late payments?

[poor@budgeting]

When is a payment really late? Some examples below:
Trustee payment due on the 1st but has grace period of 10 days?
Mortgage/heloc has 16 days before any late fees tacked on.

It would be nice to pay on or before the 'actual' due date but is there any downside in using the leeway(considering $$$ is tight during chap13)?

[Flamingo]

I would not be "late" with any payment during a Chapter 13, plan payment included. A payment is considered "late" when it is not paid by the "due date" which is always provided. Grace periods are usually provided by mortgagors but not by many other creditors. Proper budgeting during your Plan will ensure you have funds to send in by your "due date" and not have to rely so much on sliding by. Grace periods are a convenience provided by a creditor usually to help accomodate a purchaser due to varying pay periods (i.e., bi-weekly, weekly) and to help with mail delays. It can be tough when you are paid bi-weekly or weekly to have that full payment ready to go at the end of the month to make the payment due on the first. But a budgeting tool in place will help.

[poor@budgeting]

Understood but at what point one would be in trouble in using the grace periods. I guess I am looking for actual experiences here.........

[Flamingo]

Understood but at what point one would be in trouble in using the grace periods. I guess I am looking for actual experiences here.........

You should not get in trouble for utilizing grace periods. View your mortgage contract/paperwork for a complete explanation of that and what it entails and you mention your Trustee also has a grace period for your Plan payments (maybe someone else on here had a Trustee that allowed that and can help you more - I've never heard of it)...as long as you are consistent with your payments on a timely monthly basis, do not miss them and are not "late" - i.e. beyond the grace period allowed by your Trustee and mortgage lender and are not "late" with any other payments (i.e., beyond "due date"), you should be fine. Most mortgage payment stubs list the due date, the last date of the grace period and the amount to pay (which includes late charge) if the payment is after the last day of the grace period. Again, view your mortgage paperwork as to your own specific account.

[jgarton244]

Our payments were due on the 16th of each month. We paid by personal check. There were times when I knew I would need an extra week or two. I would email trustee, explain why I was sending a bit late, and gave him exact date when I would pay. On occassion, when I traveled for business, I had to use a debit card for expenses, and wait for company check for reimbursement. Trustee always gave okay for later payment, but I made sure I never missed the later date, once approved. I always asked for extension before the due date, never after.

[LucyCat]

Late

Understood but at what point one would be in trouble in using the grace periods. I guess I am looking for actual experiences here.........

Not sure what the outcome will be...I've been 1-2days after the due date...when I asked the trusee here in Colorado she said if it two months late the BK 13 is dropped. Otherwise they just post it when they get it. It will be up to the crditors later that you have , who decide what grace period they look at. Everyone tells me the FHA wants everything on time for BK. I think 5-6 of my paymnets were 1-2 days late....so will just have to live with it till this is all over and keep doing the best I can. Long five yrs. LucyCat