July 2008 Debt Report
Debt balances:
- Attorney: $549
- Dentist (crown): $650
- CFCU Visa: $4,894.35
- Chase HELOC: $4,944.19
- Capital One HELOC: $21,551.63
First mortgage balance: $117,240
Debt Balance excluding co-signed student loans and first mortgage: $32,589
Total debt including first mortgage, excluding student loans: $149,829
Student Loans:
- Co-signed student loan, approximate balance: $45,238 (need a complete audit on these accounts; not sure this balance is correct or even close)
Possible total balance including 1st mortgage: $195,067
Discussion
Mortgage Debacle
The inevitible happened. Chase Home Finance screwed up my mortgage payment. I had it scheduled with my credit union to be paid every month on the same day automatically through bill pay. Chase Home Finance puts the money into a holding account for 10 business days and then moves it to my account. For some reason, the money ended up being paid to my Chase HELOC account instead of my mortgage account. I found this out when I got a mortgage default letter from Chase.
I went over to my local branch and brought all my paperwork showing what had happened, and they moved the money from my HELOC to my mortgage for the month of June 2008. They also credited the late charge.
The money for July still hasn’t been moved. I have to go back to the branch again tomorrow and get them to move it. They didn’t have a record of possessing my July mortgage payment as of Aug. 1, 2008. I have since gone to my credit union and gotten a copy of the payment details, including which account the money was deposited into, and that account wasn’t mine. It had the account number on the payment but hadn’t been transfered to one of my accounts yet. Chase received payment and confirmed it back with my credit union on 7/21/08.
It seems that Chase pulled this to try and collect late fees or some such other tactic to increase revenue. I know it was on Chase’s end because my credit union went through all the transaction details and they were correct. The payment just didn’t get to my mortgage account after it got to Chase. I had no problem with my mortgage payment with Chase for years handling it through my credit union’s online bill pay. Nothing had changed, but all of a sudden my payments were going into the wrong account. Chase tells me I need a checking account with them so this kind of thing doesn’t happen. I declined and signed up to have Chase automatically draft my checking account each month on the same day. That way any screw-ups will be on their shoulders. Once the autodraft is set up, it won’t be interfered with or changed unless I change it. The amount will change slightly each October when they recalculate my escrow amount.
Autodraft payments don’t start until September, so for August I wrote a check and mailed it along with my payment coupon. We’ll see if that works. In the meantime, I can get the July payment straightened out.
I wonder how many people this happens to each month? Probably a lot more than we all think.
Bankruptcy Progress
I’m working on filling out the forms for each debt and calling each collector to get the payoff balance as of the end of September. This is a long, slow process. Each collector asks when they will receive payment and I’ve been telling them that the account will be settled with them by the end of September. That’s why I asked for the payoff balance as of then.
I haven’t informed any of them that I’m filing for bankruptcy. My attorney advised me to let her handle that, so that’s what I’m doing.
I do have to say that if you call them it catches them off guard and they aren’t prepared to push your buttons or give you a hard time. I recommend letting your answering machine pick up all calls from collectors and then call them back when you’re ready for them. It becomes a non-confrontational call when you do that. So far, every collector has been civil when I called them out of the blue, even the ones who have called and left nasty messages on the answering machine.
Even if your attorney is still preparing your petition that really means that you’re already in the process of bankruptcy and that should in fact make them want to back off. The bankruptcy courts are backed up right now and it is very smart to hire an attorney rather than try to do it yourself.
Out of all your debts listed above, it looks like the only ones you won’t be able to discharge are the mortgage leans and your student loan. Hang in there!
Comment by Charlie | August 10, 2008
Hi Charlie, the student loan isn’t even mine. The person I cosigned for is paying the note right now. I hope she keeps paying.
Thanks for the encouragement!
Comment by joubess | August 12, 2008
There are always another alternative to bankruptcy. That is alot of debt though.
Comment by Debt Settlement | August 18, 2008
Debt Settlement, no there is not always an alternative to bankruptcy. And debt consolidation is basically Chapter 13 bankruptcy handled outside of court and is viewed that way by everyone, especially FICO.
I attempted debt consolidation and was turned down and referred to a bankruptcy attorney.
Comment by joubess | August 27, 2008