Dealing with mortgage company’s calls during payment grace period

Borrowers who pay after due dates but before late fees are charged may still have to put up with a mortgage servicer’s calls

Let’s say your mortgage is due on the first day of each month. A late fee is due if the payment is received by the mortgage company after the 16th. The mortgage company calls you if they have not received the payment by the fourth or fifth.  Should you hang up on them? What if they follow up with a letter about getting debt crisis counseling . Are they allowed to harass you if they don’t get their payment in four days? What about the grace period? Can they report your payment as late?

Answer: Let’s tackle that last question first. Most creditors don’t report a late payment to the credit bureaus until the account is 30 days or more overdue. If you make a mortgage payment within the grace period, you shouldn’t have to worry about damage to your credit scores.

You may, however, have to put up with the calls and suggestions about credit counseling. Many lenders and loan service companies  these days are using various software programs to gauge the ongoing risk a borrower may default and are trying to step in early when red flags pop up.  They may also have rules in place that are part of their agreements with the end investors like FNMA and FHLMC.  Your mortgage company could be singling you out for special attention for a variety of reasons. Perhaps you’re underwater on your home, owing more than the property is worth, and the lender is afraid you’ll walk away. Other factors that could trigger a call include a history of late payments, rising debt on other credit accounts or a drop in your credit scores.

It’s also possible that your mortgage servicer is just being paranoid and harangues every borrower who doesn’t pay on or before the due date.  They are trying to stay ahead of any future problems.

You have a few choices. Having had this happen to me I asked to speak to a supervisor.  I explained that my payment was always made on the same day each month by electronic payment (I made her look that up in their system) and asked nicely to stop bothering me.  Then I followed it up with if they didn’t i would file a complaint for harassment with my State and their State Attorney’s General and the Better Business Bureau as well as my local news channel.  I got her name and then I sent a letter to the company as well highlighting the conversation.  The calls stopped.

You other option is  to check you caller id before answering  their calls