Consumer complaint received 2021-05-17
Company: TRUIST FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: FL
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Closing an account
Sub-issue: Funds not received from closed account

Complaint:
I opened up a checking account with SunTrust bank on XX/XX/XXXX. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I could not access my online account for multiple days, so I called customer service. I was told my account was under review and in non-debit status. When I asked why, no reason was given. I was given a generic answer, but my local branch might have the actual reason. So, I drove to my local branch, where I was told that they could not access or provide any specific reason why my account was being frozen, reviewed, or closed. I told that SunTrust had decided to close my account, and my funds would be mailed to me once the review and closure was completed. When I asked for a timeframe, because I needed my money to pay rent and bills, none was given. My current balance was {$2200.00} and I was told repeatedly, in person and over the phone, that there was no way to give me any portion of my money. 
The best explanation I received, from a manager, was " loss prevention ''. Plus, I have received no assurances that my current balance will be returned to me. Instead, I will receive my remaining balance, after they decide how much of my own money that I get to keep. I have never had a negative balance, overdrawn my account, or been charged any penalty fees of any sort. I have no court Judgments and owe no creditors money. I was also never contacted in regard to this action. I only discovered it because, of my own volition, I contacted customer service regarding my account. I can only imagine the consequences if I had initiated a rent payment or written a check, with the assumption of the last known amount of money in my bank account and it was rejected. Would SunTrust have paid the penalty fee? I doubt it. 

How am I supposed to pay my rent, which is due on the 1st of each month, when my bank, for no reason that they can provide to me, froze my account funds for an unspecified amount of time and took my money, so that they can use it in various aggressive investment? My money has been held unjustly. I am not a criminal. I am a low income XXXX female that has been collecting unemployment. This is an unlawful garnishment of my government provided unemployment income. These people claim to " care '' about racial justice, but in practice we are just pockets for them to rob from. 

After filing a complaint on XX/XX/XXXX, within a day, I received a call telling me that XXXX XXXX would be handling my case and calling me within 15 days, plus a number for him. I called him immediately and, when he didn't answer, left them a voicemail requesting a callback. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, after not receiving any contact from XXXX XXXX, I called and left voicemails for the woman who initially left the voicemail and XXXX XXXX. As of XX/XX/XXXX, I have yet to receive an initial call or a callback from either of them. 

Then, I contacted customer service line, and was told that only {$460.00} was in review/non-debit status. The difference in funds, {$1700.00}, was available for immediate withdrawal. I realized potentially why those funds were being held, since no one would/could tell me what issue had sparked the freeze and imminent closure of my account. I had allowed my roommate to direct deposit a single payment of their unemployment into my account, while they were moving to a new bank, to avoid payment delay. I told the agent that those funds are from unemployment, so there is no danger of them being reversed. After pressing her for why the funds are being held, I convinced her to verify if I could provide documentation to prove the legitimacy of the funds. After checking with the " Internal Department '', I was told to go to my local branch and provide 2 Forms of Identification, Proof of Residence in Nevada, and Proof of Funds from the Depositor, such as a payment confirmation. Then, my local branch would send them the documents. I was told to provide the same documents if I had deposited the funds on behalf of my roommate. I immediately got the documents and took them to my local branch. While there, the banker told me that, since I was resolving the security concern, they should be able to keep my account open. 

The next day, XX/XX/XXXX, I had restored access to my online account. However, the most recent transaction was a levy & garnishment debit, on XX/XX/XXXX, for the full account balance of {$2200.00}. In addition, the account was closed. I immediately called customer service, and was told by XXXX that all the funds were again on hold, to protect from reversal of deposited funds. This was outlandish, since the day before, {$1700.00} was cleared and available for immediate withdrawal. Why is it completely unavailable now, in addition to being garnished? I demanded to know who was garnishing my funds, as I have no judgments or owe anyone money. Also, why had they wasted my time going to a local branch to provide proof and documentation for {$460.00}? After waiting, I was simply told that the garnishment/levy came from XXXX, FL. I had the representative contact the Internal Department to determine who exactly in XXXX, FL was levying my account. After more waiting, she now claimed to have actually spoken to the investigator who had initiated the levy order on my account. They updated her that they had put in a request for a disbursement of my funds 20 minutes ago and the full amount of {$2200.00} would be sent to the mailing address on file. It would be sent on Friday, XX/XX/XXXX. I was not entirely convinced that this was the truth, since the story changed so quickly, so I asked for some sort of identifying information for the investigator, whether a name, an employee ID, or something else, to reference if I had any issues in the future. I was denied that information. The representative only provided her name and a promise of updated notes on my account. She assured me that calls are recorded, but this did little to soothe my concerns, since I still was not provided reason for the account closure, despite resolving the security concern. 

I contacted the banker from the day before, as I believed that she might be able to obtain a better explanation than I did. I also wanted to verify if she had received any updates on her end about my account. She had not and promised to call and follow up right away. After speaking to them for over 20 minutes, she called me back to let me know that, unfortunately there was no way that she could keep my account open. The Fraud Department said that, even though I had provided documentation and proof of my transactions, my account had " an alert '' on it now. Based on that alert alone, that had been resolved with my documents, they closed my account. There was no way to request an exception, because my account was new and no one at the branch knows me well enough. She said that she thinks they just don't want to deal with it. I feel that my time was wasted trying to resolve the issue, for my account to close anyways. I do not believe that I was given a proper opportunity to rectify the security concern and preserve my account. Because, once again, I had to proactively go out of my way to call and pressure agents to give me the necessary information, in order to resolve security concerns that I am excluded from knowing details about. If I had known that the most recent payment was the issue, I could have provided this necessary documentation and explanation 3 weeks ago and potentially diverted my account from closure. 

Lastly, on XX/XX/XXXX, I was notified that a document on my account closure was available for viewing on my account, but it did not say it was mailed to me, which is what I had been advised would occur. I have attached both with this complaint. They also responded to my complaint, stating that they sent the response to me. I have received nothing to that effect. However, on the same day, around XXXX, when I attempted to login to view the document, I once again did not have access to my online account. I received a letter on XX/XX/XXXX, which did not respond to my complaint or provide a specific reason for the closure. Thank you for your attention and reading.

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