Consumer complaint received 2022-11-20
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: CO
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Deposits and withdrawals

Complaint:
I bank with Bank of America ; primary branch this involves is XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, CO XXXX. My issue is not with the associates at this branch, but more so with the general business practices of Bank of America in general. 

For context, I have never been in trouble with the law aside from so much as a speeding ticket nor have I ever been involved in any nefarious financial practices. I've been banking with these people for well over a year ; I've never over-drafted my account. My employer albeit a new employer is a major health system in XXXX, CO. In banking with multiple banks for over 10 years, I have never had a bank be as unprofessional or put me in such a dire situation that threatened my ability to pay my bills in a timely manner as Bank of America. Finally, as a consumer I have every right to know if there is a concern regarding my bank account. 

On Saturday, XX/XX/2022 I went to the BOA branch listed above to deposit a paycheck for the amount of {$2900.00}. I have been having issues with this bank for several pay periods now in regards to having access to my funds in a timely manner so I asked the teller at this time, if there was any issues with my check or if he sees any possible reason for a deposit hold to occur- he replied no. He also mistyped my amount into the BOA system as {$2200.00} which I discovered later that day. I have no issues with the teller as he is human and these things happen. 

However, on Monday XX/XX/2022 I went to resolve the discrepancy and the branch said that their back office caught the mistake and they fixed it. However, now there was deposit hold on my funds and I would have access to my funds on XX/XX/2022. That is 8 business days. If I had to pay rent, student loans etc. or had an emergent situation arise, I would be in an incredibly difficult situation that would have threatened my livelihood. I work very hard to pay my bills on time and keep my credit score up. Still, I understand that these things happen. 

What I can not comprehend however, is their lack of communication about why this deposit hold occurred in the first place or their inability to resolve the hold in a timely manner. Per general Federal Reserve regulations and preliminary research I have conducted, from my understanding, the general maximum a bank is allowed to hold your funds is 7 business days ( unless there is a holiday, which there was not ), unless you meet certain criteria such as : ( 1 ) you've over drafted your account multiple times, ( 2 ) your account is brand new, ( 3 ) you may have taken place in some nefarious financial practices or the check looks illegitimate, or ( 4 ) your employer has a lack of funds in their account. As explained above, I meet none of these criteria. 

Their excuse was, it could be that your employer does not have enough funds in their account ( their bank is XXXX XXXX, for reference ). That excuse does not hold as : ( 1 ) none of my colleagues have had any issue with their banks, and ( 2 ) they have BEEN doing this to me for multiple pay periods when I had a different employer ( XXXX XXXX XXXX ). Now I have to ask, what are the chances that both of my employers have insufficient funds in their respective accounts- or could it be that you, Bank of America, the common denominator, is the problem here? 

Moreover, if they even gave me a reasonable explanation such as they are short-staffed so processing of holds is taking longer, I would have dropped it. Instead, when I called customer service on Thursday, XX/XX/2022, they basically said " you're out of luck, we reserve the right to hold your funds without giving you, the consumer, an explanation as to why we are holding your funds. '' I'm sorry, but that is simply unacceptable and even though there is probably no explicit law or regulation they may be breaking, this is infringing on a grey area that can absolutely threaten everyday Americans ' livelihoods which is why I am filing this complaint. Furthermore, I tried to resolve this with Bank of America in numerous ways to no avail : ( 1 ) Before even taking it to a physical branch location on XX/XX/2022, I thought of trying to deposit the check on their mobile app by taking a picture. However, historically, Bank of America has tried to charge me roughly a {$200.00} fee to process it this way, an unfair banking practice in it of itself ( 2 ) I asked for my paycheck back so I can take it to XXXX XXXX, to which they replied, no, they have no way to canceling out the transaction and returning my paper check, which I have a very hard time believing as this is a major financial institution of the United States of America ( 3 ) I escalated this issue x2 with upper management via the local branch listed above and upper management could not ( 1 ) give me a reasonable ETA on when this situation would be resolved, and ( 2 ) would not disclose any information to me, the consumer, on why the hold occurred in the first place- which is the true reason behind this complaint. 

Finally, aside from the laughable fact that it takes a major financial institution such as BOA, with the resources that they have accessible to them, 8 business days to resolve what I perceive to be an everyday hold - when I opened an account with Bank of America, they never disclosed to me, verbally or otherwise, that they engaged in such practices of non-transparency or ridiculous hidden fees for mobile deposits. To my knowledge, I never signed paperwork stating as such either.

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