Consumer complaint received 2024-05-30
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Managing an account — Deposits and withdrawals
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO. (TX)

I was involved in a XXXX XXXX this past XXXX which resulted in my XXXX  being XXXX. As a result my XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX awarded me {$17000.00} in the form of a one time payout via a check. Concurrently, I received a second check from a local XXXX XXXX company that did shoddy work on my XXXX XXXX and chose to compensate me via a payout following my XXXX XXXX. This payout was in the amount of {$3700.00} and was also awarded in the form of a check, which was a business account drawn off of Chase Bank itself. This smaller check was addressed to my mother, so when I went into the local Chase branch to cash both of the checks and sign the one over to my name so it could be placed into my account. The teller notified us that due to the amount of the checks as well as the external nature of them being from outside corporations, there would be a a fairly significant processing time for each. The smaller check in the amount of {$3700.00} would take between XXXX and XXXX business days whereas the larger check in the amount of {$17000.00} would take XXXX business days so the bank could verify the funds and ensure there was no fraudulent activity associated with the funds. I was given a number by the teller and told I could call it in order to ask and try and expedite the process as the funds would be needed to purchase a new XXXX for myself. Over the next two days I called the number given to me to try and ask about the status of my funds only to be told there was nothing else they could do on their end to speed up this process. I accepted this and held them to their word that the funds would become available by XX/XX/XXXX in accordance with the timetable provided to me by both the bank teller and the employees I spoke to over the phone. On Friday XX/XX/XXXX I received a text and email notifying me that my account was now being frozen by Chase and would be closed without my consent should I not take action and call their fraud department to try and resolve the issue. I called that same day and was told that the hold was placed in order to verify the funds ( the 2 checks in the amount of {$3700.00} and {$17000.00} ) and would be lifted following the release of the funds. Yesterday ( XX/XX/XXXX ) I checked my banking app and confirmed that the XXXX checks had been cashed so I went in person to my local branch in order to withdraw the funds only to be told by a new teller that there was still a hold on my account. She gave me a new number to call, which ended up being the wrong number so I was forced to wait on the line for just under an hour trying to resolve the issue. Finally towards the end of my call I was informed by an overseas representative that in order to fully verify my check in the amount of {$17000.00} they would need to call the issuer of said check and manually confirm that the check was valid and issued to me in a legal and non-fraudulent manner. I asked to receive a callback after this had been done, but was informed that I would have to stay on the line the entire time or else the process would be invalid and cancelled. Therefore I remained on the line and was placed on hold as the Chase rep tried to contact my XXXX agent to confirm the issuance of the check. XXXX minutes later I was informed by the Chase rep that he had called and received no answer therefore leaving the issue unresolved. I then called the bank in order to voice my frustrations and concerns over their handling of this issue, as well as question them as to why this information was not given to me initially. I was told to wait patiently for 12 days as they verified my funds only to be told on the XXXX day that I had to basically hold their hands and help them to validate funds that were legally my own. They are now holding my funds and account XXXX notifying me that if this issue is not resolved within 10 days they will close my account. I understand that this process is difficult and sensitive regarding the amount of money being transferred, however their lack of transparency as well as their belligerent handling of the issue has not only spurned me from ever doing business with them again, but also left me feeling powerless as they personally question my integrity by flagging my account with fraudulent activity and refusal to do anything more than the bare minimum in trying to resolve the issue at hand. Any help or guidance that you can provide me with will be much appreciated.