Topic: Advice Needed Mortgage

[Chakan]

Bit of an odd one really. I have a mortgage on my townhome that I purchased about a year and half ago and have been paying it every month. This month so far the payment hasn't gone off my account (usually around the 2nd/3rd of the month) so I logged into my mortgage website to check what was going on and I see a "payment" of my principle balance has been applied to my account, effectively wiping out my debt.

Do I just wait for it to be corrected? What if it's never caught? Do I tell someone about this?

[Salger]

How big was the mortgage balance? Couple of hundred quid, keep quiet. Few hundred grand, best tell someone.

[Chakan]

How big was the mortgage balance? Couple of hundred quid, keep quiet. Few hundred grand, best tell someone.

Plus minus $50k

[AndyInVA]

absolutely keep quiet

to be quite bold, I would ask for a satisfaction of loan statement from the bank so their name can be removed from the lien on the title

see if that works its way thru the system

if you get that, your quite golden

[Salger]

I'd be extremely surprised if the bank don't pick up on the error (assuming it is an error and you don't have a mystery benefactor) and restore the balance. That being said, no harm in seeing how far you can get in trying to legitimise it. Just don't spend the money in the meantime - you'll only end up in a fix when they backdate your payments.

[stevienash]

I'd be extremely surprised if the bank don't pick up on the error (assuming it is an error and you don't have a mystery benefactor) and restore the balance. That being said, no harm in seeing how far you can get in trying to legitimise it. Just don't spend the money in the meantime - you'll only end up in a fix when they backdate your payments.

I would do this to just to just in case they do back date it

[CraigDS]

I remember a while back (think I was about 16/17, was back before I did online banking anyway and still got monthly paper statements) I opened up a new statement that came and saw I'd had £450,000 paid into my account in cash!!

Kept quiet about it and when I got the next month's statement it had been taken back out. Turns out I had paid in £450 cash and the cashier must of got a bit trigger happy on the 0 key and paid in a lot more than I actually did 


No help to you like. I'd probably keep quiet for now and play dumb for the time being. Don't go spending the extra money though as it's likely it'll be flagged up at some point and you'll be asked for it back.

[Chakan]

Thanks for the advice all, i'll sit on it for the time being and see if it does get corrected. It's only been a day or 2 anyway.

[Drippy Dick]

Throw us a party.

[exiledintheUSA]

SELL, SELL, SELL.

[Chakan]

SELL, SELL, SELL.

The thought had crossed my mind honestly.

3rd day still not been "fixed"

[Titi Camara]

The thought had crossed my mind honestly.

3rd day still not been "fixed"

Mine's a Peroni!

Congrats on paying off your mortgage! Early retirement beckons

[Alan_X]

Bit of an odd one really. I have a mortgage on my townhome that I purchased about a year and half ago and have been paying it every month. This month so far the payment hasn't gone off my account (usually around the 2nd/3rd of the month) so I logged into my mortgage website to check what was going on and I see a "payment" of my principle balance has been applied to my account, effectively wiping out my debt.

Do I just wait for it to be corrected? What if it's never caught? Do I tell someone about this?

Tell your bank. People have gone to prison for spending money that's credited by accident.

http://www.money.co.uk/guides/can-you-keep-money-accidentally-paid-into-your-bank-account.htm

[Chakan]

Tell your bank. People have gone to prison for spending money that's credited by accident.

What do you mean by "spending money that's credited by accident"? It's a mortgage account, I can't withdraw funds from there?

[Flinstone]

Sell dude. 50 k doesn't come by everyday. Take a year off and travel the world.

[paddysour]

It's most likely a typo on the account number or something, that happened me before. I left it a few days thinking it would take a while to show up, before I contacted the bank who sorted it immediately.

[Claire.]

Tell your bank. People have gone to prison for spending money that's credited by accident.

http://www.money.co.uk/guides/can-you-keep-money-accidentally-paid-into-your-bank-account.htm

Did they ever find that couple from New Zealand who got paid all kinds, withdrew it and vanished?

[Chakan]

It's most likely a typo on the account number or something, that happened me before. I left it a few days thinking it would take a while to show up, before I contacted the bank who sorted it immediately.

Not sure what you mean? It's a automatic payment that goes off my account every month, it didn't go off this month because according to the bank my mortgage has been paid up.

Did they ever find that couple from New Zealand who got paid all kinds, withdrew it and vanished?

But that's not really what's happened to me though. It's not like I have access to money I didn't have yesterday.

