Consumer complaint received 2017-05-01
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:
My husband and I opened our personal checking and savings account with Bank of America on  XXXX   XXXX ,  XXXX  and our business checking and savings account on  XXXX   XXXX ,  XXXX .     On  XXXX   XXXX ,  XXXX , around  XXXX , logged into our personal account. Noticed that in our personal account there was a debit of {$880000.00} coming out of our account. I also attempted to log in to our business account, but was unable to log in. In my attempt to log in was given an error message of No match found. Please create a n ew Online ID and Passcode. We  had previously set up online banking, so this was a surprise to us. I immediately called the banks customer service center, asked about the debit amount coming out of our account and was told that the debit was put there by Bank of America as a way of stopping any further activity. I was then directed to contact th e Risk Closure  Department. Contacted them, was asked to provide my social security number and my Drivers License Number in order to locate my account and for verification purposes. Was told by a Risk Customer Service Representative that my account was under review and was most likely going to be closed. When I asked for the reason behind the closure, was only given the reason that it was a business decision and that we didnt adhere to the provisions of t he Deposit Agreement and   Disclosures and that at any time the owner of the account or the bank had the option to close the account without giving any reason for closure. I asked for more clarification of the closer and was told again that it was a business decision and was not able to give me any more information. Later, went home and rea d the Deposit Agreement and Disclosure again and  was unable to locate or determine any reason behind what was not adhered to within this agreement/disclosure.     On  XXXX   XXXX ,  XXXX  around  XXXX , contacted t he Risk Closure Depar tment to obtain more information on our accounts and if they were going to be closed. In talking to the representative I was under the impression that I was discussing our personal and business accounts. Was told the closure was still under review and that there wasnt much else that could be done at this time. Furthermore, explained that we are a small business starting out and that we are only able to keep money in our account for a short time since we are trying to build our business by buying more products for resale. We dont have the capacity to keep money in our account for a lengthy amount of time. The nature of our business is that we buy our items from auction. At times we find good deals at the last moment, bid on the item, win the auction and make the purchase. We have a short turnaround time to make a payment. We are not like other businesses that purchase product and have 30 days to make a payment. For example there was a cash deposit in to our account and within that same banking day we sent a wire to a company by the name of  XXXX   XXXX , which also has an account with Bank of America, to purchase products that we had won on the auction. We have copies of the receipts for the items we purchased through the auction. If this documentation is needed to assist in this matter, we would be more than happy to provide them to you.     On  XXXX   XXXX ,  XXXX  around  XXXX , contacted t he Risk Closure D epartment and was told that there was no risk closure attached to my social security number. I was under the impression that our personal accounts were not going to be closed.     On  XXXX   XXXX ,  XXXX  around  XXXX , visited the local branch to see if our personal account was still open as well as the business account. I was told that the accounts were still under review, but were not closed. I again, still thought the accounts were going to be okay. After leaving the branch, I went to the ATM machine to withdrawal money and my card had been inactivated. Went back in to the branch and spoke with another representative. This individual noticed the pending risk closure and went to another branch employee to discuss. I was told they were trying to contact the Risk Closure Department to see if I could make a withdrawal and I was told that this department had already closed for the day, this was around  XXXX . This department closes at  XXXX  local time.     On  XXXX   XXXX ,  XXXX  around  XXXX , contacted the  Risk Closure Dep artment to obtain clarification on whether our accounts were actually going to be closed. Was told that they were in fact going to be closed. I again asked for the reason behind the account closure and was given the same response as I received on  XXXX   XXXX ,  XXXX . I was still unable to receive a legitimate detailed reason for the closure. I explained to the representative that if the bank is going to provide the reason for closure of being that the customer didnt adhere to th e Deposit Agreement and Disclosure, that  they should be able to give a specific reason and page number within the agreement/disclosure that was not followed.     We strongly believe that that my spouse 's national origin, owner of the business, might have played a part in their decision to close our accounts. We did not receive an unbiased risk evaluation from Bank of America, due to his national origin. Bank of America was fully aware that the owner of the business had traveled and conducted routine business in  XXXX , which is his national origin.     During this time of not being able to use our accounts, we have suffered operational losses and opportunity costs of not being able to engage in normal planned business activity. This has put an undue stress on the business of not being able to purchase products. This has also put an undue amount of stress on our family, with young children, by not having access to our funds. I have also had to take time off of work to deal with this situation.

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