Consumer complaint received 2023-07-19
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: CA
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: Government benefit card
Issue: Unexpected or other fees

Complaint:
In XXXX of XXXX, i was forced to vacate my home due to the impact of Covid-19 and the loss of employment caused by the quarantine orders that were in effect on the city. I lost access to all my correspondence leading me to be homeless and living on the streets. I contracted covid two times during this two year period. I was hospitalized and was in a coma due to this virus. I was homeless, struggling to recover adequately from the virus causing me to permanently lose two of my senses. this has caused many problems for me in my daily activities and how i functioned. i went into a homeless shelter in XXXX of XXXX and resided there until XXXX of XXXX. I was unaware of any benefit that was being paid to my edd debit card. I tried to contact the EDD as well as Bank of America. I was unable to get through and after waiting for hours to then the call be suddenly disconnected was frustrating and difficult for me since i didn't always have the physical and mental ability to go through the long wait and discussion. Bank of America sent me a letter in XXXX of XXXX which stated i had an account that ended in XXXX and if i had any questions regarding said account they were available 24 hours a day. I had gained housing through the shelter program in XXXX of XXXX and after i had an address, i was able to contact the XXXXD to inform them of this change. EDD did not provide any information as to deposits or benefits i was eligible for in the past. I did not find out until i called Bank of America prepaid consumer services toll free number and expressed my concern about an account i did not know was active. Bank of America took this information and filed a dispute for only about almost XXXX dollars. I was unaware of the actual amount that had been in my account. i filed this dispute in XXXX of XXXX, a few days later, i called them again to request paper statements of this account from the initial activation of the card when transactions began. Bank of America then filed a new dispute for XXXX on my behalf. It has been over XXXX calendar days since the first initial dispute. I received acknoledgement of both disputes but have not been able to access my funds that would have potentially prevented my homelessness if i would have known before. Bank of America prepaid services did not provide my full statements i requested, instead they only sent paper copies of the months when my account had already been drained for the funds that were on there. I contacted the IRS and received a copy of my XXXX from the EDD and learned i received XXXX of Unemployment Pandemic benefits all of which i never had access to. I filed a police report regarding this and have also filed an identity theft alert online. I wrote a letter to Bank of America to notify them of the claims they took over the phone. As of this date, i have not received any updates, provisional credit to my funds, and when i requested there be an exemption for the time that has passed since due to bank of america not recognizing the fraud being committed with my card. the fraudster was able to change my information to access my online EDD account and my Bank of America information. Bank of America did not protect my account from being misused and for me to lose that money. i am requesting assistance with this since Bank of America is not responding or answering any of these concerns and questions i have. they are ommitting information to keep me from knowing the actual amounts that were drained. they have chosen which transactions to include without informing me of the full amount there was.

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