Edit

Forums
Finance

Bank of America closed all my accounts. What to do now? *UPDATED 03/01/08* Archived From: Finance

  • tweet this
  • Post to Facebook
  • Text Only
  • Search this Topic »
  • Classic
alert mods    

Something doesn't add up. I have only had my BOA accounts for less than 3 months and have transferred in/out over 200K without a peep. It seems if the reasons that the OP gave for the closure were the full story, there would be thousands complaining about the same thing. I don't think that BOA engages in selective enforecement unless give a reason.


alert mods    

duncan36 said:Could be they have certain triggers to try and stop money laundering and you inadvertently triggered one..not only that, if OP has an Arabic/Indian sounding name, he is at much higher risk of suspicion.

OP you need to stop calling BofA. Go sit down with the local branch manager. have him start making the calls.

You dont want to do that, FEDEX a letter to the CEO's office. By thursday this will be resolved.

All the other suggestions in this thread will take longer and/or require more effort


alert mods    

I have had a BOA MRA account for like 10 years and never keep more than $500 in it. From Sept of 06 till Oct of 07 I used BOA as my primary bank and Citigroup PB as my primary brokerage account. I would deposit over $40k a month into BOA and maintained $50k min in my AAA MMA at all times. As soon as I could find VRDN, ARS, Commercial Paper or Government Discount notes in inventory at Citi I would buy the bonds from Citi and write a check against my AAA MMA for whole balance in my account except $50k.

BOA never complained 1X about what I was doing. And many times I ended up moving from BOA to Citi even before BOA collected on checks.

So I think the OP is leaving something out. Maybe he deposited business credit card checks into his personal account or 3rd party checks. Maybe he linked up accounts not in his name but his wife name and did external transfers to her account. All of the above cases are against BOA terms of service and could raise some red flags.


alert mods    

SUCKISSTAPLES is on the right track. Anyway, I decided to make one last call to see if I could speak to a supervisor. The CSR who answered told me:

1.) The decision is final.
2.) There aren't any supervisors I can speak to.
3.) "Bank of America doesn't like people depositing convenience checks."
4.) "Bank of America is not going to help you steal money."
5.) "We don't have an address to give you."
6.) When I asked for an address to send a complaint, I was told "you can't sue us," even though I didn't mention that. She then hung up on me.

I don't know what in the world is wrong with the people in this department. Again, I was polite and simply asked to speak to a supervisor about the matter. When they refused, I asked for an address to send my complaint, which they also refused. The phone number is (818) 291-8649 if anyone is interested.

To make matters worse, all my transactions for the month of November have been returned, including all my credit card payments. I'm also being charged NSF fees and returned payment fees for each of these transactions since each of my accounts appear to be in the negative over $800,000. What a nightmare.

I'm never doing business with Bank of America again and I'm going to pursue this matter legally. I'm nearly 100% certain I'm being profiled because of my name.


alert mods    

dolmar said:I have had a BOA MRA account for like 10 years and never keep more than $500 in it. From Sept of 06 till Oct of 07 I used BOA as my primary bank and Citigroup PB as my primary brokerage account. I would deposit over $40k a month into BOA and maintained $50k min in my AAA MMA at all times. As soon as I could find VRDN, ARS, Commercial Paper or Government Discount notes in inventory at Citi I would buy the bonds from Citi and write a check against my AAA MMA for whole balance in my account except $50k.

BOA never complained 1X about what I was doing. And many times I ended up moving from BOA to Citi even before BOA collected on checks.

So I think the OP is leaving something out. Maybe he deposited business credit card checks into his personal account or 3rd party checks. Maybe he linked up accounts not in his name but his wife name and did external transfers to her account. All of the above cases are against BOA terms of service and could raise some red flags.

I deposited a total of 6 balance transfer checks. I also performed a total of 9 transfers in the last 60 days. Five were for CDs at Discover Bank, 2 to pay my credit cards, 1 to Citibank, and 1 to Banc of America Investment Services. All the transactions were personal and in my name only.


alert mods    

But you didn't follow SIS' advice, did you? Also you didn't record the call, right?

Oh well, have you checked your credit report today? There's always the chance this can be the result of ID theft.


alert mods    

theficus said:I deposited a total of 6 balance transfer checks. I also performed a total of 9 transfers in the last 60 days. Five were for CDs at Discover Bank, 2 to pay my credit cards, 1 to Citibank, and 1 to Banc of America Investment Services. All the transactions were personal and in my name only.

So all 6 BT checks were drawn against personal accounts and issued to your personally? I know lots of business credit cards mail out BT checks to people in there "fake business" names and people just deposit them into there own personal accounts. These type of transactions would raise some red flags even if your name was Bob Smith or Bill Clinton.


alert mods    

dolmar said:So all 6 BT checks were drawn against personal accounts and issued to your personally? I know lots of business credit cards mail out BT checks to people in there "fake business" names and people just deposit them into there own personal accounts. These type of transactions would raise some red flags even if your name was Bob Smith or Bill Clinton.
I deposited the convenience checks that were included with my Chase cards and the checks that Citi mailed to me. I also had a direct deposit from a Bank of America credit card. They were all from personal cards made out to me.

