[Mia28]

One of my friends is going to take advantage of skipping a mortgage and car loan payment. She was mailed papers saying that she could skip a payment (January) to catch up on other bills. I told her that I think it's silly to do. I'm sure there is something that will happen if she does. Anyone ever do this?

[Watermark]

It would be silly to unnecessarily skip a payment. I have never done this and I doubt I would ever try. For me, the sooner I can payback my loan is the better.

[randles]

I have never done this either and while I am not sure what the catch is I am sure there is one. I would have the friend check all of the fine print before trying something so odd like this, it could end up costing them.

[jason]

I agree with randles. There is always a catch. I'm wondering if they are just going to roll extra into mortgage total.

[saveme]

No way - no way - no way! I have seen these offers and they are no good. Your interest continues to accrue and you end up adding a payment on to the end of the loan. It's not in their best interest to do this if they don't have to.

[Greenbudget]

Yeah, I agree that there is always a catch. It really is an odd offer so you should be wary of the catch. I wouldn't fall into this kind of trap.

[Neville]

Originally Posted by Mia28

She was mailed papers saying that she could skip a payment (January) to catch up on other bills. I told her that I think it's silly to do.

That sounds like a tricky offer. Why did they care about how she would catch up the other bills? If I were in her situation, I would stay away from such an offer.

[lovelikewinter3]

Sounds like they just want her to accumulate more interest... I wouldn't do it unless I was in a REALLY sticky situation. In its place, I would make an extra payment, just to say "no thanks!" (assuming there would be no added fees for that, of course)

[Pegs]

I had a car loan years ago that used to offer me that every January. I never took them up on it because it would have ended up costing me a small fortune in interest. On the surface, it appears they are trying to be nice, but when you read the fine print you find out otherwise.

[iebo]

They will charge your friend for opting to skip a payment. They will also add the payment onto the end of the loan, and they will also charge for the extra interest that has been missed by the skipped payment. This is especially bad to use on a mortgage, its not as harsh on a car payment. Still, if your friend is in such straights that she feels the need to skip payments, something is eventually going to give. Better to cut costs and increase income so that skipping payments won't be a necessity.