Consumer complaint received 2020-07-07
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:
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Please allow this statement to serve as a factual recollection of the events and circumstances that transpired in or around XX/XX/XXXX and involved a demand deposit account ( DDA ) that I had with BB & T Bank ( Now called Truist Bank by Merger and Acquisition with Suntrust Bank ) - opened in or around XX/XX/XXXX. This checking account was the principal transaction account that I used to receive direct deposits from my W-2 employer, XXXX XXXX XXXX   XXXX XXXX, and to receive deposits and conduct withdrawals for both personal expenses and expenses associated with my side-gig, an XXXX XXXX. 

Up until the events that lead to the involuntary account closure of my account by BB & T, I did not have any issues or concerns with the services or products they provided to me as a customer. 

In or around late XX/XX/XXXX, I applied for the Small Business Administration 's Economic Injury Advance after Congress replenished funding, so that the SBA may consider and process applicants from industries other than Agricultural. As an XXXX  XXXX who received compensation from private individuals and businesses for XXXX XXXX XXXX, I qualified to apply for this advance via the SBA 's COVID-19 portal. I applied for the advance and was notified via an alert from BB & T Bank on XX/XX/XXXX that a direct deposit in my name, XXXX XXXX XXXX, was received from the Small Business Administration 's Disaster Team ( SBAD ) for {$10000.00} dollars. This advance is authorized under legislation passed by Congress and signed by President Trump for contractors/small businesses experiencing financial hardship as a result of the COVID-19 Public Health Crisis. 

Like other similarly situated citizens, I have suffered financially from the COVID-19 crisis and the reduction in revenue due to Stay at Home orders and social distancing led to a significant decline in business and profit. As a result, I had fallen significantly behind on paying vendors for parts, making forbearance arrangements with creditors, and having to negotiate a partial payment plan with my landlord in order to ensure that once the eviction moratorium was lifted, I wouldn't be subject to eviction proceedings. I promptly sent {$800.00} to my roommate in ( 2 ) {$400.00} debit card transactions sent via XXXX XXXX 's " XXXX XXXX '' and {$2000.00} dollars via the same format to my landlord the morning of XX/XX/XXXX. 

Later that afternoon, once I had left my part-time W2 position at a local XXXX XXXX I decided to go to the local branch of BB & T in XXXX, Florida ( where I had also opened my account and where I have historically conducted my financial business ) to make a withdrawal of {$6000.00} dollars to pay my outstanding invoices with automotive parts vendors like XXXX and XXXX - as well as to pay some personal expenses and catch up on utility payments. 

My interaction with bank staff at the local branch was uneasy and I felt that the staff at the Teller station did not accord me with the respect one would expect as a customer. I had not yet gone home when I went to the local branch and so, I was dirty and so were my clothes. At the time I requested the {$6000.00} dollar withdrawal, the teller gave me a look as if there was no way the money I had an account was mine and she and the head teller proceeded to call the bank manager. Now, the bank manager was someone whom I have interacted with in the past and whom I thought had more than just a passing familiarity with me as we have spoken about other financial products in the past.

Now, per Section 6 of the Deposit Account Agreement ( or Banking Services Agreement ), it states the following : We require prior notice for large cash withdrawals. We can refuse an order to withdraw funds in cash or to cash an item if we believe that the request is a security risk or possesses a hardship on the Bank. We may require you to accept an Official Check or electronic transfer to receive the funds. If we agree to a large cash withdrawal, you may be required to employ a courier service acceptable to us and at your risk and expense. If a large cash withdrawal is completed at a branch you will be required to sign a cash withdrawal agreement. Refusal to sign the agreement is grounds for us to revoke the cash withdrawal and require an alternate delivery for the funds. 

At no point did the branch require me to make a request in advance nor did the branch indicate to me that they would be unable or the had security concerns in processing my request ( assuming {$6000.00} dollars is a large cash withdrawal - the banking services agreement which is binding on both myself and BB & T does not provide a dollar amount or range that constitutes or otherwise could be defined as a large cash withdrawal ). 

At that point, the bank manager, XXXX XXXX, proceeded to interrogate me and asked me if I owned   a business. I explained that, in addition to my part-time work as a W-2 employee for the XXXX XXXX, I was also an 1099 XXXX  XXXX for various local businesses, providing XXXX   XXXX XXXX on an as-needed, per-job basis. I explained that I applied for a Small Business Administration advance as the legislation passed by Congress funding the Economic Injury Advance due to COVID-19 specifically authorized individuals like myself, an XXXX XXXX to apply and participate in the Disaster Recovery Program. 

