Consumer complaint received 2020-07-23
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO.
State: NY
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Closing an account
Sub-issue: Funds not received from closed account

Complaint:
XX/XX/XXXX Dear CFPB : I hope this finds you well and safe. This is an appeal for assistance in resolving a very serious issue caused by JPMorgan Chase Bank. Thank you for reading all of it and for any and all assistance you can give. 

JPMorgan Chase Bank is continuing to separate me from {$11000.00} of my funds in a checking account they very suddenly and without warning restricted and closed in XX/XX/XXXX. I am unemployed due to the pandemic, have family to support, and need my funds. The Covid-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc with people 's lives including those of myself and my dependent child, and Chase 's actions in my case have greatly added to the pain and suffering. 

I learned on XX/XX/XXXX when trying to log into my Chase Bank checking account that JPMorgan Chase Bank had RESTRICTED and then CLOSED my checking account containing NYS Unemployment insurance benefits and Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation ( FPUC ) payments that had been direct-deposited into the account since XXXX by the NYS Department of Labor ( NYSDOL ). Chase 's Loss Prevention office, ( XXXX ) XXXX Option # XXXX, has repeatedly and to this day that Chase Bank " reserves its right to not provide me with a reason or explanation. '' By restricting and closing my account, and not releasing my funds to me, JPMorgan Chase Bank is forcing me into dire financial straits at a time when I am in great need of those unemployment benefits and FPUC assistance funds that Chase has separated me from in order to support myself and my child over the course of the next few months. Additionally, I was told by Chase 's Loss Prevention that I could never open another account at Chase in the future. I have never been informed of the reason for their actions. I told Loss Prevention that I have had a Chase credit card for several years and had recently paid off most or all of the balance on the credit card with funds from the checking account that they had closed. Their response was just to say, " Oh, you can keep the credit card. '' On XX/XX/XXXX, I emailed Ms. XXXX XXXX XXXX, Chase Bank 's CEO of  Consumer Banking at the XXXX Headquarters, giving her details of my case, and appealed to her for assistance. ( I recently sent a copy of my XX/XX/XXXX and a follow-up email to Ms. XXXX by Certified/Return Receipt U.S. Mail. I have not yet received a response. ) On XX/XX/XXXX I received an email from " Chase Executive Office '' with a link to a Voltage securemail app, which I learned by calling the Executive Office ( XXXX ) XXXX was a means of communicating by email with the Executive Office. My email messages via the app were never responded to in writing in return. I was put in touch with someone named " XXXX '' ( only first names are given at Chase ) at Chase 's Executive Office, ( XXXX ) XXXX Ext. XXXX or Ext. XXXX, who said that he had been assigned to my case. XXXX gave me a case number, which I will gladly provide to you if requested. ( I am not sure if it's OK to include the case number in this message? ) When I asked if he could correspond with me in writing via the Voltage securemail app I had been asked to sign up for, he said that he was not able to communicate with me in writing, and is only able to do so by by phone. XXXX has repeatedly asked me to be patient over the course of the last 3-4 weeks and each time that I've called to follow up, has told me that he has not been able to get through to Chase 's " back office '' but that he will continue to try to help resolve my case. He said he had been unsuccessful, and asked if I could give him any other information that he could submit to the " back office '' as further proof. I told him that the NYSDOL had assigned me a Customer ID # and that it was a confidential number. He assured me that he would not share it with anyone who did not absolutely require it for the purpose of releasing my funds to me, so I gave him my ID #, although reluctantly. The most recent phone conversation I had with XXXX was on XX/XX/XXXX when he called to say that he did not have any further information for me and that he was " concluding '' his efforts. On XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX XXXX, I received a voice message from XXXX, who said he had been informed that my checking account would be reopened, but that he did not know when my funds would be available and would get back to me once he is able to find that information. I do not have any proof that my account has been reopened. Nothing I have been told has been in writing. 

Evidently, the fate of my funds is in the hands of Chase 's " back office '' or, as it's also referred to, its " centralized control team ''. My requests to contact the " back office '' directly or to leave a message for the " back office '' or " centralized control team '' to call me were always denied. Early in the morning of XX/XX/XXXX, I received a voicemail from someone named " XXXX '' from Chase Bank, saying that he had important information regarding the status of funds in my account, and I believe he was the same XXXX who had told the Chase banker, XXXX XXXX, that ( 1 ) my documentation had been approved and ( 2 ) my funds were being released. However, when calling XXXX back at the number he specified, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, Option # XXXX, I was told it was not possible to reach him and that I could not leave a message for him. 

In XX/XX/XXXX I opened the Chase checking account online to avoid having to physically visit a branch at a time when Covid-19 was raging in New York XXXX. Chase has a number of branches closer to where I live than the bank where I had been receiving my unemployment deposits previously, and it would have been convenient if I ever needed to use an ATM. The balance in my checking account when Chase closed it was {$12000.00}. Chase has only sent me a check for {$1000.00}, dated XX/XX/XXXX, an amount that they said represent the non-Unemployment and non-FPUC portion of my funds balance. The stub of the {$1000.00} check states very incorrectly that it is for the remaining balance in my account. That is alarming. The {$1000.00} check stub states : " Update : Here 's a check for the funds that were in your Chase account ( s ). We closed your account ( s ) and attached a check for the remaining balance ( s ). We included any interest you earned up to the date of closing. If you have any questions, please call us at XXXX. Sincerely, Account Services. '' Subsequently, I was sent an account statement marked " XX/XX/XXXX through XX/XX/XXXX '' that indicates " Other Withdrawals '' in an amount of {$12000.00}, and also indicates an Ending Balance of {$0.00}. This is extremely alarming! Chase Bank is still keeping me separated from {$11000.00} of my funds, funds that constitute my Unemployment benefits and FPUC compensation funds that had been directly deposited into the account by the NYSDOL, an amount which they have confirmed. 

