As an employee of HomeQ Corporation, I would like to attempt to clarify and address some of the acusations against HomeQ written on this website. Any commentary is greatly appreciated and any disputes are more than welcome.
1. Your due date: When you sign your original mortgage or contract, you have more than likely agreed to a due date of the first of every month with an adendum that no fees may be placed on your account until the 16 of the month. Many lenders and loan officers reffer to this as your "grace period". The common misconception is that this extends your due date to encomass the fist half of the month. This is incorrect.
When that period is set up it is to allow you a penalty free period in which no fees are assessed on your account to allow for mailing times, inclement weather, bank processing times, etc... This is not to be considered an extension of the agreed apon due date, otherwise it would be reffered to as your "due week" or "due period". Your due date is called your due date because payments are due on that date. This is especially important for those of you with Daily Simple Interest loans whos payments to interest, and not to principle, balloon the later you pay past your due date.
As for collection activity within the so called "grace period", it is completely within the rights of the lender (and its representative servicer) to inquire about a payment that has gone past its due date. Continual abuse of your "grace period" (i.E. Using it as an extension of your due date) does affect that way calls and collection activities are made. The simplest way to avoid any sort of collection activity is to make your payments on time. The easiest ways, especially if you know your payement will not be recieved by HomeQ until after the due date, is to call in to the offices (1-800-795-5125) and set up a check over the phone, or enroll yourself in the Automatic Payment Plan.
2. Collection Activity: It is the right of the servicing company to maintain contact with the mortgagor regarding payments that have fallen behind or are not within the agreements of the lending contract. Many factors go in to how and when you are called. Everything from your payment history, your credit score, account history, call logs, all effect when we will attempt to get in contact with you. For example, if you continually make your payment past the due date, even if you have not been assessed the late fees, it will cause us to call closer and closer to the due date in an effort to get you back to paying on time. If you for some reason happen to run past your due date, but otherwise always make your payments on time regularly, we won't start calling until after the 15th or 16th of the month.
The key to all of this always seems to be understanding your Grace Period more effectively. The common misconception that you have 2 weeks after your due date to make a payment is just flat wrong. Yes you do have the 2 weeks to make the payments before fees are assessed, but that 2 weeks is there as a "just-in-case". Do not abuse the period, consider the first half of the month your due date, and then complain to us when we inquire about payments that are past the due DATE. If you would like you payment's due date to be due on the 15th of the month, then refinance and have it changed.
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