But when happens if the mortgage services doesn't process that payment and you begin to incur late fees and head towards preforeclosure through no fault of your own?

You send it certified. Then fax them and their lawyer a copy of the air bill and say see you in court. Trust me, slumlords pull this shit everyday with renters.

Trust me, I've seen people lose their homes through no fault of their own, because their servicer made mistakes and they had no legal recourse except getting a check for a few grand several years later as compensation.

https://www.propublica.org/article/bank-errors-continue-to-c...

"Bank Errors Continue to Cause Wrongful Foreclosures"

That article isn't the same. They stopped paying their mortgage because that was a requirement for the TARP loan modification program. They didn't get the modification and as a double whammy fell even further behind on payments.

My issue is with banks, landlords, and utilities where you send payment and they act like you didn't. Then threaten you with all types of legalese. This happens all the time for long term, rent-controlled, and rent-stabilised tenants. The landlord is trying to find any reason to throw you out. I've spoken with housing advocates and legal aid on this. If the owner starts acting up, i.e. not cashing checks while simultaneously sending you eviction notices, document everything. Spend the extra dollars to send a certified letter and keep the receipts.

> Spend the extra dollars to send a certified letter and keep the receipts.

Entirely agree.

I had a similar experience with discounted-if-paid-promptly hospital bill. I got a call saying, essentially "we didn't move the money around our internal systems in time and now we want the rest of the money".

Since I paid with a credit card I could make the case that I was charged before their deadline and they let it go.

I've had similar things happen with my electric bill. I noticed at some point that I had been paying small late fees. Looking into it, they would cash my checks, but not credit the account until the day after the payment was due. They stopped doing it after I pointed it out, but that took a lot of convincing. I'm not convinced that it was an accident.

The problem can be with more tech. capable companies sometimes... for example, BoA can't send an electronic payment to Esurance or Vonage and these 2 companies won't accept physical checks either (you have to setup automatic payments through their respective websites) ... Note: This happened a year or 2 ago so it might have changed.

Be careful with this though. I learned recently that the hard way when a check was sent and lost in the mail. I had to petition with the bank to explain the issue, which they had to investigate, and then determine the outcome.

Bill pay services usually deduct the amount of the check to be sent from your account and put it into a holding account before sending the check. The check sent acts more like a certified check than a personal check (because in a personal check, funds aren't withdrawn until the check is cashed).

I have always thought this is a little fishy - why the bank can't issue a personal check for me without withdrawing the funds from my account... but there may be regulatory or liability issues involved for the bank.

Bottom line, if you count on the bank to send a paper check for you, it's not EXACTLY the same as if you send a personal check yourself.