When I submitted my mortgage application I included a voided blank check along with an authorization for the lender to direct debit my account each month.  At closing time, among the blizzard of papers I was handed was one that authorized direct debit and included a coupon for the first payment.  When I told the attorney that I’d already submitted the authorization, he said that I didn’t have to worry about that form since I’d already submitted it.  What I didn’t realize was that even with my previous authorization I’d still have to make the first payment myself.  This means that I was late with my first mortgage payment—and I only found out when I noticed that the ACH debit had never appeared on my online statement.  Arrrrrrrrgh!

I was able to go onto the lender’s website and arrange a direct payment, but it’ll still be 9 days late.  I’m quite unhappy with the situation, since I didn’t want to get off on the wrong foot with my mortgage payments.