Consumer complaint received 2021-06-02
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: AZ
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: Government benefit card
Issue: Problem with a purchase or transfer
Sub-issue: Charged for a purchase or transfer you did not make with the card

Complaint:
I have a valid PUA claim in California and was issued a prepaid card from Bank of America. In XXXX I noticed multiple fraudulent transactions on my account and immediately ( within 2 business days ) filed a claim with Bank of America on XX/XX/XXXX which outlined the unauthorized transactions in the amount of {$8000.00} ( most of which were ATM cash withdrawals ). The claim number they assigned me was XXXX. 

Within 24 hours of initially filing an unauthorized/fraudulent transaction claim the bank decided to close the claim without any investigation into the incident which is a direct violation of the laws that protect consumers from abusive, unfair, deceptive acts and practices by Banks when dealing with customers fraudulent transaction claims. A letter was written and dated XX/XX/XXXX which outlined the reasons why my claim was closed. The letter was postmarked and mailed out on XX/XX/XXXX. The letter stated " Your claim has been closed because we believe the account or the claim have been the subject of fraud or suspicious activity. '' I have provided a copy of the letter and post marked envelope as an attachment to this complaint. 

Without any investigation into the claim it is unlawful of the bank make any type of final determination around the circumstances regarding the reported fraud which directly affect my rights as a consumer. My claim was closed and denied without there being any evidence to support that determination is unlawful and a perfect example of how Bank of America is engaging in abusive, unfair, deceptive acts or practices and taking advantage of its customers. 

Bank of America is bound by a contract outlining the terms and conditions of using their services ( i.e the unemployment card which doesnt even have a microchip to protect consumers against fraud and unauthorized transactions ) which they have been in direct violation of the terms outlined within that user agreement. Bank of America is supposed to have a zero liability policy which they have failed to comply with. The bank has also failed to comply with multiple other terms within that user agreement along with the banks failure to comply with state and federal laws and regulations. 

Without an investigation I was also denied my right to be reimbursed via provisional credit for any investigation that takes the bank longer than 10 days to complete. It is absolutely unacceptable that the bank is immediately closing and denying customer 's claims within 24 hours of the unauthorized transaction claim being filed without any evidence to support that determination. I requested a reconsideration of the claim on XX/XX/XXXX. The bank then took adverse action against me and froze my account on XX/XX/XXXX for undisclosed reasons, however, it is my firm belief that my account was frozen to prevent any real investigation into the report I had filed on XX/XX/XXXX. Following the freeze of my account I was unable to access the remaining Federal PUA funds on my card which caused me unnecessary hardship. 

During the time when my account was frozen I was not able to call Bank of America and get any answers about what is going on with my claim even thought I had requested for the bank to make a redetermination of the decision to close the claim prior to the banks adverse action of freezing my account. The bank failed to take any accountability for their decision to freeze my account and blamed the freeze on Cali EDD even though Cali Edd had no reason to request a freeze on my account. I have a valid claim and had verified my identity so Bank of America was merely trying to use Cali Edd as a scape goat when in fact they were the only ones responsible for taking adverse action against my account.

I did in fact call Cali EDD to inquire and clarify about the freeze on my prepaid card and was told that Cali EDD did not request a freeze on my account and I needed to work it out with the bank. Thankfully Cali EDD stopped depositing money to my frozen account and started to send me weekly payments via check. It is also my firm belief that Bank of America attempted to use an account freeze as a way to bypass the laws and regulations which specifically outline the fraud investigation timeline and process the Bank is legally bound to abide by. I was not notified about my account being frozen by the Bank until early XXXX which is another violation of my rights as a consumer. 

The PUA money I had on the card was unavailable for me to access while my account was frozen for a period of 4 months. Denying me access to funds I am legally entitled to collect per the CARES Act and other regulations is another example of Bank of America having ZERO regard for laws and regulations that are implemented to protect consumers from unfair, abusive, deceptive acts and practices by Financial Institutions. The hardship I have suffered as a direct result of the Banks negligence is unacceptable and should be considered a criminal act by Bank of America. 

