Mortgage Pmt mistake that's taking on a life of it's own!

19 years ago

I am being bounced back and forth from my bank and mortgage company for a mistake I made but seems can't be stopped.

OK-will try to explain.

I requested an electronic payment for my mortgage last week but incorrectly put bank acount #1 instead of bank account #2 (different banks). I didn't realize this until I went online Friday am and saw a rejected transfer with the nsf fee on bank #1. I immediately called mortgage company to ask what to do. She said once the payment has been requested she can't "stop" it and it could try up to 3 times so to call my bank. I then did an electronic payment with the correct bank to get my payment in. (BTW this was Friday the 15th so I NEEDED to get this in on time and she said she's waive a late fee).

Called my bank (main branch) and they said that it might've only been presented the one time but if it happened again to sign a ach revoke form.

Monday the money was taken from the correct bank as requested.

Tuesday - another try at bank #1 with another nsf fee. I called the bank again to find out exactly what to do. Then I called the mortgage company to have it on record that I am still having the problem. They show I've paid 2x - apparently my bank hasn't had them send back the funds. So we 3 wayed with the bank and again bank said to do the ach revoke thing.

Stop at my local branch - they don't know what's going on. Then tell me if I fill out the ach revoke I will NEVER be able to pay my mortgage company electronically. Don't want that to happen. So to do a stop payment. But that will mean I will NEVER be able to aske for that exact amount of money. Then they want a stop payment fee. But they won't return 1 of the nsf fees so I said forget it. This is getting ridiculous! I'll take my chances on another $20 nsf fee.

So now I wake up worrying because today my DH SS check is deposited and there will be enough $$ in that acct but I DON'T want them to take it. (I've already got most of that on e-payments for other bills).

HELP!!! All I see are bounced bounced bounced. This has never happened in my life. When you write a check and get a nsf it's a one time thing. Why is this not stopping? Is ther anything I can do?

thanks

RA

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Comments (5)

steve_o
19 years ago
It's not stopping because, even though we might like to think differently, the electronic funds transfer world is not perfect. One little blip can change a number and invalidate the transaction. While there are safeguards for that, there still are humans in the process, so things can remain bollixed up.

You've already been presented with a couple of options by the bank and by the mortgage company. It seems unlikely the mortgage company will present the request for payment a third time since they got paid on the second request. Your mortgage company should be willing to return the extra payment to Bank #1 (since it never should have come from there to start with). An ACH Revoke will indeed have an impact on your ability to do EFT with this mortgage company, so I would not do that. I know you don't want to pay a stop-payment fee, but 1) how badly do you want this out of your hair; and 2) not to put too fine a point on it, but the wrong account number did not come from either the mortgage company or the bank.

If it were me, I would pay the $20, request that the mortgage company return the second payment to Bank #1, verify after a few days that the mortgage company has the proper account number on file and the proper balance on your account, and move on, realizing that EFT still is more convenient than writing and mailing a check every single month.
kimba00
19 years ago
Let me try to wrap my brain around this. Was this a one time transfer or to be ongoing, repeating each month?
Did you deposit money into bank #1 to cover the mortgage payment? I'm just wondering how the Mortgage co managed to get paid twice if bank #1 rejected the transfers on the account that there wasn't enough funds.

If you haven't put money in bank #1, you should do so right now to stop the insanity, even if it means being ahead a month or two on your mortgage. Next step would be to meet with bank #1 branch manager and discuss them removing the additional fees (any incurred after your phone call with them) since those were not any fault of yours. Any bank worth your business would do this for you and they will probably want you to write a letter describing what happened and providing copies of the bank statments reflecting the activity and charges to be faxed to their main branch. Even my teenaged son was able to have nsf fees removed when he was roped into signing on for a magazine subscription without being notified they were going to charge his account for it. Good luck!
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housenewbie
19 years ago
Since when does putting thru a stop payment request mean you can never again write a check/make payment for that exact amt of money? I never heard of that.

Do you have online account access? Why not go and see what your actaul balance is, print out any records of the transactions/fees/etc and then take the whole thing to the bank, ask for the manager, and try to explain what's gone wrong and get them to figure out how to make it stop. Just because you got your signals crossed in payments doesn't mean it shouldn't be fixable.

FWIW, I have my mortgage payment taken out automatically. that way I never mess up the payment, miss the date, or anything. The mortgage is essentially direct-deposited from my paycheck. Smooth as silk.
rollinridge
Original Author
19 years ago
Thanks for all the responses.
Housenewbie-I found out a stop payment on an ACH is different than one on a check. It's either the "amount" or the "vendor".
But, after making numerous calls and FINALLY getting to speak with someone in the ACH dept of the bank who actually knew something.
Apparently standard practice at my bank is if they try to put though an ach and it is nsf they "hold" it and (on good customers like myself) check the account every couple of days waiting for the $$ to be there. They try it 3 times themselves before they send a rejection back to the mortgage company. So that's why the mortgage company never had a record it it being rejected and me paying it 2x.
So-I HAD to do a ach stop payment (over the phone thankfully-not dealing with the branch again) because the bank would have tried a 3rd time and taken the $$$ that was in there-shorting all my other bills for the month with all getting late charged. Or if not enough $$ then try another nsf ($20) before they would reject to the mortgage company who then would've tried 2 more times - so this really would have snowballed. And the ACH person on the phone was nice enough to reverse the 2nd nsf fee I was charged. I got the email from the mortgage company today that my payment was rejected. (But remember, I am already paid so I'm not worrying - much).
Also - a revocation can be revoked. (They didn't tell me this at the branch).
So-big lesson learned. CAREFULLY check before you hit that "SUBMIT" button
RA
mariend
19 years ago
That is why I put thru my own bills on line. That way I can physically see what is where--money. Another thing to watch for and it happened to us is that Mortage Companies like to sell your mortage and notify you at the last minute. We tried to put a payment automatic, while we were traveling only to get a letter and new payment information the loan had been sold. This happened 3 times in 18 months. The mortgages companies want those late charges and to mess up your credit. Oh yes, in a few months pull a credit report to make sure no one has reported a negative report involving this mess.

Mortgage Pmt mistake that's taking on a life of it's own!

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Mortgage Pmt mistake that's taking on a life of it's own!

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