Consumer complaint received 2024-07-09
Product: Credit reporting or other personal consumer reports — Credit reporting
Issue: Problem with a company's investigation into an existing problem — Their investigation did not fix an error on your report
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION (NJ)

I am submitting a formal complaint against Bank of America for infringing upon my consumer rights. Bank of America has failed to provide me with the opportunity to opt-out before disclosing my personally identifiable financial information to third parties, including other financial institutions and consumer reporting agencies. This constitutes a violation of both my federal rights under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act ( GLBA ) and my state rights under the New Jersey Data Protection Act ( NJDPA ). 
Upon informing Bank of America that I did not consent to the sharing of my private information, they incorrectly claimed that they had the right to share my personally identifiable financial information as per their privacy policy and notice. However, these notices explicitly state that such information is instead subject to other federal privacy laws, such as the GLBA, and that for New Jersey residents, information will not be shared with non-affiliated third parties except as permitted by New Jersey law, such as for processing transactions or maintaining accounts. 
I have never signed any contract nor granted Bank of America permission to share or sell my nonpublic personal information or account details to another financial institution. I have requested a full accounting of this account, including specific documentary evidence signed by an accountant representative, to clarify the funding source and the actual amount owed. Despite this, Bank of America has failed to provide the requested accounting information and only sends me a copy of the Promissory Note, which itself contains multiple violations of the Truth in Lending Act ( TILA ). 
Furthermore, I have clearly specified in my most recent communication with Bank of America that all mail must be sent to a particular address, and any correspondence sent elsewhere will be considered an invasion of privacy and inconvenient. Despite this request, Bank of America persists in sending mail to an inconvenient address. 
Federal law defines identity theft as " a fraud committed using the identifying information of another person '' ( 15 USC 1681a ( q ) ( 3 ) ). Bank of America is committing identity theft by sharing my personally identifiable financial information with third parties without my legally obtained consent in order to deprive me of my rights ( 18 USC 242 ) and to collect on extensions of credit through extortionate means ( 18 USC 894 ).

Pursuant to the GLBA and NJDPA, consumers must be provided with a reasonable opportunity to prohibit the disclosure of their nonpublic personal information before it occurs. I assert that Bank of America 's actions are an attempt to commit identity theft, deprive me of my rights, and extort payments. As such, the contract/Promissory Note is void and unenforceable, and I may be entitled to damages for violations of the FCRA, TILA, Uniform Commercial Code ( UCC ) , contract law, and New Jersey consumer protection statutes.