The $42,000 in aid they were eligible to receive from Hardest Hit could have paid off their past due payments in full, with around $6,000 remaining for monthly payments that would have stretched four months.
But the Hardest-Hit Fund has a limit of $18,000 on past due payments, which made it impossible for the family to get current on what they already owed.
And small business invoices go unpaid for 55 to 60 days, on average, with past due payments increasing.
They're currently mired in legal hell with the American Federation of Musicians and Employers' Pension Fund as they struggle to settle past due payments.
When dealing with past due payments, creditors are more likely to pursue money judgments against those who they've had no contact with at all, as opposed to those that they have been in communication and contact with.
The rate of new foreclosures and past-due payments surged to their highest level since 1979, when the group first started collecting the data.
To increase a borrower's chance of making required payments, lenders can do things like lowering interest rates on the loans, waiving past-due payments and fees, and extending the periods in which low teaser rates apply to loans.
Ms. Philemond, a receptionist, and her husband, who owns a sign business, have made several payments to try to catch up on past-due payments, but they are still thousands of dollars behind.
Consumer advocates have been critical of collection agencies, accusing them of using aggressive tactics to pursue past-due payments and failing to provide people the necessary information to stay current on their loans over the long term.
Your contracts and invoices likely include language saying that past-due payments will accrue interest at some rate.
Similarly, Birdsboro's pension plan for hourly workers was $2 million short and unable to make past-due payments, but the same company's non-hourly worker fund had a $2.3-million 2.3-million surplus