Also, I called before reading SIS's post. No, I didn't record the call because I don't have the equipment to do so.


alert mods    

theficus said:

I'm never doing business with Bank of America again and I'm going to pursue this matter legally. I'm nearly 100% certain I'm being profiled because of my name.

Best option is to just don't do any more business with them, If you do pursue good luck fighting what is probably one of the largest legal departments in the Country. What they did to you is within their rights and you will never be able to prove profiling.


alert mods    

scott1961 said:Best option is to just don't do any more business with them, If you do pursue good luck fighting what is probably one of the largest legal departments in the Country. What they did to you is within their rights and you will never be able to prove profiling.
At the very least I'm going to publicize my ordeal. I'm thinking Consumerist and Digg. Anywhere else?


alert mods    

theficus said:I deposited the convenience checks that were included with my Chase cards and the checks that Citi mailed to me. I also had a direct deposit from a Bank of America credit card. They were all from personal cards made out to me.

Also, I called before reading SIS's post. No, I didn't record the call because I don't have the equipment to do so.

You keep avoiding the question. Where these checks drawn against business credit cards?

Look at the action AMEX took in this thread against someone for writing checks from business cards to there personal account. This would not be the first time someone reported a problem with a bank or credit card for deposit business checks into a personal account. BOA credit card department has been known to forward complaints to BOA bank for transaction they consider funny and having the bank close that persons personal bank accounts.

BTW BOA is with in there rights to close your account and refuse to do business with you for any reason and they are with in there legal rights to do so as long as it is not based on sex, race or religion.


alert mods    

3.) "Bank of America doesn't like people depositing convenience checks."
4.) "Bank of America is not going to help you steal money."
I find these two sentences interesting, particularly the 'steal money' part.

BOA thinks they have stopped a thief. From doing what ?? Perhaps collecting cash and then declaring BK ? It's hard to even wildly speculate here, given the long term relationship OP has with the bank including salary direct deposit.


alert mods    

Goto your local craft store. Purchase a posterboard and a stick. Write on it, BOA closed my accounts because I am **insert race here** and then called me a***insert racial slur here*** and stole all of my money. Ask me for more information.


Stand outside your local BOA branch and let everyone see your sign. Wait for manager to come out and bend over backwards to fix the issue. (Someone please make this a How to deal with a company that screws you over sticky)


alert mods    

dolmar said:You keep avoiding the question. Where these checks drawn against business credit cards?

Look at the action AMEX took in this thread against someone for writing checks from business cards to there personal account. This would not be the first time someone reported a problem with a bank or credit card for deposit business checks into a personal account. BOA credit card department has been known to forward complaints to BOA bank for transaction they consider funny and having the bank close that persons personal bank accounts.

I already said they were all from personal credit cards. Maybe I'm misunderstanding your question; do you mean something else?

I find these two sentences interesting, particularly the 'steal money' part.

BOA thinks they have stopped a thief. From doing what ?? Perhaps collecting cash and then declaring BK ? It's hard to even wildly speculate here, given the long term relationship OP has with the bank including salary direct deposit.

Right. The only logical conclusion I can arrive at is that Bank of America thinks I'm either planning to not pay my credit cards or launder money. But that isn't a strong case because I only used 1 Bank of America card for my AOR and I can't imagine they're looking out for Chase or Citi.


alert mods    

dolmar said:BTW BOA is with in there rights to close your account and refuse to do business with you for any reason and they are with in there legal rights to do so as long as it is not based on sex, race or religion.
One of those fits my theory...


alert mods    

Local TV Channel is your best bet. Big media is much better than web.


alert mods    

Are you now, or have you ever been a member of any terrorist organization?


alert mods    

OP should try calling BofA executive CS, if he hasn't already. E-mail the CEO.
I think he may be able to prove emotional distress for the racal slur. BofA has DEEP pockets, and with all the green this thread has,
I think a lawyer may take the case on contingency.


alert mods    

Are you now, or have you ever been a member of any terrorist organization?If I told you, I'd have to kill you.


alert mods    

PolarDude said:OP should try calling BofA executive CS, if he hasn't already. E-mail the CEO.
I think he may be able to prove emotional distress for the racal slur. BofA has DEEP pockets, and with all the green this thread has,
I think a lawyer may take the case on contingency.
I can tell you one thing for absolute certain. Lawyers don't take cases on contingency fees, based upon the level of green a post gets on fatwallet. At least, lawyers who earn a living.


 Close

Sign Me In
Nickname: 
Password: 
Remember My Login Information:

Forget your login information?

Not Already A Member?
Sign Up Now!



Disclaimer: By providing links to other sites, FatWallet.com does not guarantee, approve or endorse the information or products available at these sites, nor does a link indicate any association with or endorsement by the linked site to FatWallet.com.


While FatWallet makes every effort to post correct information, offers are subject to change without notice.
Some exclusions may apply based upon merchant policies.
© 1999-2009