Consumer complaint received 2020-02-08
Company: U.S. BANCORP
State: WA
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Banking errors

Complaint:
Good morning, CFPB **Introduction : On XX/XX/XXXX I checked my bank account to find that one of my checking accounts had been overdraft to a negative balance, my agreement to the bank had always been to decline any type of overdraft protection. 

When I first opened my Checking account with US Bank in XXXX XXXX, XXXX I remember the bank teller asking if I wanted Overdraft Protection and I told him I did not want to as I have had prior illegal and fraudulent encounters/experiences with XXXX XXXX XXXX. This was a set agreement for any future reference. 

Brief History : On XX/XX/XXXX, I moved to XXXX, XXXX and at the time I was disputing a contract with a prior merchant and we had negotiated an agreement. The agreement was that the merchant would take money out of my account for the two months, and that would be it. However they began to take more out, I disputed over the telephone with the merchant however they advised me to speak to my bank about the dispute that they couldn't refund the money. I called my bank and they told me they would use provisional credit and investigate the situation, I forgot to change my address for my bank so I asked if I could run to a local branch and change the address before initiating an " investigation ''. They agreed, and when I arrived at a local branch I met with a teller and explained the situation. He advised me it would be best if I opened a second checking account and transfer funds into another account so when the merchant makes the attempt to take money out it would automatically decline. I thought this was an ingenious plan! I asked if both checking accounts would be linked to my single card he agreed to link the accounts to one card and we shook hands and I was on my way. 

** Issue : On XX/XX/XXXX I made a one-time payment in the amount of {$890.00} this was to pay rent, as always I pushed my money into my second account to make the payment of the rent however the merchant took the money out of the wrong account and pushed the XXXX XXXX account to a negative balance. I was shocked because even though I didn't have money, I had enough funds in the second account and because my card was linked it should have processed the amount anyways. Either or, the card should have declined it if I had an insufficient amount in my account because I had declined for overdraft protection. I called the bank to dispute both errors the bank 's error and the merchant 's error, the teller advised me to contact the bank again at a later time and explain the situation as it was Friday at the time and the money hadn't fully posted. That following week, I called again and they tried to remedy the situation by calling it a " merchant error '' and refunding the money or issuing provisional credit but that I had to fill out the dispute documents to have it investigated. 

I agreed, but they sent the paperwork to the address in XXXX, so I never got the provisional credit. I contacted the corporate bank again to resolve the situation, and they advised me that they would correct my address and resend the paperwork. At this point, I was already frustrated, upset, distraught and angry -- as someone who lives paycheck to paycheck, I didn't know if my rent was paid on time. I didn't have money for food or gas because of the additional - {$36.00} was taken out at this point my account was at -XXXX or so. At this point in time, I was considering to sue the US Bank for breaching contract when I specifically told them to opt-out of overdraft protection, yet they still issued credit were credit wasn't necessary. However, when I contacted the corporate office and a senior advisor informed that I had two checking accounts that were NOT linked to the debit card, I was even more confused and angry -- She asked if I had received paperwork or gone over everything including the disclosure as if I had for the first time opened a checking account. for the one in XXXX XXXX, we did not go over the disclosure form and i was informed by the teller when I tried to subpoena records that Overdraft protection was a verbal agreement that was not captured, so there was no agreement at all. For the one in XXXX, XXXX, I did NOT go over anything nor did I receive a folder with the information needed. So, as of now, there is no real substantial agreement or any evidence of my rights as a consumer. 

This had turned into a whole new issue, this wasn't now a breach of contract but a consumer issue. 

Because they didn't disclose any information or issue me the proper agreement paperwork or sign off anything else and accepted no liability US Bank was at fault in violating the ( 15 U.S. Code 1681g.Disclosures to consumers ) rule. 

Because US Bank issue credit without appropriately investigated the circumstances and penalty. The bank is guilty of Predatory Lending because in this instance the bank knew I had insufficient funds, they knew that I had signed an agreement releasing me of liability of such penalty and yet still chose to issue funds which further put me into a bad situation. 

Because of US Bank 's negligence in properly reporting and documenting the incident as well as " dragging me into the mud '' with no real substantial evidence that I had violated an agreement and thus the reason for the penalty, the bank violated section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act ( FTC Act ). 

As of now, I have yet to see anything resolved. This had not been the first occasion within this month.

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