Bank rant

[Mr. Bloom]

I'm a banker...

No excuse for you to have treated disrepectfully ( I get letters of gratitude from customers indicating how polite and reasonable our collectors are ). We intervene early to avoid these kind of situations...

The unfortunate fact is:

• The reporting is automatic (or automated)...current LAWS preclude one customer being treated differently from another...amount doesn't matter...

One Important thing though:

Past due is one thing...but it's 30 days past due that gets reported to the credit bureau. You may get a late fee when you're past due...but that doesn't impact your credit score until you're really past due. Are you sure it's even in issue? Note Irulan's post about free credit reports

Finally, the worst case isn't that bad (I think...credit scores are a black box that no one really knows the key...). What I mean is that if your credit was perfect before, then one delinquency probably takes you to way above average as long as there's not a pattern or delinquency. Fact is that the impact of one "tick" is probably short lived...

Here's what I do....I set up my HELOC to receive a payment each month (even when there's not a balance...). It frustrates the heck out of the bank (because their system won't accept a credit balance...) but it makes sure my credit stays pristine...and allows the bank an "out" to correct the reporting since they would have "rejected" your payment ....

By the way, is going into the bank to make the pay-off a state law or a policy of the banks?