Consumer complaint received 2017-08-23
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO.
State: CA
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Closing an account
Sub-issue: Company closed your account

Complaint:
This is with Chase Bank. We 've had this checking account in one form or another over 30 years as one bank was bought out by another with Chase being the last one. We had 3 accounts with them. One checking and two savings totaling more than {$35000.00}. On XX/XX/XXXX, we received a letter dated XX/XX/XXXX stating they closed our account effective XX/XX/XXXX. No explanation as to why on the letter. Just an audit being done and they decided to close our account. I thought it was a scam because it did n't have the same phone number as on my statement. So I called the statement phone number and found out it was legitimate. Our accounts were sitting in a " Restricted '' status. I asked them why. They said " We ca n't tell you '' and " We wo n't reverse it They told me just like I can close my account with them at any time they can do the same thing. We have never bounced a check and had plenty of money in the bank. The difference when I cancel it - is that I have a chance to update all the accounts I have linked to that account. I had my mortgage payments & credit card payments already scheduled to be paid. They were n't paid. I had my pay checks being direct deposited to the account with one that was due on XX/XX/XXXX but it was n't in my account on XX/XX/XXXX either. After talking with several people on the XXXX including XXXX  and XXXX who was a supervisor, they said there is a 2 day business hold on the direct deposits. So that money wo n't be in the account until XX/XX/XXXX. Since the account was restricted we could n't just go in to withdraw our own money but we had to make an appointment. They set up the appointment for XX/XX/XXXX with XXXX at the Chase branch on XXXX XXXX in XXXX XXXX. Unfortunately, this appointment was made before I found out that my direct deposit money would not be available but we still decided to keep it. I asked them about late charges and interest that we will probably be assessed from banks. All their response was, we can send a letter asking the other financial institutions to waive any fees. They said they would generate " Sorry '' letters for our lender and Credit Card Company but could n't email them to us directly. They could either snail mail them which would take 8-10 business days or email them to XXXX at the Chase branch.
We showed up at XXXX at XX/XX/XXXX, and XXXX was n't there. He had a family emergency. The bank manager XXXX had no idea what was going on. The accounts were still restricted and no Sorry letters were available. We spent over an hour while XXXX had to make several phone calls to get the restriction on the accounts lifted. We found out that one savings account had no restriction so that could be closed without any issues. ( They said that one could stay.. I do n't think so ). The checking account got released so we were able to get the funds from that one but not {$820.00} from my direct deposit that was still missing. The other saving 's account per XXXX was closed and the funds overnighted. We should have them on XX/XX/XXXX.
I checked the account on-line at XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. The money was still showing in the savings account but no paycheck in the checking. When I checked the morning of XX/XX/XXXX, the money was gone from the savings account and my {$820.00} was now in the checking account. So I called them again. I asked them to cut me a check for that amount today and get it mailed to me. They said they could n't do it - " A check will be cut when the account is closed BUT they could n't tell me when the account would be closed. I got home from work around XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX, my husband was finally able to pick up the Sorry letters but no overnight check was received yet. When I looked at the letters, I could n't believe what they said. They outright lied on them. What they said : " We recently canceled a payment made to you by our customer after we identified the transaction ( s ) as inconsistent with past activity. Our customer has since confirmed the transaction ( s ) as correct. We apologize for the inconvenience this caused. '' There was no inconsistency. We 've been making the same payments at the same time from the same account for years .... Why could n't they just say we closed the account, without notifying the owner and wo n't pay it.
My husband then called again to get a courier and tracking number for the check. ( This one was over $ 15K ) XXXX at Chase said it had n't been sent so they do n't have that info. We should have the check on Friday XX/XX/XXXX. She also said she would call him tomorrow with the tracking number. So another lie. I then got on the phone because I wanted to speak to someone in the Executive Branch. One about the Sorry letter and Two just to make sure they knew what was going on. I asked for the President or a Vice President. I got to a XXXX XXXX ( She was the first one besides the people at the branch that gave her full name ) and told her the whole story. She was going to follow up and gave me a reference number to review the situation - XXXX. and a phone number to the Executive area - XXXX. She is hopefully going to try to find out why as well. XXXX told me the checking account was scheduled to be closed on XX/XX/XXXX The money never showed up on XX/XX/XXXX, nor anything over the weekend. I checked the account balances over the weekend and my paycheck was still showing in the account.
XXXX called Chase again on Monday XX/XX/XXXX. He was now able to get a XXXX  tracking number. He also got the authorization to go to the branch to pick up the rest of our money. He tracked down the XXXX truck and was able to retrieve the check that we were originally supposed to receive on XX/XX/XXXX.
If there is any way light could be shed on this business practice that Chase is doing. They closed our account without notifying us, they cancelled payments to be made, they restricted access to our money and had to jump through hoops to get it and still do n't have it all. They did this just because they can. We did nothing wrong. No bounced checks, plenty of money, no excess activity ... We luckily had a cushion we could fall back on. What if they did this to someone who is living pay check to pay check. This could mean losing a roof over their head or having no food on the table.
I found out today XX/XX/XXXX that this was n't an isolated incident. A new tenant at my work has a patient that the same thing exact thing happened to. They also banked at Chase. Thank you for taking the time to read this. But there is something seriously wrong when a bank can do what they did to me. /XXXX

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation