Consumer complaint received 2021-08-03
Company: FIFTH THIRD FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: MI
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Closing an account
Sub-issue: Company closed your account

Complaint:
I had deposited a check at 5/3 bank for {$9500.00} XX/XX/XXXX. The check was written out to me with my married last name. Two of my bank accounts still have my maiden name on them. 5/3 reversed the check off by the following day. Initially, the check was available so I had spent a small amount of money. I can't access my account anymore otherwise I would be more specific. I called to find out why the deposit had been reversed and they explained that my maiden name was on that account and the check reflected my married last name. They said the check would mailed back to me within the next couple of weeks without being cashed. I advised the 5/3 rep that I was going to issue another check with the matching last name for the same amount and deposit again ( check number XXXX ). I also deposited enough cash to cover charges on the account from when the check was in my available balance. I looked at the receipt and they did not make the funds available. I needed access to the funds so I called 5/3 again to find out what the problem was. They told me a hold was placed on the check and wouldn't be released for about 10 business days. I explained that I needed the funds and they said there wasn't anything they could do to speed up the process. I asked the 5/3 representative if I could stop pay the check and have it re-issued to deposit at another bank? Since I couldn't access the funds, that wasn't a problem. It would just be reversed off again as a check that was stop-paid. I told her that is what I was going to do because I couldn't wait for the funds. A few days later ( XX/XX/XXXX ), I get an email notification from 5/3 that my balance was - {$490000.00} so I called thinking that my account had been compromised. They transferred me and asked me to explain the activity with the checks. I told them exactly what is described here, and they said they would follow up with me if they had any more questions. A couple weeks later, I got a letter in the mail that they had closed my account and they would mail me a check or bill if anything was owed at a later date ( I think 30 days ). I was annoyed by the whole situation so I didn't care at the time. I had an early access account as well as a checking so I could possibly have owed them when was closed completely. In XXXX of XXXX, I received a collection notice from XXXX XXXX , XXXX for {$110.00} saying that was still owed to 5/3 bank. I immediately sent a check on XX/XX/XXXX. I did not receive any notification prior to the collections demand. I was furious and happy to be finished with 5/3 bank. In early XX/XX/XXXX, I opened up a business savings account where we have our business checking. The bank ran a couple different financial background checks at the time. About a week later, I tried to make a deposit, and they froze our business account as well as our savings. They also froze my personal account. No one at the bank could tell me why-only that I needed to get the report from XXXX XXXX XXXX. I requested the report and it took about 2 weeks to get back. The report was prepared on XX/XX/XXXX. It shows that 5/3 bank reported that my account was closed due to checking account fraud. I did not commit fraud. I spoke to the people who represent 5/3 bank and they knew what I was doing before I did it. I can not explain how horrible this situation has been. Our business was not able to make any type of deposits for about two weeks. The checks we had out already were returned to the companies because it was frozen. We had to contact these companies and pay many fees as well as resubmit payments to all. I had to be removed from all business accounts in order for them to be reopened which has been humiliating. My personal account is still frozen due to this error. I need the negative remarks removed from my reports.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation