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

Last month I deposited 25k+ BT cash advance check from Chase at BOA, waited for the hold to clear.
Two weeks after deposit Made 4k+ Billpay to discover,
following day, made 19k+ Billpay to citi

checking account was flagged by fraud dept.

They called me on the same day that 19k billpay was scheduled to confirm transaction.

If I had not answered that call from fraud and explained that I authorized the billpay and explained it was to pay medical expenses, I don't doubt they could have done the same thing considering I also have 22k of their money out at 0% and the want to protect their interests, regardless of my name or race.

We tried to close a joint account we were not using a couple months ago and were refused because my wife didn't have photo id with her at the time. They seem to be doing their job when it comes to security.

uutxs said: 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.
And Keep notes on all your conversations. Dates, Times, who you spoke to , what number you called, etc.

superdrew said: 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) Oh my god, this would be awesome! No lawsuits, nothing - just pure PR. Just make sure you are not on their property but on public property when you do this.

Technologist said: theficus said: <<SNIP>>
I'm Muslim and I was born in the Middle East. One of my parents is white and I grew up speaking English, so nobody can tell my race or religion unless they know my name. The CSR pretty much called me a terrorist.



I just wanted to point out that "pretty much" calling someone "a terrorist" is NOT a racial slur... It may be insensitive, or slander, or just plain stupid... but it is NOT a racial SLUR!

Compare it to a man named "Gold", and calling him a banker or a jeweler...

That being said, it sounds like BoA made some assumptions (some of which are wrong), and closed your accounts either based on their internal procedures for risk reduction, or based on Patriot act guidelines. So you should follow-up on both paths (upper echelons at BoA if Bank policies, and OCC for govt. rules).

If he was called a Terrorist, thats pretty much grounds for suing the hell out of BoA, no matter what else they did. With today's government, he can now be picked up for basically no reason and be held for a very long time by the FBI (basically unlawfully, but the feds say otherwie), And I so wish I was joking about this, but I'm not.

Calling someone a terrorist is the worst possible thing you can do.

tim1 said:
We tried to close a joint account we were not using a couple months ago and were refused because my wife didn't have photo id with her at the time. They seem to be doing their job when it comes to security.

Safer deposits?
U.S. banks vary widely when ranked on protecting consumers from fraud
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/these-banks-tops-protecting-consumers/story.aspx?guid=%7B0BDB51F7%2D3EEF%2D4315%2DAF93%2DD1C10AFB4577%7D&siteid=yhoof

"Bank of America Corp. took top honors for the second year in a row in a report ranking the largest U.S. banks on how well they protect their customers from fraud and identity theft."

You may not be as "in the clear" as you think on this. While JayK is correct that this probably won't impact your Chex ratings, you may have been placed on an AML list, which will be queried whenever you attempt large transfers or deposits. In fact, you may have already been on the list, based on the way BoA reacted to your activity.

Some info on AML

This could definitely impact your ability to conduct financial transactions in the future.

Good luck.

Do you possibly owe any credit cards from years ago? I just had a similar situation with a charged off credit card. My account was "sold" to another company and because my check is already being garnished from someone else they froze my bank accounts and required that I make a 30% deposit on the total I had owed before they released my accounts.

theficus said: I spoke to the California office. The representative informed me that my account was closed because of 3 recent outbound transfers:

1.) $4,000 to my Vanguard Roth IRA (my 2007 contribution).
2.) $20,000 to my Banc of America Investments brokerage account (to buy FSLXX, since the NEA rate was dropping).
3.) $2,500 to my Citibank savings account (to conviently pay down my Citibank AOR cards).

She stated that "Bank of America doesn't like customers to move so much money out of their account right after making a big deposit.".

And that's the reason? $26,500 is not a huge amount of money these days. Do they know what an average car costs?

Geesh. I once deposited $100,000 into a Wells Fargo Bank checking account, and then moved the money elsewhere within a week. Wells Fargo never gave me a problem. It's my money. Besides, just because B of A doesn't like it, doesn't mean you need to leave your money in a checking account to earn no interest. But my deposits weren't balance transfer/credit card cash advance checks. B of A may have gotten nervous because of this.

OP - please update the Quick Summary thread whenever you get new info - or at least post a timeline - so that people who want to get the jist don't have to wade through numerous pages of postings. The concise info will be helpful to other people who might find themselves in this type of situation as well.

The Quick Summary should have:
1. problem
2. timeline of events leading up to the problem
3. timeline of events following the discovery of the problem
4. suggested venues of solving the problem
5. venues you have taken to solve the problem
6. results

Sorry to hear about what happened to you!

DavidScubadiver said: I asked early on in the thread, "are you now or have you ever been a member of any terrorist organization" or something to that effect, and we have not had an answer.What's the point of such a question? I seriously doubt anyone would answer yes, guilty or not.

DavidScubadiver said: This leads me to conclude one of two things. TheFicus is an honest terrorist who won't lie about his activities, Care to let everyone know the evidence which would lead you to come to this conclusion?

DavidScubadiver said: *OR* TheFicus refuses to be baited by my sometimes not so-helpful comments.In the words of Jules Winfield, CORRECTAMUNDO.

DavidScubadiver said: Either way, I am suspicious.Now it's clear you're attempting to stir up trouble. Assuming you're a citizen of the US, isn't it your lawful duty to report this "suspicious" person to local authorities? Oh you haven't? Well maybe I'm suspicious of YOU!

burgerwars said: And that's the reason? $26,500 is not a huge amount of money these days. Do they know what an average car costs?

Geesh. I once deposited $100,000 into a Wells Fargo Bank checking account, and then moved the money elsewhere within a week. Wells Fargo never gave me a problem. It's my money. Besides, just because B of A doesn't like it, doesn't mean you need to leave your money in a checking account to earn no interest. But my deposits weren't balance transfer/credit card cash advance checks. B of A may have gotten nervous because of this.BoA loves holds and hates transfers out. Back when I had accounts with them, I had a business checking account and a personal account. I was the owner of both accounts. I deposited my paycheck from the business account to the personal account and they put an 11 day hold on it. This made no sense because I was simply moving funds within BoA. I could verify the transfer, and the funds were available and verified. When I asked about it, the only answer I ever got was that they were doing it because they could.

I then took the only option available to me. I closed my accounts. Except for the two credit cards that I'm using for BT and billpay.

TiteArse said: theficus said:
I called back and spoke to a gentleman about the insult. He was very polite and professional about the entire situation. All he could do, however, was give me an address to voice my concern.

I've dealt with insults so much in my life that it's just like water off my back now. The more important issue is why my accounts were closed and how I had to find out about it, so let's stick to that topic.

I think I can guess the racial slur..

LOL...i'm literally laughing out loud at work

donotdrinkPBR said: DavidScubadiver said: I asked early on in the thread, "are you now or have you ever been a member of any terrorist organization" or something to that effect, and we have not had an answer.What's the point of such a question? I seriously doubt anyone would answer yes, guilty or not.

DavidScubadiver said: This leads me to conclude one of two things. TheFicus is an honest terrorist who won't lie about his activities, Care to let everyone know the evidence which would lead you to come to this conclusion?You answered the question yourself, donotdrinkpbr... I asked the question. He refused to answer. If he's an HONEST terrorist but does not want to disclose his activities, he would not answer because to do so would be a lie. Hence, I concluded he's either an honest terrorist or he refuses to be baited by me. I think its a fair conclusion to be drawn.

As for the point of the original question, it was to bait him. I thought all of that was obvious.

Meadowlands said: This is one of the reasons why I hesitate starting an AOR. You never know what these CC companies and banks will do as soon as you start moving large amounts of cash around. I really want to start doing it but when I hear a story like this it kinda makes you second guess.

This is why I will never put any of my "AOR Funds" in a bank that I also have high debt credit cards with. It just looks way too obvious.

Let them figure out if I am really that much in debt... or I am just playing AOR games.

DjPiLL said: This is why I will never put any of my "AOR Funds" in a bank that I also have high debt credit cards with. It just looks way too obvious.

Let them figure out if I am really that much in debt... or I am just playing AOR games.From a risk management perspective, it would seem that having liquid assets in an account with the lender would indicate an ability to repay the debt. If you borrow money from a bank and soon afterwards transfer a large sum of money to your brokerage account and invest in risky securities, they would have a good reason to worry.

theman2 said: DjPiLL said: This is why I will never put any of my "AOR Funds" in a bank that I also have high debt credit cards with. It just looks way too obvious.

Let them figure out if I am really that much in debt... or I am just playing AOR games.From a risk management perspective, it would seem that having liquid assets in an account with the lender would indicate an ability to repay the debt. If you borrow money from a bank and soon afterwards transfer a large sum of money to your brokerage account and invest in risky securities, they would have a good reason to worry.

I think I'll mail my AOR checks directly to my brokerage. Local banks put an 11 day hold on the funds anyway.

I spoke to my local branch today; the people were friendly but unable to assist me. The manager told me my accounts are locked out and again referred me to the fraud/risk department.

I plan on doing the following today:

1.) Send a complaint to Bank of America via CMRRR.
2.) Send a letter to Bank of America's executive office via CMRRR.
3.) File a formal complain with the OCC.
4.) Draft a small claims complaint to recover all fees and lost interest. I plan on filing this after I receive the return receipts from my complaint and letter to the CEO.

I'll update the Quick Summary soon.

Since when is being muslim a race?

Anyhow, I made a few large withdraws from BoA both on the same day. I had no problems, and no letters. Large as in $70k and $40k. I did all of this in person though, as opposed to online. It required a managerial override.

Ficus, it's time to no longer be a mimosa.

theficus said: I spoke to my local branch today; the people were friendly but unable to assist me. The manager told me my accounts are locked out and again referred me to the fraud/risk department.You should have had the local branch manager call the fraud/risk department in your presence.