Consumer complaint received 2019-05-07
Company: U.S. BANCORP
State: CA
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Traveler's check or cashier's check
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
On XX/XX/19 my mother gifted me a cashier 's check for {$10000.00}. I researched it and the IRS website stated that {$14000.00} is the max amount an individual can receive as a gift, free of taxes. I received a letter from US Bank that I assumed was junk mail so I did not open it for a couple days upon receiving it. 
On XX/XX/19 I opened the letter and it stated that a hold was placed on my deposit and " this action was taken because we have information that leads us to believe the check may not be paid. '' So I called the XXXX number to find out what they were talking about. Cashiers checks are guaranteed and paid in advance according to my understanding so how could it not have been paid unless I committed some sort of theft or fraud? The representative I spoke with said that it was not US Bank that placed the hold, it was the branch manager and I would have to get it cleared up at the branch. 
My car was in the shop and I was unable to make to the branch so XX/XX/19 i emailed US Bank requesting the branch managers email so I could see what exactly is going on and find out what this information they claim to have is and where they obtained it, as it is entirely untrue and unfounded. I was informed they couldn't give me the email address and I had to get it from her myself. I proceeded to send another email explaining the situation and why I was upset and had several exchanges with the representative regarding this issue. Once I was able to clearly get my point across as to why I was upset, it wasn't the hold ( which after researching on your site I believe was a violation of federal regulation ) it was the claim to have information that I knew was 100 % false and implied that I had done something unlawful. The representative quickly shut down and said he could no longer discuss this matter with me and I would have to take it up with branch and stated it was a generic letter they send to everyone and was not a personal attack. I have an extremely hard time believing that US Bank makes false claims of having information of which they do not as a generic statement to their customers. 
XX/XX/19 I responded to this email saying I thought that was a very odd thing to put into a generic letter and thanked him for his effort. XX/XX/19 I went into the branch that supposedly issued the hold, with a copy of the original letter and a request for a written statement declaring what this information was and any sources. The branch manager, XXXX, who I have dealt with since she was hired as a teller years ago, said she did not issue the letter and had no knowledge of it until my email conversation XX/XX/XXXX-XX/XX/XXXX had been forwarded to her and she had no information to give me because she was not responsible and was very apologetic that this happened. I'm inclined to believe her having dealt with her for close to 10 years approximately and having this discussion face to face. That made me feel somewhat better because I had felt like she stabbed me in the back for no reason. I told her I will be closing all my accounts with U.S. including my 2 lines of credit and filing a complaint with the CFPB because I'm outraged by the this falsified claim of information about my transaction and the implication that I somehow fraudulently obtained the check, along with believing that a federal regulation was violated under false pretense as the entirety of my deposit was unavailable until XX/XX/19. She said she was very sorry and felt terrible but understood and hated to see me leave under these circumstances. 
I'm of the understanding that a cashier 's check of {$10000.00} should have had {$5000.00} available the next business day with rest in reasonable time, unless there was reason to suspect fraud. XXXX XXXX, which issued the cashier 's check, did not receive any contact from U.S. Bank in an attempt to verify the authenticity of the transaction and had no explanation as to why there was any delay or complications. I went into XXXX XXXX XX/XX/19 immediately after leaving the U.S Bank branch to open a new account with them and see if they had any information to help explain this situation. They found the letter extremely odd as well and saw no reason why any of this had taken place as they were never even contacted to verify the check. 
I feel my rights and federal regulations have been violated in this process. False claims of having information that does not exist have been made and used as reason to keep my funds as long as possible along with and implied accusation of some sort of wrong doing. I now have to close all my accounts with this company because despite whatever their " information '' says, I'm a man of high integrity and refuse to do business of any sort with any company I feel is participating in unethical and dishonest business practices. Especially a company I've done business with for over a decade and have done absolutely nothing to warrant such treatment. Pending an appraisal I could be submitting an offer on a home and applying for a loan in the next 60 days, closing 2 credit lines will surely impact my credit negatively which I've spend several years building and is currently excellent. That could potentially raise my interest rate and cost me a considerable amount of money over the next 30 years if not prevent me from being able to make the purchase all together as I've done the math and my highest offer I could afford at the rate I was preapproved is probably going to be around the bottom of the range they might be willing to accept. It's a private seller and I have no competition on bidding. If I want it and we can agree on a price, its mine. If not then they will put it on the market and get as much as possible for it. Not only has this caused me stress, cost me time, and been an extremely offensive experience but it could potentially cost me the ability to buy a home which was the reason my mother gifted me the cashiers check in the first place. Everybody is claiming it wasnt them but somebody has to be responsible and it begs the question, what is their reason for doing this? Somebody somewhere must be gaining something from this somehow. If not then why do it? I hope I have done an adequate job giving you every detail I have and you are able to see why this is such a big deal to me. It's not just the insult of this situation but it has potential to have a huge negative impact on my life that will never be able to be repaired. Please help me get to the bottom of this and see that justice is served and help me try to prevent anybody else from dealing with this sort of situation. Thank you very much for your time and I apologize for such a wordy explanation. I just wanted to be as thorough as possible and cover every detail. 

Best Regards, XXXX XXXX

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation