Evasive Maneuvers
Wednesday, March 19th, 2025 10:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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38F tonight, and cloudy, after a dark rainy day near 60F.
So, ever since I took out that loan with PNC, in April of 2023, the deal has been that they automatically take their monthly payment out of my reserve account.
And that's meant I have always had to remember to put $780.00 into the reserve account by the 15th, so that the robot can scoop up the money at midnight!
And the few times that wasn't possible... I called them beforehand, and the auto-pull was delayed for a number of days.
But then, back in January, it finally happend that... I just plumb forgot about the payment on the 16th, and it resulted in immediate texts and emails warning me I was in default, and needed to contact the collection department immediately!
So, on January 20th, I called them from work and took care of it! I just had them pull the money from the checking account.
And everything was supposed to go back to normal for Feburary.
And then in Febuary, I put the money in the reserve account for the 16th... and it was snatched up... and then, a few days later I saw that the reserve accound was slightly overdrawn for some reason, by 20 bucks.
So I threw 25 bucks into it, and it was good!
OKAY!.. so last Sunday was the 16th of March, but when I went to put the money into the reserve account... I saw that the balance of the reserve account was, not zero... but $805.00!
WHAT?
But I also saw that if I'd given them a fresh $780.00... it wouldn't leave me much to get by on!
So... I did nothing!
Over MON 17 (St. Patrick's Day) I felt like, Ya didn't wanna take my February payment so I'm not gonna give you the March payment!
But then by the end of TUE 18, I checked my email, for the first time in a few weeks, and it was like.... WARNING! WARNING! YOU ARE A MONTH BEHIND ON YOUR LOAN PAYMENTS! YOU NOW OWE A DOUBLE PAYMENT AND WE WILL SOON BE FORCED TO TAKE DRASTIC ACTION UNLESS YOU CALL US IMMEDIATELY! IF YOU ARE EXPERIENCING HARDSHIP, WE CAN WORK WITH YOU, BUT YOU MUST ACT IMMEDIATELY!
And that was enough to trigger my trauma from last year, with BMO, so today, WED 19, I called in sick to take care of... a BUNCH of stuff!
I got up at 11AM like a normal work day, then called in immediately.
After making the coffee, my first thing was to call Chicago Title and ask them to confirm once more, that they were still sitting on the remaining 5K from the house sale.
And the lady said, yes... that 5K is still sitting in an escrow account, pending a document that shows the foreclosure was released, and BMO was paid in full.
So I texted Mr. Taylor, for the first time, since closing, and told him, Hey! Chicago Title's still sitting on 5K, waiting for a recorded release! The lawyer you hired for the closing last summer, Jim, said he'd take care of it, but he never did! Here's their number, and his number! Please Help!
And Mr. Taylor texted back, I'll contact Jim about this today.
I said, Thanks! Keep me posted!
And now I'm gonna badger both Taylor and Jim every single weekday until they get this taken care of!
Next, I went to 5/3rd bank online, and updated my mailing address to where I live now, because they still had the address of Melody Manor on file!
After that, I went to the Geostaff employee portal online, and changed my direct deposit to my 5/3rd checking account!
This coming Tuesday should be the final direct deposit to PNC... and then starting in April, all my money will go into the 5/3rd account.
Lastly, I called PNC to find out what was going on... and settle up!
The woman said that, when I got the loan, I was given a discounted monthly payment of $780.00, contingent upon it always being automatically debited from the reserve account.
So, in January, when that debit didn't happen and I paid manually... it cancelled out that little discount... meaning that in Feburary, the robot was looking for $820.00.
So, when it only found $780.00, it took it... but then decided, Naw! This is insufficient funds! and spat it back out!
So, today I did pay both February and March, and she assured me she'd fixed the glitch and that come April, the robot will once again, only be looking for $780.00 in the reserve account.
And if it's there, everything will be fine.
So... that's nice to hear but... come April 16th... that robot's not gonna find JACK SHIT!.. in either the reserve, or the checking account!
And I don't feel very guilty about it, because they've already been playing games with me since the start of the year!
Like, the time has come to duck out!
I'll probably owe on my taxes, possibly a lot this April, thanks to the sale of the house, so the money to square the taxes will come from the 5K which won't be taxed for 2024... because I didn't get it before December!
And what's left of that 5K is going into savings at 5/3rd... rather than being frittered away on a few more payments to PNC!
I'm just gonna hunker down, and use the extra $780.00 per month to make sure the bills and the rent get paid!.. and sit on what's left of the 5K as an emergency cushion!
But I do think the steps I took today, have averted what could've been a financial catastrophe in mid-April!
Had I buried my head in the sand and done nothing... I'd probably have found myself in a position, mid-April, where PNC was comandeering my entire paycheck out of checking, to throw at that loan... while simultaneously finding out I owe the feds a couple grand, due immediately!
And that 5K would've been impossible to free up on such short notice... and it would've been far to late to switch direct deposit to 5/3rd!
So I would've been unable to pay rent, bills, buy groceries, and also under the gun for taxes!
And that would've been spring 2024 all over again, but worse!
So... I'm glad that I woke up in time to sidestep that disaster... and it was well worth using up one sick day to get it taken care of!
In other news, yes, I did see Fernando on Monday, but... he's still got nothing!
But after this brush with... visions of homelessness by May... I'm okay with the idea of just being stuck in this 06 unit for the rest of the year, or longer!
But as things go, in a nutshell... it's not worth it for me to upgrade to anything but a corner unit where I can record vocals at home.
Because if I settle for an 02 or an 05, which would be more space... I'm in a situation where I still cannot record vocals at home, BUT also no longer have the money to rent rehearsal space at Elgym... thanks to the higher rent!
So, until an 01, 03, 04, or (ideally) an 07 become available... there's no point in moving out of this 06 unit!
My money is better spent renting rehearsal space at Elgym, to record vocals, and then coming back here to process those vocals in headphones by night.
I'm gonna go ahead and predict that... this is exactly what I'll be doing, all spring, summer and fall of 2025... and even through the winter!
The vibes right now are just not conducive to... a happy, miraculous upgrade into a 1BR.
I thought they were, back in January?
But, since then it's just been like, No dude! You have financial bullshit to deal with first!.. and the unit you want is a rare unicorn! This shit's gonna take, T I M E !
So... that orientation at Elgym is still a week from Friday!
It's still forever into the future!
So... that's where we're at, as we enter the Ace of Hearts, but... don't expect me to be writing much until April gets underway!
As for signs of spring... no buds or leaves as of yet!
But we did have a rainbow this evening, after a long day of rain!
So... I'm gonna take that rainbow as a good sign, and I'll talk to you when I talk to you!
°¦}
