Avoiding late fees

[coldblackheart]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Washington

Based on the judgement of a property settlement agreement in a divorce decree, a monthly payment must be sent and received before the 10th of every month. A late fee is applied if received after that date. The recipient recently attempted to charge a late fee after not having received the payment until the 13th of the month Upon verifying the Certified Mail tracking number, the payor realized that there was an attempted delivery on the 1st and 10th of that month. It was simply not signed for and picked up until the 13th. A letter was sent to the recipient with printed proof of the attempted deliveries and request to remove the late payment. Two weeks later, the recipient responded with a letter, advising that Delivery via Certified mail is not considered 'received' until it is signed for.

Regardless of attempted deliveries prior to the due date, it seems the signed date could be delayed by the recipient, at which point, the payor becomes responsible for ensuring that the payment is collected in a timely manner. This defeats the purpose of even attempting to send a payment in time as the ball falls entirely in the recipients court. What is the best way to send this payment in order to legally ensure that the recipient cannot charge a late fee?

[Ohiogal]

Find out if the court can escrow the payments. Or if an automatic deposit can be arranged with the recipient's account.

[LdiJ]

Originally Posted by coldblackheart

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Washington

Based on the judgement of a property settlement agreement in a divorce decree, a monthly payment must be sent and received before the 10th of every month. A late fee is applied if received after that date. The recipient recently attempted to charge a late fee after not having received the payment until the 13th of the month Upon verifying the Certified Mail tracking number, the payor realized that there was an attempted delivery on the 1st and 10th of that month. It was simply not signed for and picked up until the 13th. A letter was sent to the recipient with printed proof of the attempted deliveries and request to remove the late payment. Two weeks later, the recipient responded with a letter, advising that Delivery via Certified mail is not considered 'received' until it is signed for.

Regardless of attempted deliveries prior to the due date, it seems the signed date could be delayed by the recipient, at which point, the payor becomes responsible for ensuring that the payment is collected in a timely manner. This defeats the purpose of even attempting to send a payment in time as the ball falls entirely in the recipients court. What is the best way to send this payment in order to legally ensure that the recipient cannot charge a late fee?

Another solution would be not to send the payment certified. If you feel that you must have something to prove when it was delivered, then send it with a delivery acknowledgement. That way it can be delivered to the recipients mailbox but the post office provides you an acknowledgement of delivery.

Its true that certified mail is not delivered until its signed for, and its also true that sending something certified every month can even be considered to almost be a form of harassment if the recipient is not home during the day to sign for it. That means that the recipient only has a short window on Saturday's to pick up the mail...assuming that they are available Saturday mornings to do so.

[coldblackheart]

Thank you for your reply. Just to clarify, do you mean find out if the court can act as a middle party in distributing the payment to the recipient every month? (The only other definition of escrow I was familiar with pertained to providing the entire payment upfront.) Direct deposit into the recipients account is not likely as the situation is not exactly amicable, but something to consider suggesting.

To anyone's knowledge, is there no form of secured mailing that would stand up in legal court against late fee charges, assuming the payment is sent with ample time to deliver? It just happens to be the recipient creating a delay and then applying charges.

[Ohiogal]

Does the court order ALLOW the recipient to add interest?

[coldblackheart]

Originally Posted by LdiJ

Another solution would be not to send the payment certified. If you feel that you must have something to prove when it was delivered, then send it with a delivery acknowledgement. That way it can be delivered to the recipients mailbox but the post office provides you an acknowledgement of delivery.

Its true that certified mail is not delivered until its signed for, and its also true that sending something certified every month can even be considered to almost be a form of harassment if the recipient is not home during the day to sign for it. That means that the recipient only has a short window on Saturday's to pick up the mail...assuming that they are available Saturday mornings to do so.

Thank you. Delivery Acknowledgment may be what is settled on. The choice to send Certified was not intended as harassment, only as protection for the payor. In other months, the recipient had chosen to hold multiple checks and deposit them all at once, creating a difficult balancing game for the payor. When no receipts were provided, the payor felt it necessary to track each payment, confirm delivery to the intended recipient, not just leave the payment in an unsecured mailbox. Not having knowledge of the mailing options available, Certified Mail was accepted at the suggestion of the local post office staff.

[coldblackheart]

Originally Posted by Ohiogal

Does the court order ALLOW the recipient to add interest?

Yes. It was part of the settlement agreement reached between both parties. (Re-payment of a loan taken out together during the marriage).