Consumer complaint received 2016-10-25
Company: ALLY FINANCIAL INC.
State: NY
Product: Bank account or service
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Account opening, closing, or management

Complaint:
On XXXX/XXXX/16 I faxed my daughter 's information concerning an on-going dispute on her account to Ally bank.My daughter called Ally on XXXX/XXXX/16, to find out if she needed to send more information and the status of her account.The Ally representative informed her that they had received the fax regarding her dispute and of additional documents she needed to fax/send in order to complete it and informed her that a deposit needed to be made into her account to bring it into the positive within the next 10 business days.I advised her that it might be best to transfer the funds from my outside bank account rather than deposit her checks as echecks due to the processing.She agreed.On XXXX/XXXX/16, I awoke and purchased a coffee with my debit card from my personal Ally account and it was declined twice.I did not have my phone with me so I was unable to check my account until I returned home.Upon returning home, I proceeded to check my Ally account to see my daughter 's Ally account closed, my husband 's and my joint account closed, and my personal account in the negative.I almost felt like I could n't breathe.Fortunately, my daughter was home so we called Ally together.We, of course, were directed to some call center in XXXX.Unfortunately, these representatives are ill-informed and give incorrect reasons regarding any bank issues.The Ally rep informed us that my daughter 's account was closed due to fraudulent charges having occurred on her account due to the dispute letter.This was wrong as I informed her.My daughter had a dispute due to the insurance information not fraudulent charges.After much back/forth ( very time consuming ), we were finally directed to a " supervisor '' .The supervisor advised us that my daughter 's account was closed and could not be reopened regardless of the outcome of the dispute.She told us that they were reviewing the dispute and that a decision would be made about 10 business days from the time they received the remainder documents requested.I then asked about my remainder XXXX Ally accounts, my personal and joint account that had been affected.First, why was the money taken from both of my accounts? Money had been withdrawn from both my personal account and my joint account with my husband.Lastly, my joint account with my husband had been closed and neither one of us was informed.How was this possible? No correspondence sent via email/mail, nothing.How/Why could they do this? I asked the supervisor to explain how my account had been closed in the process.She informed me that due to my joint account having a negative balance after withdrawing the funds for my daughter 's account that it had to be closed.I then asked, " Why is my personal account still open and it is showing a negative balance as well? " She could not answer.Both accounts had money withdrawn for my daughter 's account but XXXX of my accounts was closed with absolutely no notice nor were they ever planning on telling me.All of my work direct deposits run through this joint account and all bill transactions are set up through this joint account.It was closed with no notice whatsoever! The supervisor explained to me that maybe the Ally representative had " MISINFORMED '' my daughter of the 10 business days for her to deposit money into her account.Also, that Ally had made some " mistakes '' regarding certain information but the accounts would remain closed.What? Ally information was incorrect and yet we were suffering.This is WRONG! A bank can not close an account with absolutely no reason or notice! Banks have done some deplorable things but this takes the cake.

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 monetary relief