Few things inspire more creative problem-solving than a pointless fee standing between a homeowner and their mortgage payment.

When a new lender demanded a “convenience fee” to pay online, he decided to make them work for every penny.

Read on for the full story!

Mortgage sold to a company that wants to charge me $14.95 to pay my bill online. So I send them a check every week for 1/4th the amount instead.

Last year, for like the 6th time since we bought our house, our mortgage was sold to yet another company.

I’ve never been late paying it, have occasionally made extra payments, never had any issues.

This new lender decided they were going to try and squeeze every last cent out of their borrowers.

But this new company wants to charge me a $14.95 “convenience” fee to take a payment online. This is absolutely stupid.

I can make a payment over the phone and pay another fee, or I can mail a check/money order for no fee.

Also, I can set up auto-pay, giving them access to my bank account, but that’s a hard no from me.

But they did figure out an alternative way to maliciously comply.

So, I went online and my bank has a neat bill pay service where you can set it to repeat weekly, monthly, etc.

Took the monthly payment, rounded it up a bit, then set my bank to cut them a check every week for a bit over 1/4th the amount.

Doesn’t cost me a dime — I don’t even pay postage.

The plan isn’t fool-proof, but it at least makes them feel a bit better.

I’m sure the money comes out of the account a little earlier than the mortgage company actually gets it, losing me a tiny bit of interest or something, but man, it makes me feel better that for trying to charge me $15 for what is essentially an automated process for them, they now get to process 4-5 checks a month.

And, sure, I’m sure they have that whole process down to an art for minimal human interaction… but it’s not zero.

I really wanted to press my luck and send 1/30th of the payment every day, but I figured my bank might cut me off at that point.

There’s nothing like charging a fee for something that should definitely be free.

What did Reddit think?

When it comes to dealing with a shady bank, a paper trail is your best friend.

The bank’s policy makes absolutely zero sense to this reader as well.

This user knows just how difficult it can be to have your mortgage shuffled around without your consent.

When nonsensical online fees get in the way, some opt to do things the old fashioned way.

When a company charges for convenience, sometimes the best revenge is a little inconvenience.

Good thing pettiness is free of charge!

If you liked that story, check out this post about an oblivious CEO who tells a web developer to “act his wage”… and it results in 30% of the workforce being laid off.