I have kept notes on conversations I have had with Chase Bank since discovering on XX/XX/XXXX that my account had been restricted and was going to be closed. On XX/XX/XXXX when I first called Chase Bank 's Loss Prevention, my {$12000.00} balance was confirmed by a representative named " XXXX '' and also by a manager named " XXXX ''. XXXX said that my balance would be released to me within 10 days, and that I could expect a cashier 's check to be overnighted to me on XX/XX/XXXX and received by XX/XX/XXXX. When I expressed additional concern about the bank 's closure of my account possibly being reported to credit reporting agencies, XXXX assured me that my account restriction and closure would NOT be reported to the credit bureaus and would not affect my credit rating. He said the restriction and closure of my account would only be kept internally at Chase and would not be shared with any outside party ( ies ). I have done absolutely nothing to warrant the restriction of my funds and the closure of my account. 

I called Loss Prevention again on XX/XX/XXXX and was told by someone named " XXXX '' that my account had been restricted on XX/XX/XXXX, and that Chase would prepare a cashier 's check on XX/XX/XXXX for the balance in the account, and that I didn't need to worry and didn't need to call back. But of course I was concerned. XXXX confirmed that my balance was {$12000.00}, and said that an amount of {$1100.00} ( representing an Unemployment benefit direct deposit payment of {$500.00} plus a FPUC direct deposit payment of {$600.00} ) were showing in her computer system as " pending '' and would be deposited into my account within XXXX days. 

When I called Loss Prevention on XX/XX/XXXX to follow up, I was told by someone named " XXXX '' that the two direct deposits from the NYSDOL totaling {$1100.00} had been rejected by Chase and returned to NYSDOL on XX/XX/XXXX. On the afternoon of XX/XX/XXXX I spoke with a supervisor at XXXX XXXX named " XXXX '', who asked me what the recurring {$500.00} and {$600.00} deposits were for. I told him that they were my weekly NYSDOL Unemployment benefits and FPUC payments, which I had explained to everyone I had spoken with at Loss Prevention since XX/XX/XXXX. XXXX then told me that I needed to provide Chase with physical proof that the funds were mine. He suggested that I go into a branch with my ID and an official document from the NYS Department of Labor so that the bank would have indisputable proof of my ownership of the funds in my account. 

The next day, on XX/XX/XXXX, I went to a Chase Bank branch at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX NY and met with a banker named XXXX XXXX in his office. I explained the situation and provided Mr. XXXX with ( 1 ) my NYS driver 's license, ( 2 ) the debit card belonging to my checking account that Chase has closed, and XXXX XXXX ) a printout of a document from my NYSDOL account entitled, " Official Record of Benefit Payment History '' that clearly indicates my name, the last 4 digits of my social, my Unemployment effective date, benefit year ending date, the amount of my weekly Unemployment benefit ( {$500.00} ) as well as an itemization of each and every date and dollar amount of every Unemployment benefit payment and {$600.00} FPUC payment that had been made to my Chase account since it was opened. Mr. XXXX, the banker, called me the next day, on XX/XX/XXXX, to let me know that he had received a call from someone named " XXXX '' in Chase 's " back office '', who informed him that my forms of proof had been accepted and that my funds were going to be released to me within 10 days. Mr. XXXX said that a check for {$1000.00} would be sent to me that same day, and that the larger check for {$11000.00} would arrive within 10 business days. I have only received one check in the amount of {$1000.00}. I am still owed {$11000.00}. 

However, when I called Loss Prevention on XX/XX/XXXX to check on the status of those checks, I was told by a supervisor named " XXXX '' that there was a new notation in their computer system indicating that the release of my funds had been DENIED, and no reason or explanation was given. He went further to tell me that the system indicated there was " no time line for review '', which is alarming. I was further told by " XXXX '' that if my funds were left unclaimed for a certain length of time, they would be sent to the State of New York (!!! ) That can not be allowed to happen with my funds. 

I have never received any written notice in the U.S. Mail from Chase Bank that my funds were being restricted or had been restricted, nor any notice that my account was being closed or had been closed. No reason has ever been provided to me about the restriction of my funds or my account closure, despite many, many requests for an explanation. Everyone I have spoken with at Chase has maintained that " the bank is exercising its right not to give me a reason. '' To date, Chase has only mailed me one cashier 's check for {$1000.00}, and the stub on that check states that it is a final balance, which is not correct! I am still owed {$11000.00}. Chase subsequently mailed me a checking account statement that shows a final balance of XXXX, which is also absolutely not correct and is outrageous. Chase is still restricting {$11000.00} of my funds. 

The Covid-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc with people 's lives including those of myself and my dependent child, and Chase 's actions have greatly added to the suffering. A profound injustice has been committed by JPMorgan Chase Bank. 

Not only has JPMorgan Chase Bank 's actions put me in a situation where I am facing dire financial straits, my health is being affected by the enormous amount of stress this has caused and is still causing. I did nothing to warrant having my funds restricted and I need all of my funds returned to me to avoid further hardship. I have provided all documentation and more that Chase has requested of me. As I stated above, I learned from a Chase banker on XX/XX/XXXX that the documentation I provided had been approved by Chase 's " back office '' and that all of my funds would be received within 10 days. That did not happen. I have been told numerous things by different people each time I have called the bank 's Loss Prevention number. As I have stated, Chase Bank is still separating me from {$11000.00} of my funds. 

Many thanks to you, CFPB, for any and all assistance you can give with my case. I very much look forward to hearing from you and to a speedy return of my funds by JPMorgan Chase Bank in the amount of {$11000.00}. 

Very sincerely and with appreciation.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation