Consumer complaint received 2022-06-13
Company: U.S. BANCORP
State: IA
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Deposits and withdrawals

Complaint:
In early XXXX XXXX XXXX the U.S. Bank branch - located at XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, IA XXXX- froze my account for suspected fraud and subsequently closed the account. I was restricted from the funds that were in the account, was informed that they would be sending me a check for my account balance, and to expect it within 15 days. It has now been over two months and I still have not received my funds. The timeline of events are as follows : My wife deposited a check that was a refund from an attorney in XXXX, Texas. The check was for {$750.00} and they granted us access to {$300.00} of it immediately. The following day I was contacted by phone by a U.S. Bank representative asking me if " the XXXX transactions on my account were legitimate. '' I assumed that they were from my wife and stated that " yes, they are legitimate. '' The representative then informed me that they had placed a temporary suspension on my debit card, but since I confirmed that everything was legitimate they would be removing the temporary suspension. The next day I attempted to use my debit card and it was still suspended. I called the customer service line to get the suspension removed and the representative informed me that the suspension was due to XXXX transactions. I explained that I already confirmed that those transactions were okay and to please re-activate my debit card, to which she stated that she would put in a request to do so. 

Once I arrived home that afternoon my wife informed me that she had went to the bank to withdraw some money and the bank had told her that our account was frozen due to " suspected fraud '' and that we could not access any of our funds. I called the customer support line and the representative stated that there was a notation on his computer screen stating that my bank account was being closed and that a check for the balance of the account would be sent out to me within a few days. I asked why my account was suspended and closed without informing me and he stated that he " did not know, it appears to have taken place at the branch level. '' Over the next couple days I attempted to contact someone at the branch level to explain to me why this was happening, but no one would answer the phone or respond to the messages I left. After about a week I was able to speak to someone ( I think her name was XXXX XXXX and she stated that " she does not know why the account was frozen and closed, that it had something to do with the 'back-end ', and that I would have to call the Fraud Department. XXXX She explained that they would be unable to send me the funds from my account until the Fraud Department had concluded their investigation.

I subsequently contacted the Fraud Department, who informed me that they had already concluded the investigation, and that my account was frozen and closed due to the check that was deposited by my wife. I explained that the check was a legitimate check from a prominent attorney in XXXX, Texas and they could verify that everything was legitimate. I also asked why they did not just place a hold on the check until it cleared instead of freezing / closing my account. The Fraud Department agent said it was the bank branch who did it, but that the investigation had been closed and that the branch should have already sent my funds to me and to contact the bank branch for my funds. 

I called the bank branch and spoke with XXXX again, and explained to her what the Fraud Department said to me. She placed me on hold to speak with someone and then informed me that they were unable to release the funds and send me the check ; it was physically impossible for them to do so at the branch level because there was no option to do so on her computer screen. She again stated that it was up to the " back-end '' to release the funds and to contact the Fraud Department . I once again called the Fraud Department ( this was like the 5th or 6th time I had spoken to them ), who once again stated that the investigation was closed and that the funds should have been released and the check sent " long ago. '' The woman at the Fraud Department emphatically stated that the funds were being withheld at the branch level and to give it another week or so to see if the funds were released and sent to me ; and, that if they were not to file a complaint on the bank branch and its employees, if needed.

I waited two more weeks and my wife contacted the branch to see what the issue was with the check for our funds, and they stated that " the Fraud Department had reopened the case and the funds were frozen and they could not release them or send them to us in a check. '' We immediately called the Fraud Department, who once again stated that there was no open investigation, it had never been reopened, it had been closed almost a month prior, and that the branch location is mistaken. '' To this day I have still not received a check from this bank for the balance that was in my account, totaling nearly {$1000.00}. 

This bank should have NEVER frozen my account AND CLOSED IT behind a legitimate check from a prestigious law firm that was deposited by my wife. The procedure they followed in this instance is like nothing I have ever experienced by any other banking institution in my life. Furthermore, they have added insult to injury with the way they have handled this obvious error on their part from the very beginning. There seems to be a lack of accountability within this organization throughout all its departments, further exacerbated by the deliberate indifference and/or feigned ignorance perpetrated by its employees. This banking institution has, in effect, wrongfully and unlawfully seized my funds and refuses to release them while at the same time consistently passing the blame back and forth between the different departments. They have failed to resolve the issue and release my funds to me, either in person or via check sent to my address on file. This is nonsense.

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