One Jackson; Two Washingtons; And So Much Panic

The calls started coming Thursday–the week before last.  Up to three a day.  It was Bank of America.  I was certain they wanted to talk to us about refinancing our mortgage, which we don’t, so I never answered one call.  Not one.

After three more computer generated messages by 1 p.m. on Saturday, I started to wonder if we really did need to call them back.  Maybe this is important?  Maybe I should make sure we made our June payment?

We had.  Whew.

So what was the deal?

The deal was that Bank of America never processed our payment in June because our escrow account was a tad short due to property tax and insurance adjustments.  Our payment had increased slightly for the month of June to account for the shortage.   But instead of accepting the payment and billing us for the shortage next month, they chose to…well…I’m still confused.

It’s quite possible they are too.

But why all the threats?  And when I say threats I’m referring to the time I called back the kind lady who had left an urgent message on our phone, and the pre-recorded message before being transferred to an agent stated, “This is a debt collector.  Calls will be monitored and recorded.”

Oh for the love of Pete.  We are not felons.  Or maybe we are? Hmm.

Last Monday morning, after getting caught in a tangled web of phone prompts and computer generated questions with Mr. Bank of America, I was able to speak with Solomon.  Bless you Solomon—you are a real-life person, with a voice that is radio quality.  Seriously, maybe a career change is in order.

Solomon helped me sort it out.  I made an additional payment to cover the shortage over the phone.  He even waived the processing fee.  Yep, processing fee.  That’s another post for another time.

Guess how much the shortage was?

$22.08.  That’s one Jackson, two Washingtons, and some pennies.

I still can’t wrap my head around it—and all the worrying I did that weekend.  I lost my appetite.  I lost sleep.  I had dreams of incarceration, and living in our car.

It truly brings new meaning to the phrase, Much Ado About Nothing.