Consumer complaint received 2016-03-27
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: AZ
Product: Bank account or service
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Deposits and withdrawals

Complaint:
Dilemma : My former Bank of America ( BoA ) branch manager has written a letter and phoned the BoA fraud department to tell them the fraud department made a mistake when it incorrectly pulled back thousands of dollars of payments that I made last year from a joint BoA bank account on which I was listed. Unfortunately, the fraud department stated that it wo n't reverse its decision. Instead the fraud department stated I would have to go after the individual who falsely stated to BoA that I made fraudulent payments. ( The fraud department apparently acted without even investigating to verify if my name was listed on the joint bank account during the timeframe in question. ) Background : I had a joint BoA bank account for years with my partner. We XXXX put our paychecks in the bank and made payments on various bills, some of which were in his name and some of which were in my name. My partner and I split up in XXXX XXXX. I removed my name from our joint bank account on XXXX XXXX XXXX ( Confirmation form is second page on attachment ) but the account remained active under my ex-partner 's name. I have always been up to date on my payments to credit card companies and my car loan lender. 

On XXXX/XXXX/XXXX I received a phone call from my car loan lender stating that I immediately owed them approximately 10 months of payments ( ~ {$3100.00} ) or the lender would repossess my car within the week. The lender told me that BoA had pulled back all of the payments I made since XXXX XXXX, XXXX through XXXX XXXX, XXXX for the car. I subsequently found out that all payments from that joint BoA account in XXXX to my credit card through XXXX XXXX ending in XXXX was reversed so I now owe my XXXX XXXX credit card {$4100.00}. This credit card payment was originally made XXXX/XXXX/XXXX ( documentation also provided ). 

Actions Taken : On XXXX/XXXX/XXXX I contacted the BoA fraud department which refused to speak to me because my name was no longer on the former joint bank account which now only lists the name of my former partner. 

On XXXX/XXXX/XXXX I went to my former BoA branch and spoke to the bank manager XXXX XXXX. From him I learned that my former partner XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX had called the bank fraud department and told them all the car payments/credit card payments made from his bank account in XXXX were fraudulent. ( The bank apparently did not check to see that I was listed as a joint account holder for all of XXXX. ) The bank manager then verified that I was listed as a joint account holder for the entire time frame that my former partner claimed the payments from the account were " fraud ''. The bank manager called the fraud department to tell them that department had erred and needed to reverse its actions and return the money to the merchants. The fraud department refused. 

The bank manager told me that he would write a letter verifying that I was a joint account holder on the bank account for the entire time my ex-partner was claiming that payments were fraudulently made ( 1st page of email attachment ). The bank manager also printed out all bank statements for the last 18 months which is the farthest back they can pull from. Those statements clearly show that I was listed as a joint account holder. 

On XXXX/XXXX/XXXX I picked up the BoA bank manager letter and the bank statements showing that I clearly was on the joint bank account. I also filed a XXXX police department report against my former partner for harassment/fraud. The officer who is filing the report is Officer XXXX, XXXX # XXXX. The report # is XXXX. The XXXX police department number is 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