First let me say that with the exception of my Non-Escrowed Mortgage Loan, all my other accounts at BOFA are handled very well. I have a thorough working knowledge of daily interest loans and monitor this account very closely. Thank God!
Standard Mortgage loans, usually those that carry an escrow, will charge you 30 days of interest out of your monthly payment no matter when received. Daily interest or Simple Interest loans charge interest for the specifc number of days between payments. If you pay earlier then you did the month before more of your payment goes to principal. If you pay late, more goes to interest.
Don't be confused when I say late, we're not talking grace periods here were talking actual # of days between payments. If you want to save interest charges always shorten your time between payments each month, i.E., if your payment posted on the 5th last month try to have it post by the 3rd or 4th this month (you'll save $ and pay-off your daily interest loan sooner)
These loans are actually great as you are in total control over how much interest you end up paying. Having said all that, herein lies my complaint:
BOFA's website states "all payments made before 11:59 pm will be posted effective the date the payment is actually made, regardless of holidays or weekends, however it may take a few days to see the payment applied to your account." This is terrific, I don't care if it takes them 2 or 3 days to post it as long as it shows the right date. (HA)
Not that this hasn't happened every time I've made a payment but just for the sake of this complaint I'll just give the latest example: on 9/14 (Saturday) at 9:00 am I made my loan payment on the website. Checked Monday, Tuesday and finally Weds. It showed posted as of 9/16! At $24.97 per day in interest this is a $49.94 mistake in the banks favor.
As of today, the payment posting date still shows 9/16. My 1st call to Cust Serv. The twit told me that it was because it was a weekend when I made the payment therefore, it won't get credited until the next business day. I offered to print their web page & fax it to her so she could read their "policy." Needless to say after 4 total calls & 5 e-mails the payment still shows 9/16 ripping me off of the additional $49.94 that should be posting as principal reduction & not interest in their pocket.
My last e-mail I advised that I was going to go public afterall I'm only 1 loan customer who thankfully tracks when my payments are actually posting... What about all those other customers that never even think to go back & check? 1 or 2 days of interest -vs - principal reduction can be very costly to the customers & very lucrative to the bank. I just received an e-mail today saying my payment will be back dated to the 14th but it will take a few days to show on my account.
Like I said this isn't the only time, all in all since taking out this loan with BOFA 10 I've literally had to have them reverse & credit back to principal (instead of them taking these funds as interest) over $500. Everytime I've had the problem I've had to spend a lot of time getting it corrected but each and everyone has been. But I look at it like this, at least I was checking my account. It makes me sick to think how many people probably don't check the posting date or didn't know it made such a difference.
Word to the wise about loans, albeit a car loan, credit car, equity loan or line of credit, call your bank right now & find out if it's daily or monthly interest charges. If it's daily, fist be thankful, now you know you're in the drivers seat, then secondly start getting your payments in the quickest way possible, drop it at a branch, making it on the web if avail or mail it a little earlier each month when you can. Then third, keep good records & make the bank post your payments correctly, don't let them rip you off for another day of interest you don't really owe.
Personal Loan tracker
Floyd, Virginia
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