Consumer complaint received 2020-05-17
Company: Paypal Holdings, Inc
State: PA
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Mobile or digital wallet
Issue: Unauthorized transactions or other transaction problem

Complaint:
I own a 3 unit apartment building, which I purchased in XXXX. One of the tenants I inherited with the purchase had been paying her rent via Paypal. She paid her XXXX, XXXX rent to me via PayPal on XX/XX/XXXX. 

Her XXXX payment via Paypal was reversed due to insufficient funds -- for which PayPal charged ME {$20.00} -- which seems ludicrous, but that is not my primary complaint. Further, this tenant has not paid XXXX or XXXX rent. However, why / how can Paypal charge me a fee for insufficient funds on behalf of someone paying me from their Paypal account ; it's PayPal 's job to ensure the funds are there, not mine! 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a notice from Paypal that her XX/XX/XXXX payment was being investigated as unauthorized. The tenant claims she didn't initiate this action, but regardless, it should not matter. I provided a copy of the lease with the tenant to Paypal, proving that the funds were in fact due. The lease is in the name of the previous owner, so I also offered to provide documentation confirming our purchase of the building, which PayPal didn't respond to. Without any further explanation, Paypal reversed the transaction today, indicating that they've determined the purchase was unauthorized. Not only was this not fraud, but this is well outside of the 60 day window a bank has to reverse an unauthorized ACH payment. I would initiate a claim against her bank, but have no way to know who her bank is. 

Here is the original note from Paypal from XX/XX/XXXX : Dear XXXX XXXX, We are writing to let you know one of your buyers opened a case for this transaction. The buyer stated that they did not authorize this purchase. 

Here are the case details : Buyer 's name : XXXX XXXX Buyer 's email : XXXX Buyer 's transaction ID : XXXX Your transaction ID : XXXX Transaction date : XX/XX/XXXX Transaction amount : {$1200.00} USD Disputed amount : {$1200.00} USD At this time we need no further action or information from you. Thank you for your patience during this process. We appreciate your business. 

If this is a digital goods transaction, please provide the download date and time for the associated purchase through the Resolution Center to help us dispute your case. 

Thank you for your patience during this process. We appreciate your business. 

You can find additional information and tips about buying and selling safely on our Business Resource Center. After you log in to your PayPal account, click Tools, and then click Business Resource Center under " Grow your business. '' Sincerely, PayPal Here is there message from today : Hello XXXX XXXX, As previously communicated, your buyer opened a dispute for the following reason : The buyer stated that they did not authorize this purchase. 

Here are case details : Case ID : XXXX Buyer 's name : XXXX XXXX Buyer 's email : XXXX Buyer 's transaction ID : XXXX Your transaction ID : XXXX Transaction date : XX/XX/XXXX Transaction amount : {$1200.00} USD Disputed amount : {$1200.00} USD {$1200.00} USD has now been debited from your PayPal account for the following reason ( s ) : Other.

In addition, a chargeback fee of {$20.00} USD has been debited from your PayPal account.

We understand that you may not have been expecting this chargeback. If this debit has caused your PayPal account balance to go negative, please log in to your account and add money to your balance.

Thank you for your patience during this process. We appreciate your business.

You can find additional information and tips about buying and selling safely on our Business Resource Center.

Thanks, PayPal I have many tenants not paying rent due to Covid ; for Paypal to take away valid payments from 3 months ago is something I can not accept -- financially or morally. This is an outrage. 

Someone PayPal ( and Venmo, which of course they own XXXX seem to think they can operate above the banking reg 's ; please help me show them that's not true. 

Thank you for your help with this matter. 

XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation