Chase executive washroom picture?

Someone tried to pass this picture off as from the JP Morgan Chase executive washroom.  But it can’t be real though, because it would be $100 bills, not $1 bills.

Chase Auto Finance plays pass the buck

Just try to get a straight answer from Chase Auto Finance as this blogger did when a car returned from lease was not inspected for a month after it was returned from a lease, during which time it was vandalized.  The blogger was charged for the damage to the car.

Think that is wrong?  So did the blogger, so he tried to get Chase to accept responsibility for the damage, which they did, and then later said they never did.

Fannie to disallow new loans to strategic defaulters

The bad-news:  Fannie Mae reported today that they are establishing a new policy banning anyone who strategically defaults on their loan from obtaining a new Fannie Mae loan for seven years.  Fannie Mae backs a large portion of residential mortgages in the US.

The really bad news:  What exactly is a strategic default?  Whether someone walking away from a mortgage/home is a strategic default  depends on whether or not they are able to afford the loan.  So who determines this?  Now here is the really bad news:  Your loan servicing company determines this.  This means that Chase now has the power to threaten you with classifying your non-payment of your mortgage as a strategic default rather than due to hardship.

The good news:  This Fannie Mae policy doesn’t really matter for a couple of reasons.  First, if you default on a mortgage, it is not-likely that you would be able to obtain a new mortgage within seven years (when it goes off of your credit report) anyways.  Second, at the rate they are going, Fannie Mae (and Freddie Mac) could be gone well before seven years comes around.

Don’t worry, be happy.  With respect to your mortgage, make the decision which makes the most financial sense to you. 

Chase on Twitter

For a laugh, try searching on “chase customer service” on twitter search

Chase and automatic payments; don’t bother

Another report of Chase’s automatic mortgage payments gone bad and Chase not able to do anything about it:

We paid off a mortgage with Chase April 21, 2010. Chase continued to automatically take mortgage payments from my checking account for May and June. I had to finally place a stop payment on Chase at my bank. Now I am having great difficulty getting my money back from Chase. Contacting a Chase representative is a chore and while courteous, they either have no ability or desire to help. Talking to a supervisor or manager is impossible.

Chase vs BofA for overdraft protection

This interesting article in the Chicago Tribune highlights the differences between the Chase and BofA overdraft protection programs moving forward.

Chase, on the one hand, has chosen to use fear to try and cajole its customers into voluntarily signing up for overdraft protection, which they will be prohibited by law from automatically enabling in new accounts (without telling customers about it).  They continue to send repeated ominous sounding letters to customers that have not yet opted-in.

Bank of America, in stark contrast, chose the high road and has discontinued its overdraft protection program altogether, based on popular opinion (and common sense):

“We’re responding to the overwhelming majority of customers who say, ‘Don’t let me spend money I don’t have,'” BofA spokeswoman Diane Wagner said.

Truth in advertising? Not in Chase commercials

Given that Chase sends out its text alerts in the middle of the night, I doubt the scenario in this commercial could actually happen.  Unless of course the woman has AT&T and the text didn’t arrive for 7 hours. 🙂

Another Chase catch-22

Reader Kay reports:

I’ve had my mortgage with Chase for over 3 years and last month received a coupon for $125 for opening a premier checking account with them. There would be no monthly service fee and no minimum deposit of $15000 as long as my mortgage was serviced by Chase.  Well wouldn’t you know it, 2 days after opening my checking account, my mortgage was transferred to another bank.  I called the customer service department and a monthly fee would apply to my new checking account unless I somehow got $15000 together and met the minimum.  On top of that, they charged me a $25 dollar fee for closing the account since it was less than 90 days after it was opened.  Either way I was screwed.  This is the second time I’ve been burned by Chase and will absolutely never do business with them again.