MF Late Fee Scam? [Diamond Resorts]

[tome64]

When I received my MF billing for 2009 from Powhatan Resort it included a $50late fee. This was added last August when the BOD decided to impose the fee on all payments received after January 5, 2008.
When I inquired about this, I was told that they didn't receive payment until
January 15, 2008.
I checked with my Bill Pay company and can document that they mailed a check for the MF on December 28, 2007. This is a major institution and I have never had a problem with them making payment on time in the past.
So the problem is, how can we account for the time that a payment may sit in a "lock box" or be misplaced by the timeshare company in regards to it being considered a late payment.
I'm wondering if this is a unique situation or if other owners at any Diamond Resorts have had the same thing happen to them?

 

[DeniseM]

Since this isn't a Buying, Selling Renting, question, I moved your post to the board for Diamond Resorts.

A "scam" is an intentional attempt to defraud someone of money - your situation sounds more like poor bookkeeping to me.

Have you contacted the timeshare resort with the documentation that you did indeed pay it on time? Have you checked to find out when the check was cashed?

I used to have a mortgage company that would do this to me. I finally ended up having to mail my check with "delivery notification" every month to document the fact that the problem was at their end. I suspect that it happened frequently, because they would continue to call me and tell me that my payment was late and when I responded that it wasn't late and that I already had the delivery notification, that would be the end of the conversation - they wouldn't even ask for proof.

 

[powhatan8238]

Maintenance fee scam

I think I can answer your question. We paid our 2009 maintenance fees in full, but in two installments. The second check was considered "late" because they post the check to your account when it clears your bank and the money is returned to them...not the way it is usually done (by posting it to your account the day it is received). In our case, the check was posted to our account about 7 - 10 days after it was received by Diamond. This is something you have NO control over - they can sit on checks as long as they want... and then charge a late fee. Sounds like a scam to me. Be forewarned if you pay by check to Diamond!

 

[pgnewarkboy]

I pay be credit card so I have never had a problem. It seems unreasonable to me that the if the check does not get posted you are charged a penalty. I would not sit still for this kind of explanation. I think the question of the check clearing may be a more difficult issue inasmuch as they actually don't have the money until it clears. If there is a problem with the check clearing I think that is your banks fault. Most checks are cleared electronically these days in a matter of hours. Anyway, I recommend that you take this up the line to DRI corporate if necessary to get the matter resolved.

When you mail a check you bear the risk of the check getting there on time. In my view, you should not have to bear the risk of the time it takes to post the check after it is cleared. I think you are in for some research as to what exactly happened.

It doesn't sound like a scam.

 

[dougp26364]

If the bill payment company can prove when it was mailed, can you prove when they cashed the check? I have learned to keep records of the MF's and the payments made and accepted over the years. If you keep you bank statements it should show when the payment was cashed.

Otherwise, I believe in the US that a payment is considered recieved at the time it is mailed. You'd have to research that a bit to see if it's true or not. I know many years ago, before computers and payments by CC were prevelant, that I had an issue with a CC company that kept dinging me for late fee's no matter how early I sent the payment in. They'd just sit on the check and cash in after the due date. I finally had to start getting proof of mailing from the post office to get them to knock it off. It was a PIA to prove that to them but, it did work at that time.

 

[pgnewarkboy]

I can say with certainty that the general rule is called the "mailbox rule" which states that if you can prove a letter was mailed to the correct address it is presumed that it was received. It is not presumed that the letter was received on the date mailed.

I had trouble with Geico insurance where they cancelled me without notice . The law requires that they provide notice - which I never received. The Geico clerk said they mailed the notice to me and I said "prove it". She said the computer says they mailed it to me. I said the computer can say whatever it wants but that is not proof it was mailed. I wanted an affidavit from the person that mailed it. They could not provide proof of mailing and reinstated my insurance without lapse (saving me a non-insured motorist charge from my state DMV). If they had proof of mailing I would have been nailed unless they mailed it to the wrong address.

 

[dougp26364]

I can say with certainty that the general rule is called the "mailbox rule" which states that if you can prove a letter was mailed to the correct address it is presumed that it was received. It is not presumed that the letter was received on the date mailed.

I had trouble with Geico insurance where they cancelled me without notice . The law requires that they provide notice - which I never received. The Geico clerk said they mailed the notice to me and I said "prove it". She said the computer says they mailed it to me. I said the computer can say whatever it wants but that is not proof it was mailed. I wanted an affidavit from the person that mailed it. They could not provide proof of mailing and reinstated my insurance without lapse (saving me a non-insured motorist charge from my state DMV). If they had proof of mailing I would have been nailed unless they mailed it to the wrong address.

It's been a long time since I dealt with this issue and really couldn't remember the details. All I remember was that I was mailing my check a week before the due date but still getting dinged with latel fee's. Getting proof from the post office, which required that I go into the post office and request a receipt for that piece of mail, did the trick. Being able to show the mail date got the charges reversed.

Had it not been for a bankruptcy that a divorce put me through, I never would have done business with that particular bank (can't even recall the name now). When things improved, that account was cancelled. I hate companies that go out of their way to charge extra fee's.

I have often had issue with DRI and MF payments. They're the company that taught me to keep accurate records and receipts when paying MF's. They would not allow deposit without the equivalent of last years MF's to be paid. When I went to deposit a week, it wasn't unusual to have to prove to them that the MF's had been paid in advance. To me it's believable that they would sit on a check for a longer than expected time. I had issues with them getting my account credited with points to MF payments despite the fact I made the request shortly after the allowable date to do so.