Automated payments finally!

[kjrmom911]

I got my yearly statement from the trustee and included in it was an option to make monthly payments via a service called TFSBILLPAY. Finally, I can pay online and it is only 2.99 a month and guarantees that my payment will be made on time. Finally, one less thing to worry about. I'm so grateful for this. It has been embarrassing to have to go to the bank every month and tell them to make my cashiers check out the the Chapter 13 trustee. Yay!

[sophieanne]

Wow..i am soooo jealous..my payments are large and I send them priority post/delivery confirmation..i cringe when the envelope joy rides a bit (sent the wrong route by the post office) or takes a couple days longer than normal to post (even though I send it very early). I hope our trustee looks offers that at some point.

[angel7821]

OP you are very lucky you can do automated payments. I would have loved to have that option. Thank God I am almost done with my plan and will no longer have to worry about sending in any money.

[jange]

I would love that option, hopefully others will start to use it, it would certainly save them money and processing time. $2.99 is a little pricey but by the time I buy 2 money orders and postage, I am close to that. I only send priority a couple of times a year.

[momofthree]

We've been using TFS for 3 months now and LOVE it! It's cheaper and easier! I wish we could have had this option from the get-go.

[ccmisery]

What are the normal options for payments? You can't pay via direct payment from your bank account number?

[BNKRPTinNC]

...... You can't pay via direct payment from your bank account number?

If only. You would think that with todays technology they would be able to handle some sort of electronic transaction. I had payroll deduction, until I retired, and I wonder if the trustee was sent a check or auto deposit? For the last year I have been using a billpay option thru my bank. Had it set up with the payment due no later than the 10th of each month, I have until the 15th. So far the payment has made it to the trustee's offfice no later than the 8th of each month and it is a paper check sent via the USPS. I easily keep tabs on payments via 13datacenter or my bank account online.

10 more payments to go.

[kjrmom911]

Angel,I agree. I was so excited to see that paperwork when I opened my mail yesterday. As are all of us I am a very busy person and it is just so nice to know that i won't have to take the time to go the bank and the post office every month. Mom of 3, I am glad to hear you have been using the system for 3 months and that it works. I think we might be in the same district. I hope this becomes available for everyone, because it really is just one less thing that I have to worry about. I hope more trustees take advantage of this system, as I think it probably benefits them as well.

[ccmisery]

If only. You would think that with todays technology they would be able to handle some sort of electronic transaction. I had payroll deduction, until I retired, and I wonder if the trustee was sent a check or auto deposit? For the last year I have been using a billpay option thru my bank. Had it set up with the payment due no later than the 10th of each month, I have until the 15th. So far the payment has made it to the trustee's offfice no later than the 8th of each month and it is a paper check sent via the USPS. I easily keep tabs on payments via 13datacenter or my bank account online.

10 more payments to go.

I would find payroll deductions uncomfortable, I am hoping to keep my bankruptcy private as much as possible. I hope the options are there for me to do another method.

[goon]

My trustee has TFS available now too... Unfortunately TFS uses a stepped fee schedule and I have a relatively high plan payment, would cost me $7 a month to use TFS so I am still doing cashiers checks on principal.... Cant see spending that much just to send money every month event thou it really isn't that much (on the other hand that is $84 a year). It doesn't cost them more either way, don't see why they cant just do a flat fee.

I love how it says this

TFS Bill Pay is cheaper than a certified check or money order. Check out our prices below.

right above where it tells me it would be $6.99 a month for me.....

[lillymarlene]

It has been embarrassing to have to go to the bank every month and tell them to make my cashiers check out the the Chapter 13 trustee. Yay!

Automated payments would be nice. However, my trustee allows either cashier's checks or money orders. Last time I went to my bank the teller asked if I'd rather have a bank check already made out, same price $1.00 or a m.o... All I could think was how embarassing to have to tell some acquaintance, "Make it out to Ms. So&So, Chapter 13 Trustee."

[forgotten]

In theory couldn't you modify your plan for this extra fee?

[13for60]

We just got TFS, too. I'm happy to pay the $$ so I don't have to keep going to the bank and wonder if they know what "Trustee" means or is all about. I'm happy for the added privacy.

Also, I like the fact that I can add to it over time. I admit that I have learned a degree of responsibility (I get paid every other week and have to put the partial payment in savings and not spend it or otherwise make it go away), but being able to send it off each paycheck is pretty handy...

--13for60

[goon]

For those of you that are worried about what someone at the bank thinks when you get a check made out to John Doe, Trustee.... remember that could mean any number of different things, there are many different types of trustees (that have nothing to do with BK). And even in the BK world it is not just debtors who have to send money to a trustee ( thou most typically it is debtors ). At the bank they see ALL sorts of things, and if they recognize the name of the trustee as a BK trustee, well they are likely in (or have been in) the same boat. I wouldn't worry about it unless you live in a VERY small town.

[dmc-2008]

I go to the post office, they dont ask who for when you buy a money order!