Conference 7.286::dcu

    Personally, I wish that the system would take everything in my share
    13 account, and use it as the payment, regardless of my computed
    minimum balance.
    
    Right now, some money lives in my share 13 account until payment
    date, at which point part of that money goes as a payment, and the
    rest waits around until the first of the month where it gets put
    in my savings account.
    
    Kevin

    Though I would probably continue to opt for the minimum payment,
    having the flexibility of setting my own payment schedule (without
    penalty) would be something I'm sure others would appreciate and
    probably take advantage of.  I therefore vote in favor of such
    enhancement.

-Andy

    I haven't yet got 'round to having a DCU loan (still have my overdraft
    at BB) but I would *certainly* like to be able to (a) set the amount
    and (b) set the date at which the money is snarfed (e.g., the first
    day of the payment period).
    
    						=maggie 

    On another perspective, I had a car loan with the DCU where money
    was automatically withdrawn from my pay into a share 1x type account.
    Then at some mysterious interval money would go to pay the loan.
    On the extra-paycheck months, my extra weeks' money would get
    deposited.  Some time later, it would get transfered to my savings.
    Interest would accrue on an amount I was never sure of so I could
    never tell if I got the right amount.  It would move to my savings
    at some unfathomable point.
    
    I found the lack of control over my hard-earned currency so frustrating
    that I paid off the car (with an income tax refund) and won't ever
    do it again.
    
    I have a CRT line (empty) with the DCU and a personal loan.  I have
    $X%4 put into You-Name-It.  If I get 5 weeks worth of pay in a month,
    I write myself a check.  My bill is struck on the 6th of the month,
    due the following 1st of the month.  When that happens, I direct
    the nice people at the DCU to make a payment for me.  when I get
    the bill, I ignore it since it's already paid.  If I want to pay
    extra, I put it in You-Name-It.  Then I do the payment electronicaly.
    
    That way, I have control over my funds.  I can know when money goes
    into an account.  I originate the transfer out of my account.  And
    when I get interest on my account, I can take it to the store and
    buy a piece of Bazooka Bubble Gum :-)...
    
    Now other people may like to chose the auto-withdraw amount.  Paying
    a loan "invisibly" may suit some financial styles.  Personally,
    since I did it once through the DCU, I'll not do it again.
                                                                  
    Sorry Erik, I know that doesn't answer your question, so please
    take this response as amicus curie and a non-vote.
    
    BobW

    I might have been one of the other 4, because I too, have thought
    that their insistence on taking the minimum payment smacked of "revenue
    enhancement."  Having the payment amount be user-specified would
    save me the trouble of emptying the escrow accounts periodically
    "by hand."  I also just make periodic additional payments "by hand"
    as well.
    
    I don't know why this behavior should suprise me.  This was the
    same organization that reassured me that, even though the rate on
    my loan had increased, the payment wouldn't.  There just would be
    more of them - how nice they are to me!
    
    M

    Add my vote for user-specified amount. I had asked John (and the
    DCU) about doing just what you have asked for (and got the same
    answer in the past couple years).
    
    I would like to have the option of dumping $x.xx into an account per
    week. (must be greater than the DCU required minimum divided by 4).
    This account will then be moved into the equity each month. 
    
    Interesting thought, would the minimum be $ per week (into the holding
    account) or minimum per month. Some folks (like me) would like to
    have a certain amount per week, no matter how many weeks in the
    month. Other folks may want to send so much per month (or payment
    period) with an option to dump the fifth week overage to some account.
    
    DCU account software appears to be somewhat inflexible. Anyone know
    why? (I don't!).
    
    Carl

    Well, I'm with you.  I paid off a car loan early because DCU couldn't
    take out more than the minimum from my paycheck each week.  I am
    in the habit of prepaying all my loans, and do not understand why
    they can't take out what I want to pay instead of their minimum
    payment.
    
    And while we are on the subject, why can't they set it up so that
    they just withdraw the payment amount from the loan account each
    month?  Why does it first have to be deducted from my paycheck?
     I ask this because I would like DCU to take the mortgage payment
    directly from my DCU account, but because I won't let them take
    out 1/4 of the amount from my paycheck each month, they say their
    software can't accommodate such a request.  Now the fact that I
    don't take home enough each week to cover the mortgage doesn't seem
    to make any impression on them.  The mortgage is covered by the
    rents I collect from the building, not my paycheck, and I would
    like to deposit the rents into some account from which DCU could
    take the mortgage payment automatically on the first of each month.
     Now, I have to deposit the rent checks into a checking account
    and then manually pay the mortgage on the first of each month.
    
