A Call to Bank of America to See if They Paid My Prop Taxes Yet

[M.D. Holloway]

For the first time in ...forever we sent our money to escrow to pay taxes this year. I called up BAC to see if they paid it yet - I knew it would be due in the next week or so. The women (who was very pleasant) tells me "Sir, we wait till one day before delinquency to pay your taxes - the bill will be paid on Jan 19, 2011."

I paused. I don't know why I asked the following question. I knew the answer but I had just got done listening to how BAC robo-stamped all sorts for foreclosure notes earlier and her explanation just struck a cord.

"Maim, I respect that but let me ask you this, how would Bank of America feel if all of their bills were paid to them the very last day before delinquency? I mean, isn't it kinda sleazy to wring out as much interest from my note's investment as possible before you send over money that I provided you in good faith to pay? Doesn't it seem, well sleazy?"

A hush lasted as long as it took a dollar bill to gently fall from the top of a bank veeps desk to a deposit reserve.

"Sir, I'm not really qualified to answer that question. Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"No, I have been provided with enough mediocrity and passive denial from BAC to last another year. The sad thing is, I purposefully refinanced to get away from BAC only to be dragged back into the BAC financial web that has done more wrong to this country in the past two years than then any terrorist group could ever conceive of doing. You are the only game in town and my note got bought up again by you people. I always thought there were laws against this sort of thing. Heck of a racket, ashamed I didn't think of this scam myself years ago."

"I'm sorry sir. I'm not qualified to comment. Thank you though sir, and sir? May I ask if you would like to take a survey concerning the service you received today?

and so it goes, and so it goes, and so it goes....(remind me again why I stopped getting high and drunk?)

[Dantilla]

What low-lifes.

I don't have any escrow account with my mortgage. If I pay the taxes and insurance, I know they are paid on time.

Hope to have the house paid off in a few more years. Waiting, waiting......

[Buckterrier]

Please see my greed thread, thank you for your support.

[Zeke]

I pay taxes and ins myself. I know why I wait until the day before delinquency.

We have a local bank that actually carries loans. I could go down there and pay cash to make a house payment and know it was done. The only problem is that they don't loan money cheap. But, there are still some banks that do things the old fashioned way.

[MotoSook]

And if you don't escrow, they can charge you an extra 1/8th point on the rate at inception. Not just BofA but most banks will this.

Large organizations can sometimes really be a pain in the arse.

[M.D. Holloway]

Mark, I did read it. My lil girl was touched by the story of the man killing himself. She couldn't understand why his Dad took all that money from people. "What did he do with it all? Can't he just give it back?" Nope, all spent. "What would he want to buy so badly that he would steal from so many?"

Thats a great question lil one, thats a great question!

[Joeaksa]

Scum. I will not use B of A for anything.

Unfortunately my loan was bought by CitiBank and they are not much better. Wish that they would not sell people's loans around like they do.

[RWebb]

Originally Posted by LubeMaster77

"Sir, I'm not really qualified to answer that question. Is there anything else I can help you with?"

Boy, she is smart! She should get a bonus for that one.

The worst thing she could have done was to argue with you.

I am just a tad disappointed that they grabbed Assange before he could spew out all the B of A docs he has.

[Wilywilly]

Since the taxes will be paid out of escrow in 1/11 you will loose the property tax deduction on your income tax. I suggest you pay them yourself on 12/31, get the deduction for taxes and get a refund from BOA after demanding a escrow reconciliation.

[Por_sha911]

It blows my mind that they have a policy like that. Pay it on the very last day its due? Sure but just before default? You have greater tolerance for that garbage than I do. I would have either 1) asked to speak with someone who can answer my question or 2) asked for something in writing stating this policy or (more probably), 3) demanded to speak with someone so that they not screw others with my money and pay it on time now.

[Rick Lee]

BofA bought our loan as soon as it closed. I have always hated them. But they're no different than any other mortgage co. wrt charging some more for an escrow waiver. It chaps my ass that any bank is allowed to do this. But in their defense, they're on the hook for the escrows if I skip. Owning a home with almost no equity, they have some more motive for getting the escrows paid than I do.

[Dantilla]

I put up a stink about refusing to let the mortgage company pay my taxes and insurance. No problem, no change in interest or closing costs.

Went in to sign docs, and sure enough, they inserted escrow instructions (Always read before signing!). I put the pen down, said this is not correct, and I will not sign.

Even though it was late Friday afternoon, new docs without escrow provisions were faxed to us within a few minutes. Now all is well.

[onewhippedpuppy]

This is why I deal with a small town bank that keeps loans in-house. I might be paying 0.2% more interest than I would otherwise, but I don't have to deal with this BS. We pay our property taxes and insurance on our own, they have no requirement either way. I also can call them and they know me by name. Sometimes it's worth paying more for good service, especially with such an expensive investment.

[RWebb]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

B... It chaps my ass that any bank is allowed to do this. ...

uh... wait a minute!

Govt. action detector is showing a positive readout here...

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by LubeMaster77

"Maim, I respect that but let me ask you this, how would Bank of America feel if all of their bills were paid to them the very last day before delinquency? I mean, isn't it kinda sleazy to wring out as much interest from my note's investment as possible before you send over money that I provided you in good faith to pay? Doesn't it seem, well sleazy?"

I won't comment on "sleazy", but you're talking about big $ when (10s/100s) of BILLIONS are moving through the financial system. BoA dwarfs the banks I used to work for but holding a wire transfer (for say 50 billion) to the last "fed window" can make/lose literally millions (one minute either way) of dollars for the bank. More money than most of us can fathom...I knew stress back then

[BlackTalon]

You can take advantage of the same game BoA plays. Although mortagates are usually due on the last day of the month, you can usually pay up to 14 days 'late' before the late fee kicks in. Pay your mortgage on the last day possible. (this is actually a very common thing to do)