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

kamalktk said: theficus said: My cash balance, however, is negative $888,888.88.
If you're chinese and superstitious, you've hit the jackpot, eight 8's!No, no, no, it's NEGATIVE $888,888.88. That's bad luck.

scott1961 said: Don't want to derail your thread but you are accusing a bank of something pretty serious by saying they called you a "Racial Slur" That's the only reason I'm interested in the context of it. I have moved over a half million out of BoA in the last month without any issues, Must be because of my nice Jewish name?You are very white. I saw your pic on the official fw pic thread. I saw Eddie Murphy on saturday night live, and banks treat white people better than they do non-white people. Except BoA which caters to illegal immigrants. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. I wish OP the best of luck and welcome him to try his banking at a reward checking institution where they welcome the poor, the tired and the huddled masses.

Reward Checking Accounts Open to All Thread

Did you pay Child Support??

theficus said: I'm considering the following options:

1.) Suck it up as a lesson learned, never deal with Bank of America again, and move my money to another bank. This is the path of least resistance. What other bank, however, offers all the integrated services I had at Bank of America? I liked the convenience of having my deposit, brokerage, and credit accounts at the same institution.
2.) Write a letter to the executive department, contact a lawyer, and pursue legal options. This might get me everything I want, but at what cost (time and effort-wise)?
3. Keep calling until I speak to someone who will do more than call me names and hang up on me. I might get the immediate satisfaction of feeling like I'm doing something, but I doubt I'll get anywhere.
What is my best option?
I dont think (1) and (2) are mutually exclusive. Move to a different bank and still pursue your legal option, if you want. I dont see what good (3) is going to do.

I still dont see why you are still considering the option of sticking with BoA, if they will give you a chance? There are several other banks/brokerages that offer these services (e.g. Fidelity, Wells Fargo etc.). It is not a good idea to have credit cards from a single bank; have a few spread among some big banks and 1-2 local banks/credit Unions.

theficus said: What other bank, however, offers all the integrated services I had at Bank of America? I liked the convenience of having my deposit, brokerage, and credit accounts at the same institution.The benefits of integrated services don't seem to outweigh the risk of having all your eggs in one basket. By using multiple financial institutions, you are also free to take advantage of the best products available on the market. As long as all your accounts support ACH, it's a simple matter to move money around.

theficus said: I'm considering the following options:

1.) Suck it up as a lesson learned, never deal with Bank of America again, and move my money to another bank. This is the path of least resistance. What other bank, however, offers all the integrated services I had at Bank of America? I liked the convenience of having my deposit, brokerage, and credit accounts at the same institution.

2.) Write a letter to the executive department, contact a lawyer, and pursue legal options. This might get me everything I want, but at what cost (time and effort-wise)?

3. Keep calling until I speak to someone who will do more than call me names and hang up on me. I might get the immediate satisfaction of feeling like I'm doing something, but I doubt I'll get anywhere.

What is my best option?

Personally I would pick #1. Move on and reduce the stress in your life. How about Fidelity?

Maybe in a few months you can apply for a BOA CC and then on the third Tuesday of every other month buy a pack of gum

Who'd I contact

Comptroller for the closing of the account
SEC for the closing of the brokerage
ACLU for the slur (Note: It doesn't matter what the slur was. If it was personally insulting, then it shouldn't have happened).

I'd apply for a LaSalle account while it's not yet integrated into the BofA system. And I'll see from there.

There's really nothing you can do legally about the situation about your BOA accounts because they can cancel the relationship between you for any reason. It says it when you signed the contract with your bank.

You can probably write a letter in a polite way to their corporate office and tell them about the situation to you and any issues with the racial statements if possible. Tell them that you can't recommend Bank Of America's services to your family and friends because of the way they treat their customers.

Now if he was Black he could get Jessie and Al after them, They would love to shake down a bank BoA's size

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

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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

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.

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.