I swear to god, I'm this close to going to the county treasurer's office and slapping the first six people I see silly.
We recently refinanced and included an escrow to pay our real estate tax. Upon closing, the title company sent the check for our first tax installment to the county treasurer -- god knows when. The check was dated 9/13/05 and is marked "void if not cashed within 90 days."
When we got back from Thanksgiving vacation in CA we found that the treasurer had returned the check because it was short some interest. $59.13 to be exact.
They
returned the check.
When we sent it back, along with our own check for $59.13, we included a letter stating we were mystified by their action, asking why on earth they hadn't simply deposited this
time-sensitive check and billed us for the interest. We further wrote that if they did not deposit the title company check before it expired, that we would consider
them responsible for obtaining a replacement check
from the title company.
In today's mail we received
both checks back! along with a new bill. Also enclosed was a form letter -- a horrible 20th-generation reproduction of a form letter -- marked thus (italics show what was written by a human being):
The enclosed tax bill is being returned to you, together with your check, for the reason checked below:
Interest of $59.13 is due but not included. Total tax amount of $X,XXX.XX is due by 12/31/05 to avoid further interest accruing. Now it is due in full because the first installment wasn't paid prior to 11/30/05.
Mrs. V. was so angry she shook. She turned red. I'm sure she SAW red. She yelled and cussed. For a minute I was afraid she would stroke out. It takes a helluva lot to make her that angry.
My friends, it absolutely boggles the rational mind! They had our payment before 11/30/05! No interest would have been due if they had deposited the god damned check that they received from the title company!
We sent that check back
PLUS the exact amount of interest due because they effed up -- and they sent
ALL OF IT back! AAAAHHHHHHHHH!
Now the title company's check is worthless! AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!
I'm so infuriated I honestly don't know what to do. Do I deal with it myself Monday morning, or do I skip rational attempts and call my lawyer?! I don't want to do the latter, but I truly feel completely effing helpless when I deal with ignorant automatons who can't handle the simplest transactions -- let alone read correspondence!
:banghead:
Help!