Very impressed with Equity Accelerator Program

[MonkeyMama]

In general, these things cost you one way or another - whether it is obvious or not.

Which leads me to another reason to not do it. How easy is it to get out of? When you send extra payments you can stop at any time. I honestly don't know how easy it is to get out of one of these things, in comparison. Or if there are fees to change back to "once a month payments"? etc.

Just curious anyway. I personally find it far simpler to send in extra payments, monthly. The "every 2 weeks" thing would just drive me bonkers since everything else is monthly (our bills and income).

[disneysteve]

How easy is it to get out of? When you send extra payments you can stop at any time. I honestly don't know how easy it is to get out of one of these things, in comparison. Or if there are fees to change back to "once a month payments"? etc.

That's a good point. Hadn't thought of that.

[Caoineag]

Actually you can switch the plan anytime, they are extremely lenient about that. I would imagine the reason it is a free "service" is that it saves them money to have you on the auto debit. That and it makes them look good in comparison to other mortgage companies.

PS. Oh and Steve, I wasn't offended, just figured I should put out the scenario why you wouldn't which applies to me.

[I_was Suckered]

I was scamed.

I was scammed into the Wells Fargo Mortgage Equity Accelerator program. I thought it was a great idea at the time and thought I researched enough about the program before I bought into it, but I was wrong. After I paid their enrollment fee I participated in the program where they collect your payment twice a month. I was under the understanding that Equity Accelerator would make the payment to the mortgage twice per month, thus reducing my loan quicker because the payments were technically being applied up to half a month earlier. Wrong! Equity Accelerator collected my money twice a month but sat on it and collected the interest until the monthly due date was due. By hanging on to my money as well as the money of several thousand dollars from other participants they are able to collect any interest compounded during they time they sit on it.

[BuckyBadger]

I was scammed into the Wells Fargo Mortgage Equity Accelerator program. I thought it was a great idea at the time and thought I researched enough about the program before I bought into it, but I was wrong. After I paid their enrollment fee I participated in the program where they collect your payment twice a month. I was under the understanding that Equity Accelerator would make the payment to the mortgage twice per month, thus reducing my loan quicker because the payments were technically being applied up to half a month earlier. Wrong! Equity Accelerator collected my money twice a month but sat on it and collected the interest until the monthly due date was due. By hanging on to my money as well as the money of several thousand dollars from other participants they are able to collect any interest compounded during they time they sit on it.

Are you sure that you were paying twice a month and not every two weeks? (24 payments as opposed to 26 payments.)

The greatest benefit of the biweekly payment scheme is NOT the interest during the first half of the month, it's the fact that you are paying an entire extra payment toward the principle.

I think you may be misunderstanding.

Additionally, I think that most pf the every-two-week-payment plans sit on the first check for two weeks. I think that is the norm.

[Petunia 100]

Are you sure that you were paying twice a month and not every two weeks? (24 payments as opposed to 26 payments.)

The greatest benefit of the biweekly payment scheme is NOT the interest during the first half of the month, it's the fact that you are paying an entire extra payment toward the principle.

I think you may be misunderstanding.

Additionally, I think that most pf the every-two-week-payment plans sit on the first check for two weeks. I think that is the norm.

Yes, it is the norm. If you were to send your entire next month's payment 2 weeks early, you would not save a single cent of interest. It is only by sending extra principal that you save interest. I have discovered that I can pay extra principal mid-month and it is immediately applied to my balance, reducing the interest (slightly ) on my next regular payment. That surprised me. I assumed it would be held in suspense until my next regular payment was applied.