Checks That Get Lost
Okay... so I go to mail in my mortgage payment for one of my rentals and it apparently got lost in the mail. I mailed it in Nov 18. It’s December 7th. Obviously it isn't going to get there. So seeing that its probably gone forever I ended up mailing another check out so I wouldn't be delinquent in my payment. My question to you is this. The problem is that if this check comes in later now I have just made a double payment. If I have funds to cover it in the account then I’m okay. If I don’t, it’ll bounce. Can I order checks that basically make the check null and void if the check is not cashed within 30 days of the written date of the check. Or maybe I can create a stamp that I can put on the back of the check that says something similar. This way if this happens in the future, I’ll know that if the check expires, it can’t be cashed. Has anyone ever done this?
[addsig]
You can put a stop payment on the first check with your bank. Cost you a few bucks, but less than a bounce.
I love all of my autopay and click to pay mortgages. I do not send out a single check any more. Yippeeeeee
1. The bank can stop payment. Depending on the type of account you have and your relationship to the bank this might be a free service.
2. As to online payments. Most go electronically but some can end up as paper checks. Much less likely if the entity receiving the funds in a firm and is in the ACH system. It pays to know if a payment is being issued as a paper check or if it is being sent across the ACH network.
John
[addsig]
Yup.. I have that too.. however this one mortgage company likes to take extra money and apply it to future payments rather than the principal. I pay most all my bills with my account just like you. This time however I wanted to make sure that the payment was going toward the principal so I sent it in via a check with the coupon stating where I wanted it to go. GOT BURNED.
Quote:
On 2004-12-07 09:24, ceinvests wrote:
I love all of my autopay and click to pay mortgages. I do not send out a single check any more. Yippeeeeee
[addsig]
Sure I could.. but it would cost me. The whole point of putting this condition on the check is to avoid having to do this.
Quote:
On 2004-12-07 09:17, jam200 wrote:
You can put a stop payment on the first check with your bank. Cost you a few bucks, but less than a bounce.
[addsig]
If you stop payment the mortgage company will charge you for it. If it gets there they will cash it.
I had a similar problem a few years ago when I refinanced and the autopay had not kicked in. Sent one check they said they did not get, sent another - same thing. Sent a 3rd that they got. Asked them to notate file to rreturn the others. The next month I got all 3 checks through the bank 3 payments posted - the 2 they claimed they never got and that month's payment. I had to fight with them for many, many months to get credit for the 2 checks they cashed and never assigned to my account.
Nice... I hope I am never faced with something like that.
Today I looked in my account and I see today they finally got my check. Ironically after I called them it showed up in my account. Hmm.. Gosh.. What a coincidence. My whole point in this is that I’d like to force the check to be null and void after 30 days just in case it is lost. That way I don’t have to pay for the canceled check. Cheaper for me to stamp it with a notice saying it will be null and void after 30 days than it is to stop payment on a check.
A check is nothing more than a contract. If there is writing on the back of the check (where you endorse it), and you sign the check, then you have just agreed to the conditions of the contract. Here’s an example. Sometimes we consumers will receive a check that will be for a small amount of money in the mail. The amount will be small but it will be a legitimate check. Attached to the check will be something like an agreement for you to try out a subscription to a magazine or a service. The service will be free for the first 30 days and if you don’t cancel after 30 days, you will agree to continue the service and pay for the subscription. It’s a nice little trick that some companies like to pull on us in order to get us to subscribe to their service. We’ll get that $2.50 put into our accounts, but then we also have just agreed to the fine print that is on the back of the check near where it is endorsed.
The next time you get a check in the mail that is for like $2.50 and you think it is attached to some subscription, read the fine print near where you endorse it. My guess is that it says something close to what I have stated above.
My point in this deal is this. Us consumers can put print there too if we wish. We can use it to our advantage. The advantage of putting “This check is null and void if not cashed within 30 days of written date” is that we can control if a check is lost or not. If it’s lost, and then shows up 60 days later, technically they can not cash the check. If they do, the bank is in violation of the contract. I was wondering if anyone out there has done this.
Quote:
On 2004-12-08 02:55, linlin wrote:
If you stop payment the mortgage company will charge you for it. If it gets there they will cash it.
I had a similar problem a few years ago when I refinanced and the autopay had not kicked in. Sent one check they said they did not get, sent another - same thing. Sent a 3rd that they got. Asked them to notate file to rreturn the others. The next month I got all 3 checks through the bank 3 payments posted - the 2 they claimed they never got and that month's payment. I had to fight with them for many, many months to get credit for the 2 checks they cashed and never assigned to my account.
[addsig]
Your broker should have told you to go stated... very rarely will I will self employed people go full doc because this is what happens. Peoples whose income says they should go full doc, but the paperwork doesn't. This sounds a little strange that they keep giving you the runaround. Ask your broker who your lender is. And by the way, if she ran this through DU/LP (fannie/freddie's automated underwriting system, which most good brokers do before they proceed with you), they should have known they needed this document.
Do you know what they may be looking for on the Schedule E----is it just that we reported the rent income? Or will it be a problem if we used property for personal purposes for almost a month?
What I'm afraid will happen is that they will see that you have been using the property as "Mixed use". I.E. having someone live in it AND using it primarily for a work envinronment (i.e. day care center). They are looking to say how much rent you claim, etc. When and if they notice that it is "mixed use" property, that is COMMERCIAL, no longer residential. Did anyone tell you this before?? Regardless of the type of property (i.e. single family house, etc), if you are primarily using for work envinronment, it is considered commercial. Hm... has anyone gotten back to you yet?? I am still trying to figure out why they didn't/couldn't take you stated......
Remember, this goes back to Jan 2003--after we closed , before the renter moved in, I did us house as daycare for probably less than a month--while we were fixing it up..but we did have to report that to the IRS--since then (Mar 2003)-house has been used striclty as rental property---I just talked to my broker and he said he sees no problem especially since we reported an income off that house in 2003-but still waiting to hear back from lender