The fact my claim was automatically denied without any investigation is unlawful and is a violation of the The Electronic Fund Transfer Act, The Dodd-Frank Act, and the Prepaid Card Rule Regulation E. Bank of America then attempting to evade laws and regulations by freezing my account on their own directive without being asked to do so by Cali Edd is absolutely unacceptable and the bank needs to be held accountable for their abusive, unfair, deceptive acts and practices they have engaged in unlawfully.Between the dates of XX/XX/XXXX which is when my unauthorized transaction claim was filed and XXXX XXXX I made four requests to lift the freeze on my account. 

Legally I should have been provided a provisional credit to my account for any investigation that takes longer than 10 days to complete. The bank did not ever issue me that provisional credit I am entitled to receive nor did the Bank follow the required timeframe to complete an investigation. The bank unlawfully closed my claim without any investigation or supporting evidence to support that determination which directly affected my rights as a consumer. 

On XXXX XXXX Bank of America lifted the freeze on my account. Once again I was not notified by the Bank of there being any changes to my account status. I called Bank of America on XX/XX/XXXX and during my call with the representative was finally told the freeze had been lifted. On that same day of XX/XX/XXXX I was finally able to request a third time that my claim be reconsidered by the bank. 

When I asked about being issued a provisional credit since the investigation had taken longer then 10 days to complete ( at this point it had been 2 days shy of 4 months since I had filed the unauthorized transaction claim ) I was told that because my claim was denied ( let me reiterate that it was closed the day after I initially filed the claim without any investigation ) and then reopened I am not entitled to receive any provisional credits for the amount of {$8000.00} and the bank isnt obligated to follow any timeline regarding the handling of customers fraudulent/unauthorized transactions. I am not aware of any laws or regulations which supports Bank of America 's refusal to issue me a provisional credit. The Bank is obligated to follow State and Federal law and throughout this entire ordeal had not been in compliance with any laws and regulations which outline how situations like this are to be handled. 

I received another from Bank of America on XX/XX/XXXX. In the letter the bank failed to address it's " investigative findings '' as required by law or give me any further explanation other then the determination made by the bank on XX/XX/XXXX was correct and my claim is denied and closed. Every right I have as a consumer has been violated and the bank has failed to honor it's zero liability policy as well as follow laws and regulations which outline the process which B of A is obligated to abide by and they totally dropped the ball and were negligent in their handling of my claim Within a day of receiving the letter in the mail I called the bank and asked the bank for copies of the documents the bank relied on when making their final determination to deny my claim. I was told by the bank I am not entitled to view those documents. I also asked specific reasons why my claim was denied a second time which were also not provided to me. The only explanation I have received to the outcome of Bank of Americas investigation into the unauthorized transactions I reported was that their first denial of my claim was correct and the bank believes the account or the claim have been the subject of fraud or suspicious activity which is absolutely ridiculous especially because my Cali PUA claim is valid and I am still receiving payments via check. I am entitled to a letter outlining their investigative findings and the letter I received does not address anything of that sort. 

I know I am entitled to copies of the documents which the bank relied on in making their final determination which have not been provided to me per my request. The bank is not lawfully entitled to deny my request to inspect those documents and in doing so the bank in my opinion is committing a criminal act by violating my rights as a consumer. I am also legally entitled to know the reasons why my claim was denied and the banks outcome of their investigation. The explanation given to the reasoning behind why my claim was denied doesnt satisfy the banks legal obligations of providing me details of the outcome of their investigation and the supportive evidence to support how the bank was able to come to the final determination of the denial of my unauthorized transaction claim filed on XX/XX/XXXX. Most of the transactions I reported were {$1000.00} ATM withdrawals. Had the bank of done its do diligence and actually investigated the claim they should of been able to pull up ATM camera footage and would of been able to substantiate my claim as valid because I was not the one who made those withdrawals. 

I do not believe the bank preformed any real investigation and doesnt have documents or reasons to support their final determination being a denial of my claim. Logically that is the only reason I can conclude from the banks failure to comply with that legal requirement. The banks negligence and criminal acts and practices should entitle me to a full refund of the reported unauthorized fraudulent transaction in the amount of {$8000.00} and further Compensation for the hardship Bank of Americas negligence has caused me.

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