mortage payment deadline

[Anonymous]

That's exactly where we ended up last year with an over $800 increase in our budget and with me getting paid every 45 days there is no way to save for the next month because when I get paid everything is already due and needs to get paid and forget about it if there is a holiday and the state is off, we get kicked in the head with an additional week added to those 45 days with no additional income tacked on to it.  It is very hard to budget because of this and short of standing on a corner in between pay periods to have that extra, it ain't gonna happen.  All budgets and household incomes are different, so believe me the good intentions are there to pay on the first or by the 16th, but sometimes it doesn't work out that way.

[Anonymous]

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Pants wrote:
The golden rule is never 30 days late. If you went a day or two after the 15 day grace period and got flagged with a 30 day late. That is not accurate reporting and is in violation of most state and federal laws. If you have a bank statement to prove the payment was processed on the 16th or 17th the mortgage company broke the law. But watch out for the month of February. You can get nailed with a 30 day late if you pay on March 1st. Which is only technically 29 days past due. Automated computers don't see it as 29 days.. They see it as a month.

They can and I have seen it happen a mortgage company entering a notation on a person's credit report something like "excessive use of grace period". The notation doesn't affect your score, but if a future lender pulls your report and sees it.. It might create some problems.

I like the idea of an extra $300.00 as some suggested, and I understand the idea of auto payments rather than mailing or using telephone payments.. But I don't like auto pay. I had instances where I was overcharged. The companies zapped my checking account. I had to fight tooth and nail to get my money back. I still prefer sending the money manually. (either by website, mail, or billpay)

As far as the extra $300.00.. All that talk is good advice.. But when people are struggling to pay higher gas prices, higher grocery prices, higher heating or cooling prices.. That extra $300.00 no longer is there. My grocery budget jumped from $500 a month to $650 since last year.. My gas budget jumped from $300 a month to $500.00.. and my utilities went from $175 a month to $220 a month. That's not counting increases in property tax, health care.. I bet I saw increases of $500+ since last year.

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They absolutely do hit you with a 30 day late in February if not paid by the end of the month.  Been there, done that.  Asked for a goodwill removal from the President, but they were fresh out of good will that day.  As for the other issue, I recently got burned on the auto pay thing to.  Boils down to be my fault on paper...can't prove otherwise.  Oh well, live and learn.