My favorite was the following:
- I still have a mortgage on a property but don't live there so the mortgage bill gets sent to a different address (b/c rental property)
- Company A originated the mortgage and sells it to Company B
- Company B completely ignores the mailing address and starts sending bills to the original property address
- only through blind luck did I realize that the mortgage bill was being unpaid
This seems like basic, basic bookkeeping but I guess it's also a reminder that "reality has more detail than people realize" and that there are plenty of opportunities for improving systems.
I own the duplex I live in. The actual property address is the rental unit. Every time the mortgage gets sold my tenant gets mail about it until I can change the mailing address back to my actual address (next door). It’s absolutely infuriating because the carelessness of my mortgage servicer who I don’t even choose makes me look bad.
One of those myths too many programmers believe: All street addresses can accept US mail. Not necessarily the issue in this comment, but when somebody gives you both a shipping address and a mailing address and you send mail to the shipping address, the fault is yours if it doesn't arrive.