Dear John: I think you missed a point last week in advising the woman in “refi hell.”
Your answer should have stressed to people (some of whom apparently don’t know) that you can refi with any institution.
This lady got jerked around for over six months by IndyMac (or what’s left of it), thereby risking losing out on historically low rates. You should tell your readership to shop around, as it usually makes more sense to refi with someone else.
The original institution has no vested interest in knocking 3 percent or 4 percent off what you are paying. I know you know this; I just hope you will stress this in the future.
I was practically yelling at this woman to go shop somewhere else. I wouldn’t even bother trying to “contact” them as you apparently did so for her.
I have refi’d twice in past 16 months here on Long Island. When Wells Fargo jerked me around the first time (I had a 30-year mortgage at 5 percent), I said, “Keep your appraisal fee” and hit the Internet and some brokers.
This took me to 25 years at 4 percent. And then last month, to 20 years at 3.375 percent on a roughly 550,000 loan.
Anyway, keep up the good work. C.S.
Dear C.S. Thanks for reminding readers of this. I’ve told readers to shop around before, but the woman you are talking about from last week’s column specifically wanted to deal with IndyMac Bank because she thought it would take too long to start over with another bank.
Dear John: I have not missed or been late with a bill payment in 40 years, and I pay my bills in full. The last time I checked, my credit rating was in the low 800s.
In return, I now get my bills two or three days later than I used to, and most have moved up the due date.
Most notably, my cable bill due date has gone from the 7th to the 1st of the month. The net result is that I now have two weeks to pay bills, not the former three to four weeks.
Is this a general trend? Are vendors trying to get late payments and hence late fees?
Or are they not-so-subtly trying to force me into scheduled e-payments, which I detest and will continue to avoid as long as possible? J.W.
Dear J.W.: Those are interesting questions but quite frankly, I don’t imagine anyone will admit to squeezing you for money quicker than normal. But it seems you already have the evidence to prove this is being done.
And why not?
Most businesses are about cash flow. And the quicker a company gets money out of your pocket and into its hands, the better for it.
Maybe they are also trying to get you to pay online. Electronic payments save them money and — again — get them the cash quicker than the old way.
I suggest you call up the companies that send you bills and ask, “What’s up, Bub?” If you tell them you think you are being treated unfairly — and “unfairly” is the key word — I think they will come to some sort of agreement with you.
Send your questions to Dear John, The NY Post, 1211 Ave. of the Americas, NY, NY 10036, or john.crudele@nypost.com.