If that constitutes " XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX '', then yes, perhaps that meets the definition. However, I have been told that a business account is unnecessary since the majority of my income is not considered consistent ( I have weeks and months of good and bad business ) and therefore, non-employee compensation as shown on a 1099 does not constitute business income within the usual and customary meaning of owning your own business. 

It was at this point that I believe branch staff and the branch manager discriminated against me by failing to fulfill the withdrawal request and it was there actions that caused the account to be restricted and quickly closed thereafter. I felt that I was discriminated against due to being a low-income accountholder. I was never able to transact in that account again, my payroll direct deposit posted the following day thankfully, but as of XX/XX/XXXX, I was informed that my account is officially closed to both credits and debits. 

BB & T failed to adhere to its obligations under Section 8 of the Banking Services Agreement titled " Right to Close Account '', in which it states : You or the Bank may close your account with or without cause at any time. We shall give you either oral or written ( includes electronic ) notice of our intention to close the account. If given in writing, the notice will be sent to your address or e-mail shown on our records. In the case of oral notice, you shall have five ( 5 ) days from the date of notice to close the account. In the case of written notice, you shall have seven ( 7 ) days from the date appearing on the notice to close the account. Upon notice, you must stop conducting transactions on your account. We shall not be liable for dishonoring any items initiated after the date of the notice. In the event that you have not closed your account, ****we will close the account and mail you a check for the remaining balance in the account after deducting any applicable fees and charges. *** Closing the account does not release you from the payment of accrued fees or liability for items in process. The Bank may in its discretion close your account without prior notice if the account has a XXXX  or negative balance, or if we believe it necessary to protect the bank, its employees or others from risk, harm or loss. Any waiver by the Bank of its right to close an account for cause shall not be a waiver of our right at a later time to close your account for the same or similar reasons. We reserve the right to reject any deposit that is made to a closed account by returning the item or by crediting the item to another active account of yours.

Section 8 further states : ** We reserve this right notwithstanding that the deposit may have been processed and/or that you were given a receipt for the deposit. The deposit receipt shall not constitute acceptance of funds in such instance and we shall have no liability for any items returned unpaid which are drawn on a closed account even if you attempt to make a deposit to the account. ** BB & T is not likely to return the deposit, issued to me in my name by a government agency, as doing so would create a roughly {$2000.00} dollar liability for them since their ability to collect a debt caused by their failure to conduct quality due diligence and exercising ordinary care in the handling of my account prejudices their ability to collect any deficiency balance. 

Furthermore, Section 12 establishes standards of care that both the accountholder, me, and the bank, BB & T, must adhere to in order to avoid liability for loss of funds. I have exercised ordinary care and have fulfilled all duties as listed including Duty to Safeguard, Duty to Cooperate, Duty to Review Account Statement, and Duty of Care. 

BB & T failed in its responsibilities to adhere to these same duties when its branch staff discriminated against me, as a low-income accountholder, in failing to complete the withdrawal transaction as requested by me. 

I want to make sure that the balance of the account, {$8100.00} as of XX/XX/XXXX, is remitted back to me promptly. BB & T Bank should not be permitted to unjustly enrich themselves by retaining funds that do not belong to them ( the funds were remitted to my account in my name ). Once BB & T verifies and confirms legal ownership of the direct deposits, both my payroll and the SBA advance - per the deposit account agreement, BB & T is required to remit those funds via certified check to me. 

Attached this complaint, you will find the following : ( 1 ) BB & T 's Banking Services Agreement, which both BB & T and I have agreed to be contractually bound and the terms of which we both have agreed to comply with, ( 2 ) Screenshot of my Account Balance after I was refused my withdrawal request ( They attempted to return the deposit, but were unsuccessful because the SBA Advance Deposit was in my name ) ( 3 ) Screenshot of my Account Balance as of XX/XX/XXXX - showing the deposit was credited back, but no indication that the account was closed until I called BB & T 's customer service.

( 4 ) Screenshot of the Direct Deposit from the SBA showing me as the payee/beneficiary and dollar amount ( {$10000.00} ).

( 5 ) Screenshot of my payroll Direct Deposit, again showing me as the payee/beneficiary.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation