Do you pay your bills online for safety?
A woman who thought she was safely paying her mortgage through online banking discovered her payment never arrived, after her bank sent a paper check that was apparently stolen and cashed.
Angela Truett has never missed or been late on a mortgage payment until she received an alarming letter from her mortgage holder.
"I got a letter Saturday in the mail stating we have a late charge, and my payment was never received," Truett said.
Her monthly mortgage payment never showed up.
Hear from a woman frustrated that her mortgage payment was stolen, despite online bill pay:
Worse, she said, her lender advised her to make the $1,200 payment again.
"Getting calls at my job saying we got to go ahead and pay it, so it doesn't go against our credit," Truett said.
Truett looked at her checking account and discovered her bank had printed a paper check and mailed it. But it was apparently stolen and cashed at a local gas station.
"I just want it fixed. And then they can go do investigations," Truett said.
Many banks still mail paper checks despite online portals
Kevin Brasler with Consumers' Checkbook said don't assume that if you use online bill pay, your payment will be sent electronically.
"Often mortgage lenders don't have a big footprint in certain geographic areas, it may be that your bank is going to send a paper check to them," Brasler said.
Brasler advises making online payments directly to the payee, the company that will be accepting your monthly payments.,
"It's probably better just to go ahead and set up with your mortgage company or whoever it is that you're paying regularly, to have a direct payment made yourself," Brasler said.
Just make sure you're not going to get hit with a fee to do that.
We contacted Truett's bank, which is now investigating how the check was lost, and apparently cashed by a thief.
The bank has told her she will not be penalized for what happened.
However, Truett is going to stop letting her bank mail checks.
"Electronic would have been so much better. And I will cancel bill pay and bring it to them monthly once this is fixed," Truett said.
So check to see how your important bills are being sent, and that way you don't waste your money.
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This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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