There has been a lot of complaints as of late (last few years) of lenders and their poor business practices. Of course, the latest complaint leveled against a bank is of Bank of America charging additional fees.

I don’t worry too much about that because I figure the people who care will go to a different bank and those that don’t will pay more.

However, I am amazed how often I see them make stupid decisions and I think that often times it centers around automation. It centers, really, around the fact that someone didn’t think through all the scenarios before they automated the process.

I received a note from my mortgage provider that says:

…the interest rate on your Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM) will change from 2.75% to 2.75%.

There was then a lengthly description as to why this was and how it works. My favorite part of the description was where it says:

The original interest rate of your mortgage was 0.000% which may not be decreased beyond that rate

Of course they are not going to pay me to have a loan but it was never at 0%… I promise that.

If you’d like to see a larger copy of the letter, simply click on the image at the right above.

I wonder how many of their mortgages didn’t adjust at all and they still sent these letters out. Think of the money it cost them for the printing, stuffing and postage for the letters.

Now, I recognize, they may very well be required by law to send a letter even if rates do not change. If that’s the case, then they should have at least simply said:

Good news! Your interest is staying the same. We want to keep your rates right where they are and keep you happy!

Perhaps we should just consider this as the private industry helping to bail out the US Post Office.