Payment mailed and received over weekend..creditor says it late. True or false?

[Anonymous]

I have a personal loan that is due on the 10th of every month. Novembers payment got delayed due to some financial difficulties. I filled out and mailed a money order for the payment on December 5th, just 5 days shy of it being due again. I took pics of the filled out money order and stamped/addressed envelope and sent them to my loan agent by text letting her know it was on the way. The town is only 14 miles away and in my small town our mail still ran though some were closed in observance of Bush. Normaly payments are recieved the next day. The loan company states that the payment was received in the office over the weekend and this morning I get a text from my loan agent that the payment post this morning. First I am shocked that it took 3 days to get there but I then ask her will it be considered 30 days late. She says yes and I text back " That is not fair. Payments was in the office before then whether opened on weekends or not. Companies are supposed to post on the day it was received not when they get around to crediting the payment to the account." Am I right and if so is there something I can research or info I can send to them to avoid this 30 day late hitting my credit report?

[RonM21]

This is interesting because of the way the payment was sent. By mail. With most places when you pay online, it will tell you that you will get credit for posting that day or the next, depending on how late it is when you make the transaction.

I does seem like you would have at least somewhat of an argument, being that they are claiming it got there over the weekend. What is also tricky here is the time of the year. My mother has been a mail carrier for well over 30 years, and I can tell you once November comes, and especially December, the mail volume goes through the roof. From more sales papers to cards, packages, etc. This causes a little more of a delay than normal. Throw in the unexpected Bush day of observance and you have a longer transit time.

Under the circumstances, I do not know what you transportation situation is like, knowing it was only 5 days out, I would've felt like I was playing with fire sending it by mail. 14 miles away, I might've either expedited it or found a way to just deliver the payment in person to eliminate the risk.

I honestly can't say if there is a specific law in place regarding this example. But hold on to your pics. Maybe if need be, you can explain to them the situation, and show them your pics, and they will work with you. IF it comes to that, I would go there directly.

[Anonymous]

30 days late means just that= 30 days late. So, this should only count as 30 days late if it was your November payment that was finally caught up. If it somehow shows up as 30 days late on your reports you should be able to dispute it.

Just as an aside- I would highly recommend avoiding the mail for payments unless its the only option. Paying on their website or initiating a push payment from your bank's site is much faster.

[Anonymous]

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@RonM21 wrote:
This is interesting because of the way the payment was sent. By mail. With most places when you pay online, it will tell you that you will get credit for posting that day or the next, depending on how late it is when you make the transaction.

I does seem like you would have at least somewhat of an argument, being that they are claiming it got there over the weekend. What is also tricky here is the time of the year. My mother has been a mail carrier for well over 30 years, and I can tell you once November comes, and especially December, the mail volume goes through the roof. From more sales papers to cards, packages, etc. This causes a little more of a delay than normal. Throw in the unexpected Bush day of observance and you have a longer transit time.

Under the circumstances, I do not know what you transportation situation is like, know it was only 5 days out, I would've felt like I was playing with fire sending it by mail. 14 miles away, I might've either expedited it or found a way to just deliver the payment in person to eliminate the risk.

I honestly can't say if there is a specific law in place regarding this example. But hold on to your pics. Maybe if need be, you can explain to them the situation, and show them your pics, and they will work with you. IF it comes to that, I would go there directly.

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Thanks for your response. My husband and I are on a budget, meaning we share a car after selling his, he works during business hours which is why I chose to mail it. Everything has always been next day when it comes to mail delivery in our area so I assumed it was safe even with the unforseen circumstance. it has always been my experience of payments being posted when they are recieved not the day the business reopens. If I am unable to get them to change the date of payment received, will it report s 30 days late since it was received on the 30th day or will it have to have been received after 30 days, say on the 11th for it to count as 30 days late?

[RonM21]

Oh okay, so it is a bit tight with the car situation. Understood. If you can, you want to look into doing any payment you can online. At least, that would be my advice to you. When you hit "Day 30," that is when it can be counted as 30 days late. So, technically, (and I just counted on my calendar to be certain) if they do not count your payment as being paid until today, it can me marked 30 days late. Today is day 30. I started counting beginning with 11/11/18 as being day #1.

[RobertEG]

Yes, federal statute covers late payments if received on a weekend or holiday, but only for open-end accounts, such as credit cards. 

If it is a credit card account, then section 106(a)(2) of the CARD Act of 2009 applies, which states that:

 
“Weekend or holiday due dates
If the payment due date for a credit card account under an open end consumer credit plan is a day on which the creditor does not receive or accept payments by mail (including weekends and holidays), the creditor may not treat a payment received on the next business day as late for any purpose.”

However, that provision applies only to open-end consumer credit plans, such as credit cards, and not to installment loans.

Some installment loans, such as most mortgage loans, include a grace period, such as 15 days, under which the payment will not be considered late if received within the grace period, but that varies by loan agreement, and is not a uniform provision of statute.

Does your installment loan agreement include any provisions relating to late payments, such as a grace period, or is any payment, even if it has a due date on a weekend or holiday, considered late if not received by the due date?

The separate issue of whether or not a late is reportable to a CRA depends upon how late the payment is.  All lates are not reportable.  The CRA reporting manual specifies that a late must be at least 30 days past the billing due date to be reportable as a 30-late.

If you did not make the November payment, and the December payment was received after the billing due date, then the November payment would be reportable as a 30-late, but the December payment would not become reportable until 30 days after the Dec. billing due date.

[Kree]

When I managed accounts we always had to post payments based upon the postoffice date on the stamp, and not on the recieved date.

Something to do with "timely filing of payments",  unfortunately a quick google search is showing me IRS specific statutes, but perhaps if you dig deeper you can find something that applies to other creditors.

I can't imagine a fortune 500 company would be mistaken about which laws apply to it. (although that has been known to happen I guess).

Good luck!

EDIT:  A second thought, we were a 50 states company, so it could be that a state specific law was applied across the board. Its sometimes easier to just go with the most restrictive everywhere.