As those of you following my posts know, my personal loan was with Taylor, Bean and Whitaker, one of the largest government lenders in the country until HUD closed them down this month. Because of that, I was unable to make my payment on-line and I was unwilling to mail it to a defunct company. So, as I advised others, I waited until I was contacted.

That happened yesterday and Bank of America (collection department) wanted my payment by telephone check. Of course, I didn’t have my check book so they gave me my “new” account number and told me to call in the next day and process it and there would not be a “transaction” fee charged. Yeah, right!

The number for Bank of America is 800-669-0102 and if you like talking to automated systems, it is pretty much as good as most. However, it was determined to charge me a $15.00 transaction fee which, of course, I refused. Asking 4 times for a “representative,” I finally got someone that wanted to charge me $20 for the transaction. To be honest, the automated system said it would cost me more with a real person.

Now, again I refused to pay a transaction fee. So, I was told to pay it online and I explained that their online system wasn’t working for their new TBW customers, so she suggested I pay it at a local branch of BofA. Sounded good, so I went in. Anyone want to guess how that went? Of course, their system was not set up for the new accounts and the branch had not even been notified that it was happening. Yeah, again!

After having a good laugh, the manager called and found out that I could mail my payment in to the processing center along with my account number. I am pretty certain I will get another collection call in the meantime, but I like meeting new people. Maybe it will work, but based on my experience so far, I think I really need to track this check.  The address is:

Bank of America

PO Box 10334

Van Nuys CA 91410

However, don’t send the payment without the new account number. I was also told to expect a welcome package from BofA in about two weeks. If you have having difficulty in a similar transaction, let us know here. If I can help you in anyway, contact me at 541-342-7576/541-221-3455 Cell or e-mail me.