Consumer complaint received 2016-07-28
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: MA
Product: Credit card
Issue: Credit determination

Complaint:
I recently applied for a XXXX credit card with Bank of America, and it was not approved. The letter I received said " we were unable to approve the [ card ] you requested because the amount of credit extended to you by us and/or our affiliates is adequate. '' Since I did not have an interest in increasing the total amount of credit I had with Bank of America, but only in getting this credit card, I called Bank of America to ask if they could transfer some of my existing credit to the new card. I was told they could not, because the OCC does n't allow graduate students to have more than XXXX cards ( I think the implication was : does n't allow graduate students to have more than XXXX cards with the same lender ). I told Bank of America that I had previously talked with a Bank of America representative to specifically ask if having XXXX existing cards would prevent me from getting a XXXX card, and that the representative I talked with said that Bank of America does not have any policy that would specifically limit me to XXXX cards. The phone representative responded to this by saying that Bank of America does not have this policy, but that they are bound by the OCC policy. 

I asked the Bank of America representative if they could direct me to the OCC policy, but they said that they could not find it. However, they told me that it did exist and that I should be able to find it by googling, and that the only way for me to get the new card I wanted was to cancel one of my existing cards. I was unhappy about this, because the existing card I needed to cancel ( the one I was no longer using ) was my oldest line of credit, and I was concerned that it could hurt my credit rating. But the representative told me that canceling a card was my only option, so I eventually agreed. 

I have talked with Bank of America twice ( once by phone and once by chat ), and they have told me that they could not direct me to the OCC regulation, but that it does exist and apply to me. They suggested that I contact XXXX and the OCC if I wanted to see the regulation, but that I definitely needed to cancel my existing card to get the new card. I have since followed up with XXXX and the OCC, but both told me they could not help me. I also called CFPB, and the person on the phone could not find the regulation. 

Therefore, I am filing this complaint, because I feel that I may have been coerced into canceling my oldest credit card by being told that a regulation existed and applied to me, when I have so far not been able to find any evidence that it exists and applies to me. The primary resolution I am looking for is for evidence that this regulation does exist and does apply to me. If it does not exist or does not apply to me, that suggests that Bank of America coerced me into doing something that has negative financial repercussions for me by telling me something that was n't true.

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