taxes based on the new and correct information. Wells informed us much the way you have been updated on your new tax liability but it was THOUSANDS different - not chump change. We were a little on the edge to begin with on affording the house so this was a serious blow. We sent in a check to the county to cover things and the county - in their infinite wisdom REFUNDED THE PREVIOUS OWNERS THAT SAME AMOUNT. Seriously, they started to say that we still owed them the money and I said - 'Uh, no way. I sent you a check - you cashed it. What you did with the money is your problem - not mine. We're square.' And they agreed basically. Wells let us eliminate the escrow and we basically manage it ourselves through a higher interest account. We save monthly for it and send it in when it is due.

[crustychief]

I have never had any problems with Wells Fargo. Something doesn't sound right, but at least you have proof. I did have a problem with a credit card company once, on a very low interest rate, they said I was late paying and tried to jack up my interest to 19%!!! I sent them proof my payment was received by them and they credited the charge and kept my rate as it was.

[Jim727]

Plenty of problems with WF, but that was years ago. When they bought Crocker it seemed that the fees got higher and the service lower with each month. Pulled six accounts with a flawless history and walked across the street to Bank of the West. Love them - only one minor problem which was fixed instantly and cheerfully. No fees, no minimum balance, and every teller plus the manager know us by name.

Anyway, I agree with Da Monkey that something does not sound right. I wouldn't deal with them on the phone but print out your evidence and sit down in front of your branch manager. The big problem here is not the fees, but if it really was sent to collections then you are looking at a hit on your credit report.

Good thinking on not keeping the monthly constant; that just draws out the interest WF would earn as the increased taxes would come out of your principal contribution, not the interest portion.

J.

[RWebb]

Thx - there is no branch manager. WF bought my mortgage (I financed thru my credit union) as part of one of those bundled setups. They are out there in the ether somewhere.

I did Google the 800 # and it is legit - there are quite a few complaints posted but no std. of measurement to see if the complaint rate is high.

I sent an Email to the mutual fund co. re "what's up" so we'll see what happens tomorrow.

This can be a big slam on your credit rating but I don't use credit much, so... it's more of a time-waster type thing.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Banks all suck. I have two accounts (both with credit unions) for my primary banking. They're night-and-day better.

[island_dude]

I have recently had issues with electronic payments not clearing when they were supposed to. I was paying the bills on the day they were due, and yet I got hit with late fees. This is for Credit card companies primarily. I have not had a lost payment, but I have had incorrect accounts get paid.

I have had the escrow issue as well. It seems that the mortgage companies can change their reserve requirements. I have two mortgages do this. Oddly enough, my tax bill had gone down but yet they somehow felt that I needed a higher reserve. If you have enough equity, they will often let you pay your own taxes and insurance. I have done this once and refinanced the second time.

[EarlyPorsche]

You're positive someone didn't go through your trash, find out you're a WF customer, and then try and scam you? Can you go into a local branch to verify? I would...


As long as you have proof of payment I don't see why this is a problem and I doubt WF will contact the credit bureaus.

[stomachmonkey]

They won't contact the credit reporters till past 30 days.

Should not be an issue.

[Schrup]

Originally Posted by RWebb

WF bought my mortgage (I financed through my credit union) as part of one of those bundled setups. They are out there in the ether somewhere.

I've had a bad year with banks. First Citi Card jacked my APR for no reason. The bank I've been doing business with for 20 years just handed my account over to another bank who bought the local branch. I closed my account & opened one with my wife's bank who also carried our mortgage. Well then my wife's bank got into trouble & sells our mortgage to BoA, whom I despise.

I'm closing all accounts & going with USAA for everything! I set up a checking/savings account with them. Their Mastercard is only 8.9%. I just refinanced a 15 year mortgage at 4.25% through them & they've always had the cheapest insurance.

BTW, closing my 15 year old Citicard had no noticeable effect on my FICO score & was not a factor when I refinanced my mortgage. Good luck Randy, don't let them screw you on the late fees.

[RWebb]

positive it is not a 3rd party scam - possibly a scam by WF, but not likely

Today's update:
- after a few hours of wasted time (and 4 WF people), they waived any late fees, but want me to send them "proof" of payment by Vanguard. I will fax what I have but it doesn't show that the payment went to WF, only that it is the exact amt. they always get and the date + a little note that it is a "systematic withdrawal."
We'll see what they do with that. I also have a communication in to Vanguard, who are pretty leisurely at responding...

I may have to send them a "lawyer letter" or sic the Or. Dept. of Justice on their azz, hopefully not, as I prefer to just pay them and have a nice smooth business-like transaction - why is that so hard?

oh - re the reserve - not a problem; they should not have run a deficit (add'l loan) to pay the County & the Ins. Co. I'd just like to keep the payments at the same level so I don't have to mess with changing the amount in Vanguard's system.

[RWebb]

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

Banks all suck. I have two accounts (both with credit unions) for my primary banking. They're night-and-day better.

I agree Jeff, and I also have credit union accts. But after taking out this loan thru my credit union, they bundled it and sold it to GMAC who then resold it to Wells Fargo - no way you can stop them from doing that, so you have to deal with whoever has your loan. Or pay it off entirely and then lose the tax deduction/subsidy...

[Noah930]

Interesting. I recently purchased a home, and within a couple months we received notice that the loan was sold to another institution. However, I am supposed to keep making payments to the original place. Not sure how they figure that out. So far, I've been paying by snail mail and paper check, though I usually pay the rest of my bills online.

[Talewinds]

Be careful, we've had to duke it out (almost like that public transportation video) with at least two companies lately who made accounting errors, pointed the finger at us, we showed them the error of their ways, they conceded the wrongdoing and everything was hunky-dory, EXCEPT! a month later when we review our credit rating, guess what showed up on it?!?!
Then it's into the ring all over again with the co's to get them to re-acknowledge their previous wrongdoing and get the credit report rectified from their end.
One seriously botched accounting error with Bank of America temporarily cost my wife an 80 point hit to her credit! 80??? WTF?