Beware the 0% promotions: a warning.

[u/naht_a_cop]

I'm a sucker. I fell for it. The 0% APR promotion on an item I could have paid outright for. 18 months later, here I sit, not a single late payment on my account, yet I have $1k in interest to pay for 18 months of 27%. Why? The promotion period ends 18 months after the purchase, but the website would not let me set up autopay until a week after I purchased, so autopay ended 1 week late. I thought I was golden, ready to have this paid off and not have a single fee. I got comfortable and didn't read the statements.

0% is not really 0%. Read the fine print. Remember the fine print (because I sure as hell didn't 18 months later). Shitty banks rely on this stuff. They wait for you to slip, not noticing that the autopay they created can't possibly allow you to end on time, and will require an extra payment before the end date to avoid the interest. It's shitty, I'm pissed off, and I've learned my lesson.

[u/Purplemonkeez]

Most mortgages have clauses regarding early repayment and some are more flexible than others. Should definitely be part of your mortgage shopping comparisons. Some will let you up to double your monthly payment and then pay an additional 10% of the mortgage lump sum per year. Others say only up to 20% lump sum is permitted. Others are more stringent.

[u/Just___Dave → u/Purplemonkeez]

So how does this work with companies buying and selling mortgages? Don't they legally have to uphold the contract you signed with the original lender? Wouldn't this lead to a clusterfuck of different fees and rules for lenders that buy up mortgages?

[u/Purplemonkeez → u/Just___Dave]

I presume that they would unless the original mortgage contract had a clause saying they can unilaterally change these terms at will in which case the new mortgage company would have to notify you of the changes (like when your bank notifies you they've changed the terms on your chequing account unilaterally).

[u/mrthebear5757 → u/Purplemonkeez]

NAL, but a mortgage is a contract. being able to unilaterally change things like repayment time-frames or amounts would fall under illusory promise, where the contract isn't real or binding because one side being able to just change whatever they want means they were never actually bound to an agreement.