Consumer complaint received 2020-12-04
Company: FIRST HORIZON BANK
State: TN
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Other transaction problem

Complaint:
TO : CFPB # XXXX & XXXX # XXXX FROM : XXXX XXXX, First Horizon Complainant Case No. XXXX DATE : XX/XX/XXXX RE : My Response to First Horizon Bank Letter Dated XX/XX/XXXX With Attachments provided by First Horizon : Dated XXXX XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX The first thing, I would like to bring to the attention of these agencies is that for all of the letters dated above and attached to this reply, my company has always been addressed as a ( Doing Business As ) DBA XXXX XXXX XXXX, except for the last letter dated XX/XX/XXXX which does not even list the name of the business. The reason for that is, because after attending an on-line conference, I was told the difference between DBA account and an EIN IRS assigned business entity. And, on XX/XX/XXXX I went to a different bank in a different city and was told that all of the information needed to establish my business account was already on file. At that point the account title was changed to XXXX XXXX XXXX, without the DBA in the caption and no longer filed under my Social Security number. So, for nearly four ( 4 ) years my business account has been improperly labeled as a DBA and because of this I have been excluded from many business opportunities that could have advanced the business as a XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX when opened in early XXXX. Being that I was a new business  account holder I had limited knowledge as to what services the bank could provide to guide and support me as a XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. All I knew was I needed the EIN from IRS, get some clients, do the work and provide a service to those in need. Then, in late XXXX, I met Mr. XXXX XXXX through his next door neighbor after his wife had passed and discovered that my skills and services could benefit him as he had recently had a XXXX after his wifes death from trying to survive with taking care of XXXX adult children and XXXX adult grandchildren that were all living in the house with him. It was later discovered through Mr. XXXX that they all lacked the knowledgeable in the handling of an individual with such medical and financial needs. My company, XXXX XXXX XXXX is based upon the non-profit organization that I had just recently retired from when I officially met Mr. XXXX. Which was the XXXX XXXX XXXX where I had been the XXXX for XXXX  years. Mr. XXXX needed someone to carry him to his doctor appointments, pay his bill, which were maxed out at nearly {$200.00}, XXXX of debt and to help with shopping for food and preparing it. This is a man that had lived for 40 years next door to my best friend and co-worker. So, this man was not a stranger to me, although we had never officially met as individuals before. After several months of helping him with going to XXXX XXXX keeping all of his medical appointments in a timely manner and cooking him good nutrition and well-balanced meals, Mr. XXXX became attached to me and we began spending more and more time together. Then, a more than personal relationship developed, as I became attached to him. He had made a full recovery and was so grateful for all the help I had provided that he asked me to move in with him. So, he decided that he did not want to go home where he and his wife had lived for XXXX  years and stay there with XXXX adult children and XXXX adult grandchildren, with only XXXX working out of the XXXX ( XXXX ). So, we decided to get an apartment and live together and we both signed the lease on XX/XX/XXXX. Mr. XXXX was a very educated man ; he was a XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX XXXX Soon, I was tested by him for my honesty in the handling of his financial affairs and after proving my integrity he decided one and a half years later to transfer his money from his bank to the bank where I had my accounts, the then XXXX XXXX XXXX with a {$59000.00} deposit, at which time he granted me the Durable Power of Attorney ( POA ) and nearly one additional year later he added me as the Paid-On-Death Beneficiary, received and stamped as accepted XX/XX/XXXX. During this time I introduced him to the bank staff that had come to know me very well. And, soon they knew him by voice and site when ever he needed assistance and I was not available to go with him or handle it for him. The durable power was to allow me to handle both his finances and his medical decisions. With the medical decisions to only be activated once a medical diagnosis deemed him to be XXXX  by a XXXX rendering him XXXX and/or XXXX XXXX. It granted me the specific power to make those decisions, but only once he had been declared XXXX by XXXX  and/or XXXX XXXX. This was a Durable Power of Attorney which was executed at XXXX XXXX XXXX by one of their own notaries. The original was handed back to him on that day and the signature card was updated to show me as the POA on XX/XX/XXXX. And, from that day forward I was allowed to make deposits, make withdrawals, make transfers and for the next 2.5 years the branch manager or her assistant always signed off on all transactions made by me involving XXXX and XXXX. And, all during this time I never received any invitation nor have I ever been offered to attend any business conferences as a business owner by the bank. I had other customers many of whom were out of town and kept me going from state to state. I would carry Mr. XXXX with me most of the time and he enjoyed the traveling. I always kept the branch manager apprised of my movements on behalf of the business, because I shared all of my business experiences of helping others with her. She always commended me and told me what a great thing I was doing by helping those people, but never offered any business information to help me advance the company. And, she could see by my business account how much of my monies earned were going for business expenses and it would have been great to have some help. 
