It's That Time Of Year Again...

OK, I just got a letter from my mortgage company.  It's dated JANUARY but arrived in the middle of MARCH.  It says "Starting on February 21, your mortgage payment is changing" -- to save me looking things up, let's say it's changing from $250 to $220 per payment.

OK, fine, that's supposed to happen yearly as my property taxes seesaw up and down with the economy.  Except my mortgage payment did not change February 21st. 

 I also got a different letter from them about a month before that, saying that starting April 4th -- at least it came before the change was supposed to happen! -- my mortgage payment was changing from $250 to $232 per payment.

IF THIS FOLLOWS THE USUAL PATTERN I will get at least 2 other letters before the end of the second quarter, with random postmarks and randomly-assigned effective dates, changing my mortgage payment to all these slightly-different amounts.  This has been happening ever since this particular mortgage company bought out the old one.

Eventually, the mortgage payment amount will indeed change.  The final amount will not be the same as the number given in any of these crazy letters.

BUT WAIT!  THERE'S MORE!

They started an entirely new ploy this year.  I have started getting monthly mortgage statements for the first time, with big ugly printing all over each one saying, in essence, YOU DON'T EVEN WANT TO THINK ABOUT WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF YOU DON'T PAY ON TIME.  BUT IT WILL BE BAD.  YOU SLEEP WITH ONE EYE OPEN TONIGHT AND THINK ABOUT WHAT WE MIGHT DO TO YOU IF YOU SCREW UP AND FORGET A PAYMENT.  WHAT'S YOUR WORST FEAR?  A LATE PAYMENT WILL GET YOU ALL THAT AND MORE, MY FINE FRIEND.  HAVE A NICE NIGHT.

I don't ever mail in a payment.  They debit the money from my account automatically.

At the very bottom of the statement, on the tear-off coupon thing they want you to mail in with your check, they printed something else, in itty-bitty letters, but in bold italics, so it stands out:

 

If we automatically debit your account to get our payments, please note that all the alarming statements above are for your information only. 

Everything is under control.