Call the credit card company and explain the situation and ask them what to do. Without payment you are probably going to get a late fee which is a problem, however, they can put a hold on the account so it has no late charges.

You can request a check for your negative balance but often credit card companies will only process those refund checks monthly so you may have to wait for it.

Even if the loan officer is away, there is someone at the bank that can handle this. You might have to be pushy about it. At this point, since the loan was funded, I am not sure why it would be just an individual officer's responsibility to know/find out where your money is. You need to know if the money that supposedly went to Sears is still in your account at the bank or not.

Then, since the bank has the information, someone there needs to call the person that "accepted" the payment and get it straightened out (how was it sent? Electronically or by paper check? If electronically then there is a record/proof and it is a data entry error on Sears' part that they need to fix.) Insist that the bank does this right away.

Talk to Sears yourself, make sure you are talking to someone with some authority to put a note in your file, and explain that a payoff was sent but has gone missing. This is to protect yourself. (Keep good records of ALL conversations with the bank and Sears -- a log with time, date, who you talked to, their title, and what you and they said.) Always be calm, polite, but firm and stick to the subject (My bank sent this payoff at suchandsuch date and time, it wasn't credited, we are trying to track it down before I must make another payment. I need your help to get this resolved )

If there is going to be any delay in resolving this you will need to make the payment on time -- as for getting a refund, that likely won't happen unless the question of when the payoff was received is settled and proven as being before you make this payment. Even then you may have to fight to get it all back, because giving payments and interest back is not the norm.

Good luck

Another thing to check, if you have the documents, were the numbers on the documents the same as the numbers on your card. I recently planned a transfer and left out a zero. A transaction that should have taken a day or two now has stretched to two weeks. The receiver had to send the transaction back to the sender before it could be reissued.

Just make the minimum payment...

I'd make the payment and then fight to get your account corrected. but keep in mind most retail credit cards are not actually 'in house, in fact many are owned by GE Bank. If sears does take payments in store, I'd recommend going into your store and finding someone there to go to bat for you with their credit card services, like a customer service manager or assistant/store manager. I've worked on the store end, and it can be a nightmare sometimes to entangle issues like this that are caused by the software systems. It's made harder when you can't find someone competent/someone who has dealt with it before.

Don't be afraid to escalate at Sears level or if you are communicating directly with the credit card services if they are stonewalling and not offering an actual resolution. They definitely can fix it, just a matter of finding the person who can do it. I'd recommend doing this process during business hours and also set aside a chunk of time to it.

anyway, just a few cents from someone who has been on both sides of that figurative fence.

The payouts were done by my loan officer, from the bank with electronic checks?

I have an even greater problem now!

Please bear with me:

My bank account shows two different things which I hope you can see below?

The fixed option states:
Payoff Amount
$25,030.98

This is the amount due to payoff this fixed option and does not include any revolving balances due.
(It also says my payment is $217.00 a month.)

The 'other' account says:

I don't understand any of this?

I only have one loan of $25,000 but two different statements?

Do I have to pay on both?
$217.00 + $231.00?

I just don't understand it all and my loan officer is Now going to be out the rest of the week!!

God Bless You for your time.

P.S. What does that arrow mean, pointing to the Fixed Option account?

Stop messing around with that loan officer it will only make things worse. Go to the bank and talk to another officer and ask to be explained what these things mean.

I had written a post about my problems with a payoff of almost $8,000.00 on my Sears MasterCard which for two weeks went missing.

I also posted about the loan that I received from my bank and Why there was a $25,000.00 HELOC with a payment of $231.00 and a $25,000.00 Fixed Rate account with a payment of $217.00! Both due on November 4th.

First, the $8,000.00 was not missing.

For some reason, CitiBank insisted that my loan officer and I had to be on the phone together to acknowledge the payment to the account?
It, (the payment) had been sitting on someone's desk for two weeks!
No reason given on why .. the same bank, (CitiBank) accepted and applied my payoff on the Costco Visa Card and wouldn't do the same on the Sears MasterCard without the above hoops! (Three way call)
Both cards are owned by CitiBank.

The bank loan thingy was quite simple.

My loan officer opened a HELOC (home equity line of credit) which is akin to a credit card, took out all of the money and paid off the high percentage credit cards and deposited the rest into my savings account.

After doing that, my loan officer converted the HELOC account to a Fixed Rate account where my payments will be $217.00 a month from now on!
YAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!

That HELOC account was charged $14.00 for interest and draw-down charges which is why there was a $231.00 payment due instead of $217.00

I wrote a check today for the $14.00 on the HELOC account which will effectively close that account!

She (loan officer) did it this way to save me on the appraisal and other fees associated with a regular Home Equity Loan.

I am now in a very good place with a lot more breathing room!

From almost $900.00 a month in payments to $217.00 a month!!!!

I still have almost $100,000 equity in my home too!

The Math works out just fine!

Thank You Everyone!!

My loan officer opened a HELOC (home equity line of credit) which is akin to a credit card, took out all of the money and paid off the high percentage credit cards and deposited the rest into my savings account.

After doing that, my loan officer converted the HELOC account to a Fixed Rate account where my payments will be $217.00 a month from now on!

Why did your loan officer do that? That is not a good thing...

You have spent $13,737, for which your interest charge will be about $65.00 per month. On the other hand the interest on $25,000 is closer to $119 per month. There is no reason to pay the extra interest until you need the money. Converting a HELOC to a fixed is a decent thing once you have spent the money, but I am not sure it is wise to convert to fixed payments when you are just throwing half the money in savings.

I agree with Bry911 about what your loan officer did was not a good thing from many angles. How you have the hard part ahead of you. Do not rack-up the credit cards knowing that you have the extra in your account.

Actually, $18,000 went to the credit card payoffs and the payoff on another bill.

The loan officer did me a favor because the banks lenders wanted over $500.00 for an in home appraisal and even more upfront money for other 'stuff' that you normally have to take care of in a traditional home loan.

I just didn't want to go through all of the hassle and pay all of those upfront costs.

I would have had to draw everything out of the HELOC anyway because I need a new roof on my home.

It appears that you are in a situation where the loan is pretty well set in concrete, not changeable.

I wondered why you'd want to have a large loan amount in your savings/chequing account, earning peanuts, while you were paying something above 5% on it, but then you said that you needed that money fairly soon.

I'd much prefer a loan where I could make extra payments, on occasion, at my convenience - and which would go entirely toward reducing the principal still owing, thus paying off the loan earlier and reducing the total amount of interest paid.

Your payment is going from $900.00 or so monthly down to a little over $200.00. Is it possible to arrange to pay somewhat more monthly, to pay the loan off more quickly, including much reduced total interest cost? Or ... would it have been, before the loan was changed to have the terms fixed? Is it possible to change it? Might be a good idea to apply some pressure, as I see it as being of potential advantage to you.

Also - exercise all of the will power that you have not to make more purchases of less than absolute essentials on those credit cards: absolutely no purchases that could in any way be called "frivolous" or a matter of choice.

Or ... soon you'll have not only loan payments required ...

... but more monthly payments on the credit card loans ...

... at the same high interest rates that you've just got clear of.

Don't.

Don't!!

Don't!!! do that!

ole joyful

I'd much prefer a loan where I could make extra payments, on occasion, at my convenience - and which would go entirely toward reducing the principal still owing, thus paying off the loan earlier and reducing the total amount of interest paid.

I think you misunderstood the loan he has. All mortgages are installment loans (interest based on principle at the time which allows for early payment). Fixed permanent loans are not legal in this situation, or in most situations other than short term (payday) loans.

The principle of loans is that interest is charged on principal.

You're in the education biz?