All was going well with MrXXXX XXXX until at some point in late XXXX, nearly {$7000.00} came up missing from his personal bank account ending in XXXX. He questioned me about it and of course I assured him I would never take anything from his account without his permission. So, he asked me to look into the matter. And, with him present on speaker phone, I called the banks security number. While on speaker phone, security advised that he go to the bank the next day and close that account and open a new one. So, he sent me and the bank staff who knew me personally, as I frequently was there throughout the month for both myself, the business and Mr. XXXX. And, I would always have them call him and let him know I was there. Well, that security instruction was never carried out by the branch manager. Because when I told her what security had said, she told me, no that is not the way to handle that. I will just open a new account and put some money in there so his pension and social security benefits can keep going into the first account ending in XXXX. And, the branch manager called him while I was there and told him what she had done. Neither of us questioned her actions and neither did we ever hear back from security. I was remarkably busy traveling and helping my other clients so we just decided to let security handle it and they would get back with him. But, to my knowledge security never called back with an explanation and whenever I would inquire about it to the branch manager she would say they are working on it. So, we never found out what happened to the {$7000.00}. Time went on and before you knew it we were in XX/XX/XXXX celebrating and looking forward to yet another year together. In XX/XX/XXXX he had asked me to marry him, for more than one time and this time I said yes, but with a condition. The condition was he had to complete his last payment of nearly {$4000.00} to IRS which was the end of a long journey from my having navigated him through {$40000.00} of delinquent taxes inherited from his wifes mishandling of their IRS tax account. So, we agreed and set a plan in motion. I also agreed to have XXXX XXXX as we had planned a 7-Day cruise for the honeymoon. I shared all of this information with the branch manager and showed her the wedding rings. I was congratulated on my accomplishments with helping Mr. XXXX to overcome some nearly {$200.00}, XXXX worth of debt and become debt free, just as myself. And, yet no one ever offered me any guidance on how to prosper my business as a minority business owner. But, then the only doctor Mr. XXXX trusted to do my XXXX was located in XXXX TX where I had already had 2 other XXXX. I had shared all of this with the branch manager. She knew everything, as I had shared my business and personal life with her, as though she was my mother. So, I left going to Texas to have the XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. 
And, on XX/XX/XXXX XXXXr. XXXX had supper with his son at his sons apartment. And, by late evening XX/XX/XXXX he became so ill that he had to be transported to the Emergency Room. Long story short, we had the same primary care doctor, who was the admitting doctor and also knew I was in Texas preparing for the XXXX, because she had ordered it. By XX/XX/XXXX after Mr. XXXX had had XXXX surgeries the doctor reported to me that Mr. XXXX was becoming quite confused and she wanted to know if he had a power of attorney, because he was going to have another XXXX and might need someone to sign for him. The doctor then asked if I could sign for him? I replied yes, but I can not make any medical decisions for him unless he has become too incapacitated to make decisions for himself. I then, asked if she could have him evaluated to determine his mental status. She replied yes. And, then on XX/XX/XXXX the attached medical records will show that not only had his mental status changed, but also that without his XXXX XXXX he was XXXX XXXX. And, because his XXXX XXXX had been stolen from his hospital room along with his eyeglasses, his drivers license, wallet, and bank debit card with the PIN sometime on or about XX/XX/XXXX. And, then on XX/XX/XXXX, on the same day of the mental status evaluation, I contacted XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX to see if he had any insurance coverage to replace those XXXX XXXX. The theft report had been taken by both the hospital administrator and the security office. The medical XXXX status report was done at approximately XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. The doctor then informed the children that the girlfriend was out of town to have XXXX but that she had produced a POA giving her authorization to act on his behalf if and when he became incapacitated and could not sign for himself. Then, at approximately XXXX p.m. that same day XX/XX/XXXX, the children showed up in Mr. XXXX hospital room while confined