BULLCRAP- Otherwise known as *@#$!*$&!@$*

Wachovia is the devil. Wait… I take that back…. All lending companies are, in fact, the devil. Prepare yourself while I inhale a lot of oxygen just to spit it right back out in the form of PITCHING A FIT.

HOW IS THIS LEGAL!??!?!?!?!?!?

Let me start by telling a tale(s) that got me to this increased level of frustration…..

When I was 20 years old, I decided that I was through with renting… I wanted to buy a house. I was sick and tired of writing a check to an old lady, who was reaping the benefits of my over-priced rent.

I galloped on over to the bank and told them my plans. They were just thrilled to see me. So excited, in fact, that they offered me……. A SINGLE FEMALE WITH A STEADY INCOME….WHO WAS TWENTY YEARS OLD…… $70,000!!! I wanted to punch the lender right in the tooth for even offering me that much. I knew that I couldn’t afford that much of payment on my own…

And thank GOD I didn’t take the $70,000 and run….. I took substantially less than that out of the bank. Then it was time to sign my paperwork…

I pretty much spent an hour or so ‘signing my life away’ as the banker so lovingly put it. I signed and signed my name. They even let me keep the pen. How thoughtful.

I came to the page that the banker lady called…."The scary page…" I’m an accountant… I knew what was coming. The page showed that I would essentially end up paying the bank THREE TIMES what I was borrowing, once the thirty years of payments were through.

This is when I proudly informed the woman that I would be paying extra (nearly 1.5 payments) every month. She told me that was a great plan. Doing that would decrease my interest significantly and would pay off my mortgage in, not thirty, but SIXTEEN years.

I was so proud of myself. I was starting the American Dream. I was going outside the norm and buying a house on my own. I was so young…and proud….

Three years later… I have become a little smarter (and less proud) with age. I love my home and I loved living there. It was very nice and I got the opportunity to live with friends (very cheap) over the years. But there that house sits. Empty. Staged to be sold. College is over and so is my "Hautian Life." I’ve moved on. But the house hasn’t.

I digress…

Let’s say my house payments were supposed to be $450/ month. I always paid AT LEAST $600 a month. Most people would think, "Wow! That really helped you get ahead!"

WRONG

If you do not SPECIFICALLY WRITE on the check EACH MONTH: "Remainder to balance" guess what happens to that extra dough? You are paying the bank more interest!

Now I completely understand if your blood pressure is rising. My fingers keep slipping off the keys because they are sweating with anger right now.
Yep, you read right. If you make an extra payment in the middle of the month, the same thing happens. How OH HOW does one get ahead if this SCHEME is going on?

HOW IS IT LEGAL for the banks to assume the EXTRA MONEY you are paying GOES
TO THEM AS INTEREST AND NOT TO THEM AS PART OF YOUR LOAN PAYOFF?

This policy is malicious, wrong, and should be illegal.

So let’s get back to my original statement: Wachoiva is the devil.

I still stand by this. I appreciate them giving us a loan for Mark’s convertible. I appreciate them taking my monthly payment each 1st of the month to help pay off the loan.

What I DO NOT APPRECIATE is the way they have been handling the EXTRA $200 I have given them each 15th of the month. They have been charging it as a regular payment-- One that pays interest payments as well as some of the balance. The payment is posted the way REGARDLESS of the note I send with it…. "ENTIRE PAYMENT TO BALANCE OF LOAN."

Nope… they didn’t care…. They even saw it….. That, my friends, is just not their policy.
I called Wachovia yesterday to have a nice chat. I poured myself a stiff drink and sat down at the dining room table (which is covered by the impulse ‘puzzle purchase’ from last week’s Target visit, by the way).

The customer service representative could see record of the extra payments I was making. She explained that they were posted as normal payments, not payments solely toward the balance.
Read on for the a-hole’s policy on making these types of payments….

"If you would like to make a payment where the entire amount goes toward the balance of the loan, you must send in a check to our address."


"Do I need to write something in the memo?"

"Yes. Please write, ‘entire payment to balance of loan’"

"Wow. I hope I can get that to fit on that ONE INCH LINE. Any other malicious policies you got up your sleeve, asshole? What happens if I forget the note on the memo line?"

"Then the payment would be posted as a normal payment, with interest taken out as well."

"Why would you think that someone was making an extra payment to help PAY OFF their INTEREST instead of their ACTUAL LOAN?"

"I have sent a message on to representatives to post your extra payments you have already made to just the loan’s balance. In the future when you make extra payments, please be sure to send in a check with the memo line filled out. Thank you."

I’m posting this to let everyone know. Beware. The lenders are NOT on your side. They may help you get money for that fancy new car or house. But they will help themselves when it comes to you paying it off. They want to keep you around as long as possible. The longer you are paying off your loan, the more interest you are paying them.

As a person who is (self-proclaimed) pretty good with money and finances….this is the reason [I think] for the policy: Although it is 2009 and you can EASILY send an automatic payment to the lender through your online bill pay system or even through your bank, this is not good for the lenders. If you want to make an extra payment, the lender is going to ensure they get as much interest as they can out of you. In order to do this, they set up a policy where extra payments must be sent via SNAIL MAIL…in 2009…. So that they can ensure those few extra days of interest pile up. Also, electronic payments are nearly automatic transactions. Not with checks…. Those must be manually entered. Nice, huh?

STAY ON TOP of your loan payments. I hate this policy and I hate that I have to watch my account balance like a hawk just to ensure my money is going where it is supposed to.

If you don’t watch it… neither will the lender.