The $91,000 Water Softener
As part of my mortgage company’s best practices, we will go over our clients credit reports and ALL of their bills with them and see if there are any gigantic discrepancies that might need to be taken care of. Usually it’s something small that can be easily cleared up like medical collections or an unpaid sprint pcs bill.
Sometimes, it’s something much bigger that gets me so fired up I can’t see straight. Read on and prepare to be enraged.
A tradeline had shown up on my client’s credit report under the name of Aqua Finance, Inc. in the amount of $7,051. I assumed they’d purchased a hot tub or a pool and it probably was an installment loan of some kind. When my clients came into the office, they were complaining about a bill that they paid every month but the balance due never seemed to go down. So I asked what it was for –
“Right before we moved into the house, we were approached by a guy at Home Depot (not an employee) about our new house. He asked if we’d had the water checked because homes built in those years were known for corroded pipes and bad water. He was a little pushy, so we agreed to have him over and it felt like he wouldn’t leave unless we bought the water filtration system and softener he was selling.” 
The statement that this couple was receiving read like a credit card statement. At the bottom, it had the Annual Percentage Rate and a minimum payment warning that read: Paying only the minimum payment will result in higher interest charges and take longer to pay back the total balance. As an example, a $1,000 balance at 17.99% interest will take 93 months to payoff.
93 MONTHS!!!! That’s only for $1,000 balance — we’re talking a $7,000 balance!! (Here’s where I get really P.O.’d)
The jerk who sold them this water softener made the statement that, “you’ll have this paid off in no time.” I have a fairly long-term view on things, but “no time” is not how I’d describe 54 years and 4 months!!!! That’s how long it will take them to pay off this stupid water softener only paying the minimum payment.
Oh, and the $7,051 they “paid” for the thing will actually end up being over $91,000.
Expect to hear about a class action lawsuit against these guys. Led by me. The Attorney General is already investigating and I hope to find more people swindled by these con-artists. They prey on the uninformed, lie through their teeth, and have the audacity to call frequently and ask for referrals. I hope they call me…
Oh, and one more thing — Aqua Finance has a tag line: “It’s what we do.” I think they mean screw people.
