Author Topic: My biggest mistake today  (Read 5855 times)

JoJo

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My biggest mistake today
« on: December 11, 2017, 10:09:03 AM »
So I went to Africa for a couple months and I forgot to mail my property tax before I left.  Discovered this while cleaning last night.     

Late bill for being 40 days late payment - ALMOST $200!!!!!!

I am such a $#@^@#$ idiot. 

RWD

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Re: My biggest mistake today
« Reply #1 on: December 11, 2017, 10:33:35 AM »
I've definitely made much bigger mistakes...

That seems high for a late fee. Can you negotiate it at all?

JoJo

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Re: My biggest mistake today
« Reply #2 on: December 11, 2017, 10:47:26 AM »
I've definitely made much bigger mistakes...

That seems high for a late fee. Can you negotiate it at all?


No.  According to them, it's state mandated. 


Due Oct 31.  If not paid by Dec 1, pay 8% of the whole amount + 2% for 2 months interest even though it's 40 days.    So yeah, 10% interest for 40 days overdue.  it's bull@@#@#.
State Approved Usury

FiveSigmas

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Re: My biggest mistake today
« Reply #3 on: December 11, 2017, 11:04:58 AM »
Sucks. I've felt similarly stupid for similar reasons. The good news is that you're pretty awesome, and this won't affect you one iota long term.

Are you comfortable signing up for the county's autopay program?

JoJo

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Re: My biggest mistake today
« Reply #4 on: December 11, 2017, 12:43:40 PM »
They make you pay extra for that but in hindsight the extra $2 per payment from my bank account sure would have beat the $200 in late fees.

FiveSigmas

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Re: My biggest mistake today
« Reply #5 on: December 11, 2017, 01:23:45 PM »
They make you pay extra for that but in hindsight the extra $2 per payment from my bank account.

Well that sucks.

Good to know, though, as I'll run into this pretty soon. I suspect I'll just pay the $2.

Kimera757

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Re: My biggest mistake today
« Reply #6 on: December 11, 2017, 07:51:38 PM »
Does that hurt your credit?

LiveLean

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Re: My biggest mistake today
« Reply #7 on: December 12, 2017, 07:19:42 AM »
Here in Pinellas County, Florida you can pay your bill any time between Nov. 30 and March 30, saving the earlier you file. You also can pay two years in one calendar year if you're trying to jockey for tax purposes. So paying in, say, February wouldn't be late; you're just not taking advantage of the lower early payment.

We spend 3-4 weeks a year in another state and I've set up online billing for just this purpose -- among other conveniences. My goal is to stop getting traditional mail.

Just Joe

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Re: My biggest mistake today
« Reply #8 on: December 12, 2017, 07:56:16 AM »
Does that hurt your credit?

If I understand your question correctly: not at my credit union. There is a lump sum of money there - say $1500 - that we can overdraft into that anytime we need to and we only pay very reasonable interest on the amount we borrow until it is paid back.

There is no cost to have this option if you don't use it.

We haven't needed it since very early in our working life when our income was nearly the same as our expenses. 

DirtDiva

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Re: My biggest mistake today
« Reply #9 on: December 12, 2017, 09:22:39 PM »
Doh!

I mistakenly paid about $12.00 less on our property tax than the amount due (paid $2,000ish).  Didn't find out until I received a letter in the mail notifying me of being turned over to collections and a lien would be placed on the house.

This was a town of 1500 people!   Couldn't the clerk have picked up the phone and asked why I underpaid?

StockBeard

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Re: My biggest mistake today
« Reply #10 on: December 12, 2017, 11:54:28 PM »
I've repeatedly had to pay fees to my bank because I purchased things through paypal, which in returned tried to withdraw from my savings account (which had like $5) instead of my checkings account.

Not once, but twice last year, had to pay a $28 penalty fee for buying something for like $9 (in the hope of saving maybe $1 by going through ebay + paypal instead of Amazon).

jinga nation

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Re: My biggest mistake today
« Reply #11 on: December 13, 2017, 07:08:12 AM »
Here in Pinellas County, Florida you can pay your bill any time between Nov. 30 and March 30, saving the earlier you file. You also can pay two years in one calendar year if you're trying to jockey for tax purposes. So paying in, say, February wouldn't be late; you're just not taking advantage of the lower early payment.

We spend 3-4 weeks a year in another state and I've set up online billing for just this purpose -- among other conveniences. My goal is to stop getting traditional mail.
Next door here in Hillsborough County, you get discounts for early payments. 4% in Nov tapering to 1% in Feb. Significant when you own rentals.
I'll have to look into tax planning by paying a couple of years early. Thanks Livelean!

JoJo

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Re: My biggest mistake today
« Reply #12 on: December 13, 2017, 08:36:21 AM »
Man, I'd love to pay early to double up on the tax write off this year, but our county has an explicit rule that you can't do this.  We don't even get our bill/total for 2018 until January or February.

No discount for paying early.  Just 10% penalty for paying 40 days late.  (Actually, had I discovered I forgot 11 days earlier, the penalty would have only been 2%).

prudent_one

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Re: My biggest mistake today
« Reply #13 on: December 17, 2017, 06:49:30 PM »
Doh!

I mistakenly paid about $12.00 less on our property tax than the amount due (paid $2,000ish).  Didn't find out until I received a letter in the mail notifying me of being turned over to collections and a lien would be placed on the house.

This was a town of 1500 people!   Couldn't the clerk have picked up the phone and asked why I underpaid?

There probably was a time they did that.
Clerk: [finds number in phone book and dials...] Mr. Jones, we received your property tax check and it's $12 short. If you can get the balance to me by next Friday you won't have any late fee.
Mr. Jones: Thanks for letting me know! I'll make sure it's there in time.
Clerk: No problem, have a good day.

Today:
Clerk realizes the last 20 times he tried to call someone about a check problem, he couldn't find a phone number since so many people dumped landlines and the number wasn't printed or written on the check. Realizes it would take 15 minutes to write a letter, address it, and get it to the outgoing mail. Shrugs and goes back to processing payments.


Now if you had your phone number on the check, I'd be a little miffed and probably stop by the office to politely ask why they didn't call.

JoJo

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Re: My biggest mistake today
« Reply #14 on: December 17, 2017, 08:04:02 PM »
Interestingly enough, I checked the big stack of mail that came while I was in Africa and there wasn't any late notice at all.  I guess it's better if people forget and pay after December 1 so they can collect their big late fees. 

aboatguy

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Re: My biggest mistake today
« Reply #15 on: December 22, 2017, 07:46:54 PM »
My biggest mistake was wasting time on this thread.  my taxes are due the same time every year so I ensure they are paid on time.  Travel is not an excuse, Merry Christmas

Mike

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Re: My biggest mistake today
« Reply #16 on: December 24, 2017, 06:13:42 AM »
My biggest mistake was wasting time on this thread.  my taxes are due the same time every year so I ensure they are paid on time.  Travel is not an excuse, Merry Christmas

Mike
While I might have phrased it a little more gently,  methinks Mike makes an excellent point. Where you were is completely irrelevant to the tax collector. The rules are probably the same since you bought the property. Own this mistake, learn the lesson and let it go. You've done well to vent here, but in the big picture, you'll be fine. In fact, you'll be ahead if you use this experience to comb through your finances and make sure there's nothing else that could be automated.