Sometimes it only takes 80 cents

Paying your mortgage to the exact penny is important, particularly if you’re on a mortgage modification program and making trial mortgage payments. Tom Mudie, a Florida homeowner, found out the hard way when foreclosure proceedings were going to begin on his home when he was short 80 cents on his second trial mortgage payment due to a typo. Bank of America had approved him for a mortgage modification program and while making a payment by phone, he accidentally punched the number "0" instead of the number "8". So instead of paying the required $615.82, his payment was $615.02. When Mudie realised his mistake, he reached out to a customer service representative who advised him to send the bank a check for the 80 cents, which would apparently rectify the problem. Mudie immediately sent the check alongside his next payment, but the next month, the check for 80 cents was sent back along with his last payment and a letter from Bank of America stating: “Your loan is not eligible for the Fannie Mae modification program because you did not make all the required trial period plan payments by the end of the trial period.” A foreclosure of Mudie’s home was set to go ahead. This is just wrong. While the loan is actually owned by Fannie and being serviced by B of A, these small insignificant human errors can mean home or no home for desperate owners. Eventually, B of A resolved the problem and admitted it made an error, saying Tom is on the way to getting a permanent modification on his mortgage, but this should never have happened. As long as it was just an honest mistake which the borrower intended to fix, I wouldn't foreclose the poor man's house over 80 cents. This is just unethical and unnecessary.