theficus said:
5.) It's not Bank of America's problem if all my payments bounce. It's also not their problem if they continue to take my paychecks and hold them. "You shouldn't commit fraud if you don't want to have these problems."
6.) There is a note on my account stating "CSRs are not to speak with this individual. He is known to record conversations. Refer him to our legal department only." She hung up on me after reading this. I guess she didn't see it until she read it to me.

I'm going to the courthouse Monday to file my lawsuit. I'll post updates as things happen.

Yea, that was a bold statement. It is not typical behavior to outright accuse a customer of fraud. They must think they have an iron-clad reason to classify it as fraud, otherwise they'd just be using some generic terms. Statements like this can hurt their case when it's found that they can't prove any fraudulent behavior. It sounds like you're taking the right path. It seems a lawsuit is your only option at this point.

The interesting thing is they have now seized the entirety of your assets. I tried to read the whole thread, but I may have missed it... did you hire a lawyer?

Thanks for the offer of support, but it's unnecessary at this point. I'm going to pursue this in small claims court first. I don't need to retain a lawyer at this point because my state prohibits lawyers from participating in small claims court. I do plan, however, on consulting with a lawyer to see if I have a larger case beyond the various fees charged against my accounts.

What state are you filing in?
I prefer not to disclose that information now.

Dude, you should have never told them you were recording and should have recorded every call from the start. The terrorist reference would have been priceless.
I was completely blindsided by Bank of America. I didn't record the calls at first because I didn't expect any of this. I thought it was a simple bank error or hold on my funds. I also don't want to lie about recording on the phone because I live in a two-party consent state.

Maybe I'm reading it wrong but in Florida both parties need to know a call is being recored.
I dont know why people have so much trouble with this..."Calls may be recorded..." is 2 party notification. I know BOA has that. Whats the problem, Florida or not?

Both people know and there is no reciprocal duty to notify.

theficus said:Thanks for the offer of support, but it's unnecessary at this point. I'm going to pursue this in small claims court first. I don't need to retain a lawyer at this point because my state prohibits lawyers from participating in small claims court. I do plan, however, on consulting with a lawyer to see if I have a larger case beyond the various fees charged against my accounts.

Maybe it's just me, but wouldn't the seizure of nearly a million dollars automatically disqualify this from small claims? If you already had the money from your account in-hand and were merely trying to recover fees that'd be one thing, but as soon as you file a suit I don't think there's any way you're seeing that money until there's a ruling. You should be suing for the return of the full amount, all associated fees (including real damages from bounced payments), and interest on the amount from seizure until release. You're probably losing nearly $200 a day in interest/investments alone. In Ohio, that'd put you over the small claims limit in about 10 days.

I'd definitely consult a lawyer first. That's a great idea.

Good luck!

Trying to get back $888,888.88 by yourself in small claims court.

gizmotoy said:Maybe it's just me, but wouldn't the seizure of nearly a million dollars automatically disqualify this from small claims? If you already had the money from your account in-hand and were merely trying to recover fees that'd be one thing, but as soon as you file a suit I don't think there's any way you're seeing that money until there's a ruling. You should be suing for the return of the full amount, all associated fees (including real damages from bounced payments), and interest on the amount from seizure until release. You're probably losing nearly $200 a day in interest/investments alone. In Ohio, that'd put you over the small claims limit in about 10 days.

I'd definitely consult a lawyer first. That's a great idea.
My seized assets are about $110,000, not $1,000,000. I would've died of a heart attack if it was a million dollars!

I plan on consulting with a lawyer on Monday.

Maybe the CSRs are to blame for just hanging up, but have you tried speaking to the legal department as the account note prompts you to??? You accounts may have mistakenly been lumped into a larger, serious, legit fraud case. Doesnt make it right, but it certainly explains everything.
I'll try to speak to the legal department on my lunch break today. Maybe I can get some better answers out of them.

Good luck!

Trying to get back $888,888.88 by yourself in small claims court.
The $888,888.88 debit keeps disappearing and reappearing on my accounts. Apparently it's Bank of America's method of noting account fraud and forcing all your debits to bounce due to non-sufficient funds.


I believe wells fargo has a very good set up you can go to for banking, brokerage and credit cards. Assuming they will take you after being rejected by BoA.
That's the closest replacement I could find for my Bank of America setup. We'll see.

theficus said:The $888,888.88 debit keeps disappearing and reappearing on my accounts. Apparently it's Bank of America's method of noting account fraud and forcing all your debits to bounce due to non-sufficient funds.

OP keep taking screen shots of your accounts with dates so you have a timeline of how and what they did in terms of charges, negative balance, 88888's etc. Perhaps taking printouts would help too. Good luck my friend.

theficus said:My seized assets are about $110,000, not $1,000,000. I would've died of a heart attack if it was a million dollars!

Small claims court is usually limited to a few thousand dollars. In CA, it would be $7500.

what a mess.

JennaG said:Dude, you should have never told them you were recording and should have recorded every call from the start. The terrorist reference would have been priceless.

Since BoA records all their calls, is there any way to subpoena the tapes for small claims court?

(This could very well be completely impossible. I have no idea.)

What's to stop them from erasing the tapes the moment the subpoena arrives? "Sorry, it's our policy to only save recordings for one month".

CantHelpIt said:What's to stop them from erasing the tapes the moment the subpoena arrives? "Sorry, it's our policy to only save recordings for one month". First, that's NOT their policy, as it would serve no purpose to record things for only a month. Second, retention programs are in writing, so they can't just flip flop like that. Third, destroying documents after a subpoena is served is a recipe for disaster that some people have tried to get away with, and wound up in very deep muck. Arthur Anderson and Morgan Stanley to name two biggies.