Field Name

Type

Description

NS

Check box

Check only for non-standard payments. A non-standard payment is a payment that has no affect on the homeowners monthly payment status.

This box should not be checked for most payments.

A non-standard payment might be used to record a lump-sum paid to reduce the homeowner’s principal balance; to record a single entry to enter beginning balances for pre-existing mortgages; or to make an accounting adjustment.

Several examples of non-standard payments are illustrated in the Restructuring a Mortgage  and Entering Payments and Balances (for entering existing mortgages) sections. Non-standard payments are ignored by Keystone in determining payments due and late status, but are included in principal and escrow balance calculations.

Due (Date)

Entry; calculation

The date on which the recorded payment was due.

The date due is automatically calculated when you place the cursor in this field.  If you think the calculated due date is incorrect, refer to the discussion in the Investigating Problems with Balances section.

Make sure the date due is always the first of the month for standard payments.

Paid (Date)

Entry

The date on which the payment was actually made. The grace period is used to determine the date on which a payment is considered late and any fee that should be assessed. Keystone considers a payment late if this date is beyond the grace period in the month in which the payment was due.

By default, when you enter payments on the Payments screen, the Paid Date defaults to today's date. However, if you need to enter a batch of payments for a date in the past, go to the Mortgage/Payment Information screen, click the Set Date Paid button, enter that date in the window that appears, then click OK.

Now when you come back to the Payments screen, the Paid Date will default to the date you just set until you close the Mortgage/Payments Information screen. At that time, the Paid Date will go back to its default of using today's date.

Method (Payment)

Entry, drop-down

Choose the form of payment from the list. You can define additional payment methods in Affiliate Setup.

Since homeowners have a tendency to always use the same payment method, the last payment method used by the homeowner is used as the default for their next payment.

For more information on electronic transfers, refer to the Managing Electronic Funds Transfer Payments section.

Method ID (Payment)

Entry

May be used to record the check or money order number. This field is optional. However, if a check is returned for non-sufficient funds, whatever Method ID was used for the initial entry should also be used for the reversal entry.

Amount (Payment)

Entry; calculation

The total amount of the payment. This amount is calculated based on the amount the homeowner currently owes. If the homeowner is current, the Amount is simply the expected monthly payment. If the homeowner is in arrears, the Amount is calculated as the total amount the homeowner is in arrears, plus the current month's payment, plus a late fee.

You can change the calculated amount to whatever the homeowner actually paid, if needed. You will need to make sure the allocations for the payment (to the right of the Amount field) are allocated in the way you want them and are equal to the payment itself.

Principal

Entry; calculation

The amount of the payment to be applied toward mortgage principal. It is calculated in the same way as the Amount field (above). You can adjust the principal allocation if needed.

Escrow

Entry; calculation

The amount of the payment to be credited to the homeowner's escrow account. It is calculated in the same way as the Amount field (above). You can adjust the escrow allocation, if needed.

Other

Entry; calculation

The amount of the payment to be applied toward Other debt. It is calculated in the same way as the Amount field (above). You can adjust the Other debt if needed.

Late Fee

Entry; calculation

The amount of the payment to be applied toward late fees. Late fees are calculated based on the number of months the homeowner is in arrears times the late fee amount defined on the Administration tab. It is calculated in the same way as the Amount field (above). You can adjust the late fee allocation, if needed.

By default, Keystone assumes that the late fees have to be paid before any of the other allocations. You can change the late fee that is charged in a particular payment by editing this field. However, this change only affects that particular payment. No other late fee amounts, nor any other allocations of payments in Keystone, are changed when you do this.

If you overwrite the calculated late fee with a lower amount or zero, Keystone assumes the remainder of the late fee due has been forgiven. Keystone does not allow for late fees to be deferred. New late fees only begin to accumulate beginning the month following the date of the last recorded payment.

Notes

Memo Entry

Use to record any notes related to the payment.