    Cathy

    I too would like to be able to pay more than the minimum amount.
     Also, why is it necessary to put the money into an escrow account?
     Why can't it go straight to the loan.  Every week I must go to
    the Credit Union office and have the money transferred from the
    escrow account to the loan account.  This seems like an unnecessary
    step.
    
    The software they have written is indeed too restrictive.  They
    should have allowed for more flexibility when they designed their
    new system.
    
    Ed..
    

    One more vote for us to decide how much to take out per week/month.
    I just started a CRT account with DCU and was disappointed to see
    that they take out X dollars per week and once a month only apply
    (4 x X) - Y! (For those 5 weeks/month it's (5 x X) - Y)!  I want
    Y to help pay off the principal, NOT the interest!  I want to be
    able to establish the amount applied to the loan each month.
    
    Does DCU need a new software person or package?  It's starting to
    sound that way!
    
    Don

	I vote yes for letting us specify how much we want to pay
	off on a loan each month.

	I have paid off two car loans early.  Each month I would
	call the EasyTouch system and make a payment to the loan
	over the phone.  This was a pain, but it worked.

	-Kevin

    
    A "YES" from me also.  My husband belongs to the Metropolitan
    Credit Union (out of Chelsea) and has a loan thru them for which
    they deduct an amount each week from his paycheck and apply it
    directly to the loan.  It does not accrue for a monthly payment.
    
    I also had an interesting problem occur with my monthly payment
    to my CRT loan from my escrow account at the end of June.  We
    took the 1st two weeks of July for vacation and I asked for my
    vaca pay in advance.  Naturally, DCU deducted the "appropriate"
    funds and applied them to my checking and CRT escrow accounts.
    
    However, since I had gotten several weeks pay in advance for
    vaca, and since it occurred just prior to the CRT payment, they
    deducted the minimum payment from my escrow and dumpted the rest
    into my savings.   A month later I received  a
    nice short to-the-point letter from the DCU collection folks 
    telling me I didn't have enough dough in my escrow account to
    make my July CRT loan payment !!  Of course not - it had been
    removed and put into my savings !  I didn't realize this of
    course because I do my saving in my checking account since it
    pays better interest on the higher balances, and usually never
    check the savings balance.
    
    --Sue
    

    
    	I always vote for more flexibility.  Check this one out --
    
    	I have a stock loan.  They take out the weekly payment as
    	is customary with DCU.  No problem.  I came across my first
    	5-week month, leaving me with about $25 extra in the escrow
    	account.  I was under the impression that the extra money
    	either got returned to my general account, or was applied
    	toward the loan.  But for me it just sat.  So I instructed them
    	to apply the $25 toward the loan, and they cheerfully complied.
    
    	When the next payment was due to be drawn from the escrow account
    	the system reduced the payment it drew by the $25 I had applied
    	to the loan previously that month!  The damn system seems to
    	go out of its way to be inflexible.  In addition, my payment
    	is supposed to be X dollars and 50 cents.  But my payments amount
    	to x+1 dollars over 4 weeks.  I questioned this.  They said
    	that the system requires whole dollar amounts for weekly 
    	deductions.  what should the "system" care if you pay $25/mo
    	or $24.88!?!  Sometimes I wonder if the system was not purposely
    	designed to be deliberately inflexible.  It seems to me that
    	some of the inflexibilities took more effort to include than
    	if they had been left out.  Surely DEC did not program this...
    
    	Put me in for a YES vote.
    
    
    	Joe Oppelt

    re .12   My last loan was xx.50 per week so that does not track.
    I can beleive that it was more likely the whim of the person processing
    the loan.
    
    I wish the opportunity to make the 13th week collection go to the
    loan payment instead of Savings.
    
    I have personaly found that the Management of DCU to be quite
    reasonable and to provide good service.  The majority of troubles
    that I have had are with relatively new and untrained personnel.
    
    It seems that it is not possible to go to the window and say "I
    want to pay off my X loan now "  and expect that the person behind
    the window to be able to do it without help.  

    In reference to .13, I just want to say that the Parker Street branch
    personnel have been fairly good in my dealings.  I have to go in
    each week and transfer my loan escrow to my loan, and in any dealings
    that I have had they have been able to help me.  They don't always
    have the answers to all of my questions, but they usually can direct
    me to the person who does.  I do know that they seem to try awful
    hard.
    
