Consumer complaint received 2019-10-11
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: CA
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Deposits and withdrawals

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX, I went into my local branch with a check over {$5000.00} payable to me from a well-known, well-established bank. I specifically asked about funds availability as my husband and I have a hard XX/XX/XXXX deadline to make a payment. I would have taken that check anywhere else if I had been told about a NINE-day hold on ALL funds. The bank associate made a phone call and said the funds would be released the next business day, which was interpreted as Tuesday XXXX XX/XX/XXXX ). 

On that day, the processing payment has turned into hold with ZERO availability until XX/XX/XXXX. 
This hold does not follow Regulation CC : If the total check deposits into one account on the same business day is over {$5000.00}, then {$200.00} must available on the first business day, {$600.00} on the second, {$4800.00} on the 3rd, and the remainder must be available on the 7th business day. 
Regulation CC stipulates four types of holds that a bank may place on a check deposit at its discretion. And yes we understand that each has its own qualifications and it is legal for the bank to place any type where the requirements are met. It is my belief that Bank of America has arbitrarily instructed a type of hold placed that holds the most funds the longest that can be applied legally. Furthermore, I believe in doing, the bank is way outside the scope of this funds availability law and to date has not provided a legitimate reason for holding on to ALL of our check. 
1 ) There is only one check processing region for the entire United States. Therefore, all checks are now local.

2 ) BOA associates will tell me the holds are placed " for security reasons '' and " federal law requires ( Reg CC ) all banks to have holds : but again no specifics are given.

3 ) I believe this " deposit hold '' is a shell for floating our money by using it investing in short term investments.

My husband and I have spoken to several associates on the phone and no one gives names or employee numbers as a way of IDing or following up the chain to escalate properly, so we just get passed from person to person who read the same script without any accountability or problem-solving authority. ( None of the so-called NSF exceptions apply, neither for the amounts or the length of time ).

The depository bank has offered us NO reason to doubt the check is good. ( The paying bank already indicated the check funds were cleared.

The check was not postdated or stale dated and was NOT previously returned.

Large banks are using power and bureaucracy to violate consumer protections and hold account holder deposits hostage. Many of these banks have already been caught stealing from customers by assessed extended overdrawn balance charges that violate the National Bank Acts usury limit. Now we have a growing new assault : the absolute, multi-day deposit hold on consumer check deposits. 

Hiding behind imagined conspiracies and fraud, my own bank has delayed a legitimate lump sum payment check. For a bank that processes the accounts of millionaires, it seems egregious that a major retirement fund would be flagged for fraud. 

I have banked here off and on since XXXX. My husband has banked here since XXXX. We can not believe we are being treated this way. We need those funds to pay taxes and other bills and now the interest is piling up, and we were persuaded to open an account with a XXXX minimum and now we have going to have penalties from that!

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