[Ray K]

Monopoly rules should apply here.

'Bank error in your favour. Collect $50,000'

Buy yourself a small dog, a top hat and an iron with the proceeds.

[Claire.]

But that's not really what's happened to me though. It's not like I have access to money I didn't have yesterday.

With respect, I wasn't replying to your situation. If it was me, I'd ring the bank but then I'm a terrible flapper. I know Jon would've already sold up for £30k and we'd be gone!

[Chakan]

With respect, I wasn't replying to your situation. If it was me, I'd ring the bank but then I'm a terrible flapper. I know Jon would've already sold up for £30k and we'd be gone!

Fair enough. Well i'm off on vacation tomorrow, so if it's not been corrected by the time I get back i'll make a decision from there.

[Alan_X]

Not sure what you mean? It's a automatic payment that goes off my account every month, it didn't go off this month because according to the bank my mortgage has been paid up.

But that's not really what's happened to me though. It's not like I have access to money I didn't have yesterday.

If the error means that you have money available which you wouldn't have had if the payment had gone out, then you have funds that you didn't have yesterday. Whether that's just a part of the full balance or all of it makes no difference.

[Chakan]

If the error means that you have money available which you wouldn't have had if the payment had gone out, then you have funds that you didn't have yesterday. Whether that's just a part of the full balance or all of it makes no difference.

That makes no sense to me. If they have a glitch on their side and a payment doesn't go off my account till the 15th, they can then bring criminal charges against me for spending money because they made a mistake?

What happens if it's 2 different banks in this case?

I have my mortgage with one bank and my checking account with another bank.

[Elmo!]

Remortgage your house and spend the money on hookers and drugs.




In all seriousness, it's very easy for us lot on an internet forum to tell you to keep quiet and/or spend the money without having to face the consequences.  I would take Alan's advice a bit more seriously than anyone else......

[Alan_X]

...they can then bring criminal charges against me for spending money because they made a mistake?

Bottom line - yes.

If your mortgage is now paid up and you didn't pay it, that's money that doesn't belong to you. One account or two makes no difference. It's up to you, but if I was you I'd notify the bank immediately and get it sorted. You can let it sit there and see what happens, but the moment you take advantage of the mistake, you could potentially be prosecuted for theft.

Might not happen and maybe no one will notice but would you risk losing your job, having a criminal record, possibly facing jail time?

[Chakan]

Bottom line - yes.

If your mortgage is now paid up and you didn't pay it, that's money that doesn't belong to you. One account or two makes no difference. It's up to you, but if I was you I'd notify the bank immediately and get it sorted. You can let it sit there and see what happens, but the moment you take advantage of the mistake, you could potentially be prosecuted for theft.

Might not happen and maybe no one will notice but would you risk losing your job, having a criminal record, possibly facing jail time?

Still doesn't make sense they can prosecute me for something they did.

But yeah I guess if they can do that then really not worth it.

[Chakan]

Right well that's solved then

So my loan is being transferred (sold) from one bank to another, no-one bothered to let me know, and they will only have my information loaded on their system by the 6th of Nov, no late fees will be applied.

I won the lottery for 3 days but a glitch in the system invalidated my ticket

[Barneylfc∗]

You'd need to check the legalities where you have the townhouse Chakan. UK, yes you definitely, however unlikely, be prosecuted. That may not be the same where you are/were. Personally, I'd keep the mortgage payments in my account but wouldn't say anything.

[Barneylfc∗]

Right well that's solved then

So my loan is being transferred (sold) from one bank to another, no-one bothered to let me know, and they will only have my information loaded on their system by the 6th of Nov, no late fees will be applied.

I won the lottery for 3 days but a glitch in the system invalidated my ticket

Ignore my last post   

[sminp]

I wouldn't say anything but wouldn't spend the money either. When they eventually notice just pretend you're one of those people who only looks at their balance and not what's actually left your account. You can then pay them the money you owe them but also kick up a fuss about the difficult situation you've been put in of having to fork out a fuck load of money in one go. You might get a bit of compensation then.

[TSC]

Physical 'money' doesn't get misplaced of course, as it never existed in the first place.  It was created at the stroke of a computer key by the bank, as was your debt, and the 'mistake' is also no doubt down to a typo.

But if you take advantage and they discover it they'll be all over you.  And prob destroy your life, 'cos that's what banks do, esp when you fuck them.  Unless you're good enough to fuck em good and proper, whereby they have no assets left to come after you.  I'm guessing you're not in that situation.

[redbyrdz]

Still doesn't make sense they can prosecute me for something they did.

But yeah I guess if they can do that then really not worth it.

I know its solved now, but...

I'm with you, I don't think they could prosecute you. You can always just say you didn't notice the payment not going out. As long as you have the money available when they do come and ask for it, I don't think there's anything you've done wrong.

[Alan_X]

I know its solved now, but...

I'm with you, I don't think they could prosecute you. You can always just say you didn't notice the payment not going out. As long as you have the money available when they do come and ask for it, I don't think there's anything you've done wrong.

It's true he hasn't done anything wrong until he takes advantage if it. This is confused because the money wasn't credited to his checking account but to his mortgage account.

Things like this aren't black and white. He's not going to have the police knocking down his door straight away but the longer it's left, the more it moves from something that could have been an oversight to a case of "how did you not notice your mortgage was paid off and you had £50k of free money".

The law is clear. If you spend money that's in your account because of an error you have committed an offence. Whether they actually prosecute or what penalty you might get depends on the circumstances. If just seems to me the best thing to do is get it sorted as soon as possible and move on.

[L666KOP]

I know its solved now, but...

I'm with you, I don't think they could prosecute you. You can always just say you didn't notice the payment not going out. As long as you have the money available when they do come and ask for it, I don't think there's anything you've done wrong.

Hmmm.

'Putting the money aside' is an admission that he knew something wasn't right. Like Alan suggested, it's a bit of a Grey area when it comes to legalities.
The best course of action is to just contact them.

[Nessy76]

I had a slightly similar but far less serious situation recently.

I was applying for a passport renewal. I'd recently been given one of those pre paid debit cards with £125 on it, so I decided to use that to pay for the passport. I filled in the form, enclosed my photos, and gave the gift card as payment details.

A couple of days later, I lost the card from my pocket while out on a run. I called the card providers and they cancelled the card and sent out a replacement.

I was expecting to hear from the passport office to say they couldn't take payment, but nothing happened and then my passport arrived. I checked the balance on the replacement card and nothing had been taken off.

A few weeks later, I was sent an invoice from the passport office, and they will cancel the passport if I don't pay up, so it's all going to balance out in the end, but I am surprised how that got through.

[Motty]

When I was 14 I went to the local Midland bank to change Abu Dhabi money to sterling for my mate, should of been a tenner sent worth but I walked out of there with 140 quid (cashier mistake). 10 bar for me and the rest to my mate as it was his money originally.

Bought myself 2 trips happy days. But later that day the bank contacted my mates mum (still don't know how they knew it was his money even though they did know both of us in there) and threatened legal action if she didn't pay it back. She did sharpish ,even the tenner that I had already spent so couldn't pay back, had a top night on those 2 tabs though

The point is though that it's their job to know the exchange rate not mine, so to me that Abu Dhabi money could easily of been worth £140 and if I'd of gone and spent all that money before they asked for it back and didn't have any of my own money to pay them back then why should I ?. If i make a mistake in work then I have to take the hit for it, so should they.

[redbyrdz]

Hmmm.

'Putting the money aside' is an admission that he knew something wasn't right. Like Alan suggested, it's a bit of a Grey area when it comes to legalities.
The best course of action is to just contact them.

Not when putting it aside - just leave it where it is? I can go months without checking my account, I wouldn't necessary notice something not gone out.


Besides, I'm not sure if this really is a crime - it's not like he's taking money, he is just missing his mortgage payments. The risk is losing his house, but I don't think it's a crime? Do people who end up having their house reposessed regularly go to jail for it too?

[Lfsea]

Right well that's solved then

So my loan is being transferred (sold) from one bank to another, no-one bothered to let me know, and they will only have my information loaded on their system by the 6th of Nov, no late fees will be applied.

I won the lottery for 3 days but a glitch in the system invalidated my ticket

I would follow this up after the weekend, and make sure that none of the automated systems have flagged a late payment report to any of the credit checking services.

[Chakan]

I would follow this up after the weekend, and make sure that none of the automated systems have flagged a late payment report to any of the credit checking services.

I'm on vacation in Mexico for a week, so can't really do that. I'll have to deal with it when I get back later next week.

[Lfsea]

I'm on vacation in Mexico for a week, so can't really do that. I'll have to deal with it when I get back later next week.

You know what I mean Now the 6th has been and gone basically.

It might well be that the bank won't charge you a late payment but another system will automatically sent out a negative flag as a payment wasn't made when it was expecting it.