Consumer complaint received 2022-12-08
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Managing an account — Problem accessing account
Company: TRUIST FINANCIAL CORPORATION (VA)

Timeline of events : 1. On XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX my wife and I received a tuition refund check from our children 's school in the amount of {$25000.00}. We endorsed and deposited this check in our joint Truist checking account ( last four digits of the account are XXXX ). The funds were made available in our account within a couple of days. 
2. On XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX the funds ( {$25000.00} ) were withdrawn from our account without notice. We contacted the school which had issued the check to us and they indicated they had not been contacted and did not know why the funds were withdrawn. 
XXXX. On XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX both my wife 's and my Truist debit cards linked to account XXXX stopped working ( payments were declined ) and our access to the Truist banking app also linked to account XXXX was blocked. I spoke to a Senior Relationship BankerXXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX at the Truist branch located at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX in XXXXXXXX XXXX to determine what might be the issue. He told me that the {$25000.00} check had been flagged as a 'ficticious item ' and that the school 's bank had refused to honor the check when Truist had attempted to collect the funds. I subsequently called the Truist fraud department through the XXXX number provided by Truist branch staff and was given essentially the same story. I was also told that my name could be placed on an early warning system database of known fraudsters. The fraud department also said they would request that the fraud investigator assigned to our case contact me. 
XXXX on XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX my XXXX ( XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX the Truist fraud investigator, XXXX XXXX. XXXX XXXX indicated she had no new information on the issue and that our account was closed. She advised that we could get a statement from the payer ( the school which issued us the check ) and take it to the local Truist branch who could then provide it to XXXX XXXX in the fraud department as evidence that the transaction was not fraudulent. My wife obtained a statement from the school explaining the situation and provided it to Branch Leader XXXX XXXX XXXX at the Truist branch at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXXXXXX XXXX  at approximately XXXXXXXX XXXX on XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX. 
XXXX. At XXXXXXXX XXXX on XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX called my XXXX and relayed that XXXX XXXX in the fraud department had said the matter had been referred to the Legal department. My XXXX then called the XXXX department and, after speaking to XXXX different people ( XXXX of whom was XXXX XXXX ), she was informed that they had no contact information for the Legal department and there was no way for us to contact them. 
XXXX. On XXXX XXXX XXXX, we still had received no contact from XXXX XXXX or anyone else in the Truist fraud or legal departments. We still did not have access to our bank accounts. At XXXX XXXX, we received a letter from Truist dated XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX stating that our account had been closed. This notice, the only formal notice of account closure from Truist, arrived a full XXXX days after we had lost access to our account and the several XXXX dollars it contained. 
XXXX. On XXXX XXXX, my wife called the Truist fraud department to follow up on their investigation and was informed that our account had been reactivated. When she said that we had not been informed of this, she was told " We don't do that, you just need to check. '' XXXX. On XXXX XXXX XXXX, we were notified that our XXXX mortgage payment had been returned while our account was closed. 
XXXX. On XX/XX/2022, we received notification that our local personal property tax payment had been returned due to " account closure. '' Most importantly, there was no fraud at any point in this transaction. The check was not ficticious. It was a completely legitimate, easily traceable tuition refund from our children 's school. 

No one ever contacted us or the school prior to returning the check to make any effort to determine if the check and transaction were valid. 

Many efforts to receive additional information, or communicate at all with various departments at Truist, by phone and e-mail, between XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX XXXX were unsuccessful. 

No one at Truist bothered to inform us that our account had been reinstated. 

We have spent significant time and endured significant inconvenience as a result of this mistake. We have taken time from work to meet with the bank, call the bank, collect documentation and open an account at another bank. We had no access to cash ( our money held by Trusit in our 'closed ' account ) for several days. We have accrued late fees and penalties as all our bills are linked through our account. Finally, as I am sure you can imagine, the stress of losing access to our only bank account while essentially being accused of massive fraud was enormous.