Consumer complaint received 2024-08-02
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service — Mobile or digital wallet
Issue: Trouble accessing funds in your mobile or digital wallet — 
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO. (NY)

I have a Chase Checking account to which I tried mobile depositing a check for {$360.00} on XX/XX/year>. The check was written to me as a security deposit refund from my apartment at XXXX XXXX XXXX. The check was endorsed by XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX. The check was written by my landlord who is the manager of this apartment through XXXX XXXX real estate agency. The check cleared. The money had been waiting to transfer into my available balance but did appear in the present balance. The following two days, XXXX XXXX XXXX I received an email regarding the check, noting that the check had been on hold and the funds would be withheld until XX/XX/year>. I did not inquire about this hold because I assumed this was due to the insufficient funds on the bank account from which the check was written. On XX/XX/year> the funds were in my available balance. Upon trying to use these funds, my purchase was declined several times. I found this to be extremely peculiar. Therefore, I called Chase Bank, to inquire on what had happened to my account. The Chase representative explained that the check had to be " verified '' by the writer of the check. To do so, I had to provide the representative the phone number to the person who wrote the check. But to confirm the person, on their behalf, Chase bank has to use their " public phone system '' to ensure that the phone number is a verified phone number under the business " XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX. '' I gave them two phone numbers. I provided my landlord 's phone number and the XXXX XXXX phone number. Both of which were " not verified '' in Chase 's system. I had been confused about exactly what they were looking for so I reached out to my landlord, XXXX XXXX. She had never had this issue before and proceeded to send me three phone numbers to her financial office, thinking that Chase bank could call to verify the check. I called Chase back and the representative said that they would look up the numbers in their system to ensure the numbers were verified. They were not. They said they could not call the numbers because they are not associated to the " XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX '' business. I reached back out to my landlord inquiring about the confusion. My landlord had no idea what Chase Bank wanted and neither did I. I asked if there was any other numbers associated with her business " XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX '' she said there were not any other numbers. Therefore, I investigated the situation outside of her and looked into the Rhode Island XXXX XXXX to see if there was a public number registered to the business. There was not, there was only XXXX 's number. I called the Rhode Island XXXX XXXX to see if they had a public verified number and they said they do not ask for phone numbers anymore, only addresses. I contacted Chase Bank again wondering how to unrestrict and unfreeze my account. They said the only way is to call with a verified number associated with the business and ensure they did in fact write the check. I reached out to the XXXX XXXX from which the check was written from and they said they have never heard of this privacy service and have never heard of needing a public number to confirm the validity of the check. They said I could give Chase their number to verify the check. So I called chase bank again and asked if they could call the XXXX XXXX to verify the check, they said they could not use that phone number because it was not associated with the business. I told them that I had direct deposits from my job at the XXXX XXXX XXXX coming through and that with my account frozen I can not access the money and I do not see it appearing in my account. Chase bank said that XXXXhase was going to hold onto the money under Chase until the number could be verified and called to ensure the check is valid, and until then, my account would be under restriction and frozen. Therefore all of my money would not be accessible to me. I reached out to XXXX again asking if she could cancel the check or have the funds put back into her account. But because chase transferred the money it is held under Chase bank. And because my account is frozen I can not take any action to sending it back or even having access to it. I called Chase again, asking them how to resolve this issue, if the issuer of the check, the bank from which the check was written, and the company has no idea about a verified number or public system. They said Chase could call any of them to confirm the validity of the check and to approve it. I told Chase this and they said they can not use any of those numbers. They said a number must be registered to the business for them to call. Chase said to tell my landlord to call her service cell provider and make her number a business number under " XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX. '' So I called my landlord again asking her if she could do so. She did and sent me the confirmed information. I called Chase again using that number, and again, they said " that number is not verified to the business. '' And I inquired about what to do and they said all of my money would be held up in Chase bank and my account would be closed in 10 days until they could verify the check with a public phone number linked to the business. Therefore, I have direct deposits going into this account and a security deposit refund check that I have XXXX access to. I asked them if they could write me a check for everything in my account and I would just close that account. They said they can not do so because the check is not verified by a public phone number associated to the business.