    As for the software, I agree with an earlier reply that it appears
    that DCU went out of its way to make things a hassle.  I won't say
    that this is to cheat anyone, but it is not coincidental that they
    make money by charging interest on the loans, so that any method
    which allows us to pay less interest must, by definition, detract
    from their revenue.
    

       Another YES vote here.
    
      I had a new car loan. When it was paid off I bought another new
    car. I kept the deduction the same and wanted my old (higher) payment
    applied to my newer car. "We can't do that." "But we can put the
    extra $30 per week in your savings and you can make the extra payments
    yourself."
    
      My problem with my second loan was that the loan officer didn't
    listen to what I wanted. I wanted to put more than 20% down and
    wanted a 4 year loan. The loan ammount was over $10000 so they
    automatically set it up for 5 years. Then they call me to get the
    money and I said I wanted a 4 year loan and a larger down payment.
    Then we will have to redo the paperwork and since it was Christmas
    Eve and I wanted my new car I relented and accepted their offer.
    
    
    Wes
                    

    
    Another yes vote here. I have Credit line with DCU. I would like to see
    all of the weekly deduction be applied towards the loan each week
    as opposed to accumulate for the month and only apply a minimum
    payment. This is taking forever for me to payoff my balance as I
    have other important things I pay attention to more than this. I
    have in the past made payments myself through the ATM, tellers,
    etc. to the loan. But this would be great.
    
    After hearing some peoples stories about DCU car loans, I decided
    not to go with them besides the fact that I live in Chicago and
    it would take several days (perhaps a week) from the time I called
    them for an application till I got the check in my hand. I was able
    to show up to pick up my car sign a few papers with the dealer give
    him my check for a down payment and leave with the car all in 1
    hr. The dealer took car of the rest of the financing through a bank.
    I felt it would be convinient with DCU as the payments could be
    deducted from my paycheck automatically. (I've forgotten to mail
    some payments to bills or I've gone on trips and forgotten to take
    care of bills and had to wait till i got home a week or two later.)
    

    This is an official response by John Tilley of the DCU. The portion of
    that response, dated 5-OCT-1987, that applies to this note topic is
    included below. See note 2.22 for more information. 
    
    Whether you agree or disagree with the response from the DCU,
    
            *PLEASE* DON'T SHOOT THE MESSENGER (me)
    
    (my flame retardent terminal is out being cleaned)! 
    
    Carl Leeber
******************************************************************************

LOAN PAYMENTS:   Currently DCU members have several options for repaying their 
loans. Weekly payroll deduction, monthly billing, over-the-counter, by mail, 
by phone (audio-response and customer service center). Additional payments may 
be applied at any time by any of these methods. Additional options, like those 
discussed here, are being considered by DCU management. Updates will be posted 
in the future.

******************************************************************************

    If this was mentioned before, please excuse: in Mass. it is the
    law that you are allowed to pre-pay or pay-back the principal on
    any loan after three years.  Almost all reputable banks allow repayment
    at ANY time in ANY ammount.
    
    	rmm
    

	"Additional payments may be applied at any time by any of these
	methods" is an out-and-out lie.  That's the whole point  --  we
	canNOT use payroll deductions to make 'additional payments'.

	Weekly,  I  call  up  the  TouchTone  system to transfer funds.
	Weekly, I wish they would just do this for me, but I know  that
	would cut into their profits.

	I  have  asked  to  apply  weekly  deductions, and I'm positive
	*many* more have asked also, but only "four" requests have made
	it  to the top.  Of course many more people would use a service
	that was provided than just those asking for it up front.

	vote: YES
	/cliff

I'd also like the ability to set the minimum payment higher via
weekly withdrawals.

In the meantime, it doesn't bother me much to pick up the phone and
touch-tone the extra payment or the 13th week over to the loan.

What really bothers me - and I was told by a bank CEO that it's illegal - 
is the extra payment going to the INTEREST and not the principal as the
law states....of course, the difference is made up on the next monthly 
payment - nonetheless, for the time up to then, DCU get free use of your 
extra payment.

(The trick being to make the extra payment just before the 'system'
makes it's move from escrow to loan.)

When I inquired to my local DCU about it, I got the usual "software
restriction" excuse.  Lovely!