Consumer complaint received 2020-02-20
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: MD
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Problem caused by your funds being low
Sub-issue: Bounced checks or returned payments

Complaint:
On Thursday XX/XX/2020 around XXXX XXXX I logged into my account to discover it was in the negative by almost 2k. My account just showed at the time 2 debit holds for {$980.00} each. 

I immediately contacted BOFA at an after hours number which I believe was the fraud department. When I called I immediately let the person know that something was wrong with my account and that I didn't recognize the recent charges on my account. At the time I wanted to know what could be done because in the next few hours my direct deposit was going to hit my account. At the time the young lady gave me little to any information or help regarding the matter. She indicated that she as well was unable to see who the merchant was along with any other information regarding the transaction. All she kept saying was that it " looks like something legal ''. I had no idea what that meant but I realized I wasn't going to get anywhere with person I was speaking with. 

I called back the next day which was Friday XX/XX/XXXX around XXXX XXXX on the way to work after my deposit was placed into the account and completely snatched of course due to the overdraft. I spoke with a young lady at Bofa and explained how I had called last night regarding these 2 transactions that I did not recognize and initially she told me she didn't see the charges that I was speaking of. So over night the charge changed from 2 transactions of a debit hold of {$980.00} each to a single {$1900.00} deduction. 

At that time she informed me that some checks that I had CASHED was coming back due to lack of funds. So at that time I let her no that I did not deposit any checks at all into my account and that this was for sure fraud. She then went on to ask me if it could have been my mom who deposited these checks because our accounts are some what connected. At that time I informed her that my mom nor I had deposited any checks and she made sure to let me know that the bank would not have CASHED checks with proper ID. I at that time let her know that that was exactly what had occurred because again myself nor my mom had not deposited or cashed any checks.I was super confused and kept asking if the checks were deposited into my account and she made it clear that they were not deposited but CASHED. 

After a few moments of back and forth she let me know that I could go to the bank to see these checks. So instead of going to work I rerouted to the nearest BOFA. I was helped by a gentlemen who was super helpful but had to go through like 5 different people before being able to find these checks or get any real information about these checks that had been written out to me. 

The checks were from a gentlemen in Florida that I don't know and that back of the checks had signatures that looked absolutely nothing like my signature and I've been a customer of this bank for of 15 years! At that time I froze my account because before all of this I had already called in about 2 XXXX XXXX payments that showed up on my account that I didn't make so my card was already deactivated earlier that week. 

Once I froze my account I opened a new one but at the time I had no money to put into it because it was all tied up in my checking account which was currently over drafted and frozen. The guy at the bank did his best to get my direct deposit transferred to my new account by the check fraud department refused! He even went as far as asking for a supervisor and letting them know that I had bills and obligations to take care of and the answer was still NO! The gentlemen at the bank informed me and the supervisor that he had done this before and was unclear as to why it couldn't be done at this time. 

Thank God I had my savings account and just figured I would operate off of that until this is resolved which I suspected to be a few days. Mind you I have had fraud occur on my BOFA account several times and it was always resolved with no hassle in a matter of days! So I thought this would be handled the same. Boy was I wrong! I'm being told now that this can possibly take 60 to 90 days and they will hold onto my money until then! 

On Monday XX/XX/2020 I check my account only to see that my savings account was now in the same exact situation as my checking. So at this time every single penny that I have no is just gone! I went back to the bank was informed that their were more checks now showing up in my savings account from this same person! And all Bofa was willing to offer me was a credit card to which by the way I cant use to pay my mortgage that is due by the XXXX. I left that bank with nothing but tears! It is truly disheartening to trust someone with your money for so long only to find out that they don't care about you. 

I have always kept all my money in my BOFA account because I trusted them and I felt like my money was safe. Now all of my money is being held due to fraud and I have to wait 60 to 90 days just to get my money when there are no signs that I did this. The information and the stories regarding these checks change every time I call or speak to someone. The last time I called I was told that there was a total of 6 checks between my checking and saving account that had surfaced. They were all for the same amount and from the same person. 

I understand an investigation has to go on but hold ALL my money for 60 to 90 days is completely unacceptable! Especially when none of the evidence gives any indication that it could have been me to make these transactions. On top of all of that I work for the XXXX XXXX and I have no interest in losing my job or becoming a defendant in my XXXX over a couple thousand dollars.

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