to the bed, as testified by that retained attorney to the Tennessee XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ) who had drafted the 2nd Durable Power of Attorney ( DPOA ) which was meant to revoke the one the girlfriend had been granted. And, that is the one the son carried around with him to show he was now the new attorney-in-fact. So, the son presented it to the doctor and used it to sign for the fathers last XXXX of having a XXXX XXXX XXXX, a XXXX he vowed he would never agree to, which would put him on XXXX 3x a week. The son used it to take the father to his apartment instead of allowing him to return to our apartment. And, the son used it to file a XXXX XXXX XXXX against me claiming I had abused his father. Once I returned from XXXX and with two trips to the court and out of nearly {$3000.00} the case was dismissed in my favor. But, note the son did not take the new DPOA to the bank until more than one month after it had been allegedly signed by XXXX XXXX and only one ( 1 ) day after I had made the 2nd transfer on XX/XX/XXXX, wherein he then had attached an Affiant statements saying his father had granted him the authority to act on his behalf through the new revocation of the durable power of attorney. The son went to the bank without the father, who was still alive and with an affiant statement attached presented the 2nd DPOA dated XX/XX/XXXX. The bank notary, notarized the document and dated it on XX/XX/XXXX. Afterwhich, that bank customer service representative apparently accepted the document as valid, opened up Mr. XXXX bank record and then printed out all of the account information associated with XXXX XXXX account ending in XXXX. Within that information released was the transfers made from that account to my business account ( XX/XX/XXXX {$5000.00} signed by the branch manager and XX/XX/XXXX {$55000.00} signed by the branch manager ). 
The bank records department had not received the documents. And, the bank has since admitted they do not have any such stamped Revocation of a Power of Attorney on file in their records on behalf of Mr. XXXX. Also, they have admitted they never had a Court-Order appointing the son over the fathers bank account while the father was still alive, as had been previously told to me as the reason they had released the money to the son/probate court. And, keep in mind XXXX XXXX was alive up until XX/XX/XXXX and I was in constant contact with the branch manager even all the time I was out of town, up to and through my recovery and even after I had returned home. So, after Mr. XXXX death and I had gotten a copy of his death certificate, I carried it to the bank where the branch manager knew me and I asked to be allowed to collect any monies due, as I was listed as the POD on Mr. XXXX account. The branch manager told me, no, he did not leave you anything. I insisted he did because I was with him when the signature card was updated. And, she insisted he did not and that was the end of that conversation. So, I got up and left the bank. My next step was to file a complaint with the Office of the Comptroller of Currency and it was forwarded to The Federal Reserve Board who then had me to file with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 
Now, I will reply to the banks letter dated : Paragraph 1 Page 1 I can find no other reason why the bank would have treated me so unfairly as a new business owner, other than the fact I am a XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ) and that their branch manager would have been able to help me prosper my business if the bank had reached out to help me. Because, none of the reasons they have provided as to why they froze my business account for nearly sixty plus days and denied me the Paid-On-Death Benefits signed by XXXX XXXX who left it for me, was denied by the bank. Their reasons provided are not true statements and I have attached documents to support my position : Please see the exhibits : 1 ) The original Durable Power of Attorney dated XX/XX/XXXX 2 ) The signature cards 3 ) The second Durable Power of Attorney dated XX/XX/XXXX 4 ) The Medical Report dated XX/XX/XXXX shows incapsitated diagnosis before signing just 3 hours before the attorney showed up 5 ) My attorneys email obtaining a copy of 2nd DPOA date XX/XX/XXXX XXXX ) Death Certificate DOD XX/XX/XXXX Note dates of the Physicians Signature & Registrars Signature 7 ) Court Order assigning son as the Administrator was not until XX/XX/XXXX, where the estate was opened two months after the fathers death 8 ) And, that the attorney is being admonished by the bar for drafting the 2nd DPOA as a revocation of a POA without adhering to the State of Tennessee Rule of L aw thereby causing that document to be ( INVALID/VOIDABLE ).

9 ) All letter submitted to me by the banks representative, Ms. XXXX XXXX XXXX /s/

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation