Consumer complaint received 2022-12-18
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: CA
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: Government benefit card
Issue: Problem with a purchase or transfer
Sub-issue: Charged for a purchase or transfer you did not make with the card

Complaint:
I contacted Bank of America regarding unauthorized transactions made on my XXXX debit card account for my CA Unemployment Benefits multiple times in XXXX and XXXX. When they were initially notified of the unauthorized transactions in XXXX, they denied my claim without properly conducting an investigation. I had to resubmit the claim in XXXX  after receiving a notification from them stating that they were reopening the claims which were previously denied. After the final time that the claims were resubmitted, I called to receive an update on the status of the claims in XX/XX/XXXX and was told by a representative that the claims were in a pending status. The representative filed a complaint regarding the claims due to them being in a pending status for a longer period than the legal limit allowed for an investigation. I called again to check the status of the claims two months later in XXXX XXXX XXXX  and was told by another representative that the claims were still in a pending status since XX/XX/XXXX. Another complaint was submitted on my behalf for these claims, in addition to an escalation request. I called again a month later and was told the same thing regarding the claims being in a pending status, and another complaint was submitted. Following the third call, after being told that the claims were in a pending status since XXXX XXXX  I reached out to my local senator 's office to request assistance, due to the claims involving XXXX CA XXXX funds which were stolen from my account using my stolen debit card. Back in XXXX, my mail was being stolen from my mailbox and fraudulently forwarded to an unknown address after a fraudulent change of address request was submitted for my address without my knowledge or consent. My mail was being forward for several weeks and months while I was away from home. This allowed the individual who stole my mail gain access to my XXXX debit card and make several unauthorized transactions on my account. I never received the debit cards which were mailed to me by Bank of America. After reviewing the unauthorized transactions made on my account, I saw several international transactions and other transactions which were clear indicators of fraud. My initial claims should have never been denied and after they were reopened, they should have never been in a pending status for several months. They have been in this same pending status since XX/XX/XXXX, which was six months ago. According to Regulation E, a bank has up to 90 days to complete an investigation regarding errors reported on checking account. These claims have surpassed that time frame and no provisional credit was ever issued for these claims despite them exceeding the legal time limit allowed for an investigation. I sent Bank of America several documents to prove that these transactions were fraudulent, including police reports for the unauthorized transactions, identity theft reports from the Federal Trade Commission, mail theft reports from the XXXX XXXX XXXX and the United States Postal Service, and written letters explaining the details of what happened regarding my stole mail. I was even hospitalized with COVID in XXXX when some of the unauthorized transactions were made with my stolen debit card and can provide doctor 's notes that I received when I was discharged from the hospital. This money that was stolen from my account using my stolen XXXX debit card are government benefits which were issued to me during the pandemic that I need to pay back rent owed to my landlord from the times I was unable to pay my rent due to being unemployed from the XXXX pandemic. I have been trying to resolve this matter directly with Bank of America for over a year now. With my claims being in a pending status for six months now, Bank of America is in violation of federal law and has violated my consumer rights. According to Regulation E 1005.11 ( c ) ( 1 ) Ten-day period. A financial institution shall investigate promptly and, except as otherwise provided in this paragraph ( c ), shall determine whether an error occurred within 10 business days of receiving a notice of error. The institution shall report the results to the consumer within three business days after completing its investigation. The institution shall correct the error within one business day after determining that an error occurred. ( 2 ) Forty-five day period. If the financial institution is unable to complete its investigation within 10 business days, the institution may take up to 45 days from receipt of a notice of error to investigate and determine whether an error occurred, provided the institution does the following : ( i ) Provisionally credits the consumer 's account in the amount of the alleged error ( including interest where applicable ) within 10 business days of receiving the error notice. If the financial institution has a reasonable basis for believing that an unauthorized electronic fund transfer has occurred and the institution has satisfied the requirements of 1005.6 ( a ), the institution may withhold a maximum of {$50.00} from the amount credited. My claim numbers which are currently in a pending status are claim numbers : XXXX 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