Consumer complaint received 2020-12-15
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:
XX/XX/XXXX Consumer Financial Protection Bureau XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Washington, DC., XXXX Re. Complaint Against SunTrust Inc. ( Truist Financial Corporation ) Dear Sir or Madam : My name is XXXX XXXX and I am a customer of SunTrust Inc. ( Truist Financial Corporation ) ( the Bank ). I hereby respectfully request that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ( CFPB ) investigate the Bank for placing an unwarranted restriction on the funds of my checking account ending in XXXX. 

In XX/XX/XXXX, the Bank placed a restriction on the funds of my checking account ending in XXXX. And, on XX/XX/XXXX, after I submitted a complaint with CFPB under Case XXXX, the Bank advised me that such restriction was based on an alert of the Fraud Operations Department stemming from certain XXXX Transfers that were credited to my bank account. See XX/XX/XXXX Letter from the Bank to XXXX XXXX, attached as Exhibit 1. Moreover, the Bank advised me that [ i ] f you are able to provide documentation that the XXXX transfers that were credited to your account are valid and belong to you, we will review the information for possible release of funds that are being held.... Id. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, pursuant to its letter of XX/XX/XXXX, I provided the Bank with my sworn declaration confirming that the XXXX transfers that were credited to [ my ] account are valid and belong to [ me ]. Letter from XXXX XXXX to the Bank attached as Exhibit 2. In my sworn declaration, I advised and submitted proof that I am a dentist with no criminal records whatsoever and the XXXX Transfers are payments made by his clients. Specifically, I explained that [ a ] t times, my clients wire transferred their payment to my bank account with SunTrust ( checking account ending in XXXX XXXX via XXXX. In other cases, my clients wire transferred their payment to a bank account that I had with XXXX XXXX XXXX checking account ending in XXXX ) and I subsequently transferred the money to my SunTrust bank account, also via XXXX. Attached to my sworn declaration I submitted, among others, a copy of the medical records of the clients who made these payments. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, after a number of emails following up with the Bank on the status of my case, the Bank advised me that it will continue to hold the funds. A copy of this correspondence from the Bank is attached here as Exhibit 3. Nevertheless, the Bank also advised that it will consider another review [ of Mr. XXXX request for returning the funds of the checking account ending in XXXX XXXX if sworn/notarized statements from the senders can be provided to show that the funds were intended for Mr. XXXX XXXX. Id. 


On XX/XX/XXXX, once again following the Banks directions, I secured and submitted to the Bank the sworn declaration from 41 out of the 43 individuals who made payments using my XXXXXX/XX/XXXX accounts confirming that the funds were intended for Mr. XXXX XXXX. See XX/XX/XXXX letter from XXXX XXXX to the Bank attached as Exhibit 4. Unfortunately, I was not able to secure a sworn declaration from the remaining two individuals due to the passage of time. However, I submitted a declaration stating under the penalty of perjury that the funds transferred by these two individuals were also intended for me. Further, I submitted the records of my XXXX XX/XX/XXXXaccounts showing that a good portion of the funds in my account with the Bank come from a bank account that I previously had with XXXX XXXX. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, the Bank responded that [ t ] he funds will remain on hold. If the senders of this money want to make individual claims for the funds, they can make a claim through their banks or by mailing a letter to Truist Bank telling us exactly what transaction they are disputing. Email from the Bank to XXXX XXXX, attached as Exhibit 5. With this response, the Bank asked me for something impossible to do since the senders of the XXXX transfers had testified in their sworn declarations from XXXX XXXX, under the penalty of perjury, that the funds belong to me. Therefore, also on XX/XX/XXXX, I requested the Bank to confirm under what grounds is it holding my funds and until when is it planning to hold such funds. See a copy of this email attached as Exhibit 6. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, the Bank advised me that The funds are being retained in the event that a Hold Harmless agreement, return or claim is received. This is in accordance with our Rules and Regulations for Deposit Accounts ( attached pages 28 and 29, see Payment Suspension, Adverse Claims ), which explains that we may suspend payment and/or place a hold on your account if the bank determines that the ownership of funds is in dispute. We have determined that the ownership of these funds is in dispute. 

A copy of the Banks XX/XX/XXXX and enclosures is attached here as Composite Exhibit 7. 

For purposes of the Banks Rules and Regulations for Deposit Accounts ( the Banks Rules ), dispute refers to five different types of scenarios ( see Payment Suspension clause ). And, the Bank did not advise when would the until the dispute, allegation, or problem is resolved or determined to the Banks satisfaction ( see Payment Suspension clause ). Further, the Bank did not provide me a fully copy of the Banks Rules. Accordingly, on XX/XX/XXXX, I requested the Bank to further clarify the following : ( i ) For purposes of the Banks Rules and Regulations for Deposit Accounts ( the Banks Rules ), dispute refers to five different types of scenarios ( see Payment Suspension clause ). Under which of the five scenarios is the bank retaining the funds from the account of Mr. XXXX? 


( ii ) Under the Banks Rules, funds will remain retained until the dispute, allegation, or problem is resolved or determined to the Banks satisfaction ( see Payment Suspension clause ). When will that happen here? 

Additionally, could you please provide a full copy of the Banks Rules? Your email of XX/XX/XXXX only enclosed a copy of pages 28 and 29 of the Banks Rules. 

A copy of my email from XX/XX/XXXX is attached here as Exhibit 8. 

However, and despite other two emails that I sent to the Bank following up on my request for information of XX/XX/XXXX, I have not received a response. See a copy of my emails from XX/XX/XXXX and XXXX, XXXX attached as Exhibit 9. 

Against this backdrop, the Banks legal basis for holding the funds of my checking account ending in XXXX is less than clear. I fully complied with all of the Banks demands for information about me, my clients, and the payments that I received using my bank account regardless of how unburdensome and unreasonable the Banks demands were. But nothing seems to be enough to satisfy the Bank. And, the Bank is now requesting me information from my clients that I can not legally obtain, as well as arguing, based on the Banks own rules, that it can permanently hold my funds. 

Accordingly, I respectfully request the CFPB investigate the Bank for placing an unwarranted restriction on the funds of my checking account ending in XXXX. 

Thank you in advance for your attention to this matter, and if you have any questions in connection with this matter, please feel free to contact me at your convenience. 


Sincerely yours, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX

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