Consumer complaint received 2023-07-03
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: NC
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Closing an account
Sub-issue: Company closed your account

Complaint:
I am a visiting scholar from XXXX to the United States for approximately 2 months. I opened a checking account with Bank of America ( BOA ) at their XXXX XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/2023. Two days later, my wife wired US {$6000.00} from her account with XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX to my newly opened checking account with BOA. However, BOA identified this transaction as a suspected fraud and blocked my access to the account after the receipt of the money. 

I tried calling their customer service, but they required that I go to the branch in person. I visited the bank in person, and I was told that BOA could not verify the transaction and they instructed me to ask my wife to confirm the legitimacy of the transaction with XXXX XXXX XXXX  XXXX, after which I would be able to access my account. 

However, a few days after my wife confirmed the transaction with XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX, I was notified that the account was closed by BOA as a " business decision '' even though my wife had already confirmed the legitimacy of the transaction. This was contradictory to what I was told before. I visited the bank again to enquire about this matter. After spending almost 3 hours at the bank while branch staff made numerous calls, I was told that the account would be closed and I would receive a check for US {$6000.00}, which was the balance of my account. I agreed to this resolution and confirmed with the branch staff the amount that I would receive and the expected delivery date of the check. 

Then, two weeks later, I received a check for only US {$85.00}, and BOA sent a letter notifying me that they would not return theUS {$6000.00} to me. They said they had frozen the funds. I had to visit the bank again to enquire about this matter. After spending another several hours at the bank while branch staff made numerous calls, I was told that BOA had already returned the funds back to my wife 's account with XXXX XXXX  XXXX XXXX and that BOA was no longer in possession of the money. I confirmed several times with the staff that my money has already been transferred out and BOA is no longer in possession of my money. 

However, after a week, my wife received a letter from XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX notifying that the payment could not be received because BOA did not release the money due to the lack of debit authority. This again was inconsistent with what I was told by BOA branch staff. 



I can understand that BOA had the right to restrict access to my account when they could not verify the original international transfer, but it was unacceptable that they first ask my wife to confirm rm the transaction, and after she did, they still moved on to close my account. It is unacceptable that they advised me that I would receive the full balance of my account through a cashier 's check but only to tell me later they would not send me the check for the whole balance. It is unacceptable for them to tell me that they had returned the funds to my wife 's account only to find out that they have still yet to release the funds. 

I have wasted countless hours on this series of issues during the past 5-6 weeks, and they still have not provided me with a clear answer as to how I will get my money back. I did not have access to my money, and I don't even know whether or when I can get my money back. Throughout the process, BOA has repeatedly provided conflicting instructions. My inability to access my money seriously affected my life in the US. I had to live on borrowed money for two months, without a valid bank account. These issues also caused enormous mental stress to me. It has been extremely miserable! 

I am leaving the United States and returning to XXXX on XX/XX/2023. I really have to get my money back as soon as possible.

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