Consumer complaint received 2022-03-07
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: MA
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Other transaction problem

Complaint:
On XX/XX/2021 my mother XXXX XXXX passed away. For years she had a savings and checking account at XXXX XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ). She had told me many times that this was a joint account with me as the co-owner. On XX/XX/XXXX, two days after her passing, I contacted XXXX to inform them of her passing. There was approximately {$4000.00} between the two ( savings and checking ) accounts. Approximately two weeks later we had a reception after her funeral and I paid the cost of the event out of the checking account by writing a check. That check cleared with no issues. XXXX had sent me some forms to close the account but I had not yet made the decision to do so, therefore I did not return the forms. In the middle of XXXX ( over a month after my mother had passed ), I had a personal financial transaction with a friend and had her wire {$16000.00} into this account. By the end of XXXX  I had finally begun to organize my affairs and felt it was appropriate for me to close these two existing XXXX accounts so I reached out to XXXX. There hold times have been in excess of two hours so I left a message for a return call. At that time I was told there was a " hold '' placed on the account and that I was in fact NOT an owner on this account. Despite repeated inquires as to why the hold was not placed on the account until only after the money was wired in I have yet to receive a valid reason. The best they have offered was that they were " busy ''. For some reason the account was not suspended when I contacted them within days of my mother 's death, it was not suspended when I wrote a check to the facility for the funeral reception and it was not suspended when {$16000.00} was wired into the account. It was ONLY suspended after all those have occurred. After multiple attempts to get my money from this account I have now being informed that the ONLY way I can get this money out is to have the wire reversed by Bank of America or by releasing it to the estate of my mother. Sadly, my mother was of very meager means and there was no estate. XXXX is attempting to force me to get an attorney and create an estate for my mother to gain access to my personal funds. We have attempted to work with XXXX ( a complaint is also pending ) but Bank of America and XXXX seem to each be pointing fingers at each other regarding the reversal of the wire. We have been trying to get this wire reversed for months now and no one, at either location, seems at all interested in resolving this. It seems to be XXXX 's intent to just keep my money. The friend who sent the wire has tried and tried on her end to work with Bank of America but she is being told its XXXX. When I contact XXXX I am being told it is Bank of America. 

Both parties to this transaction wish this wire to be reversed. I can not comprehend why it has taken 4 months plus to have such a simple transaction completed.

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