Consumer complaint received 2023-08-03
Product: Checking or savings account — Other banking product or service
Issue: Managing an account — Banking errors
Company: RENASANT CORPORATION (AL)

In the early weeks of XXXX, my son received a {$1000.00} savings bond from his father as a gift. As this was his first time handling a savings bond, and I was out of town for work commitments, I advised him on the necessary steps to convert the bond into cash or have it deposited into our account. I suggested that he take the bond to our bank, where they could evaluate its current worth and guide him through the cashing or depositing process, in which I advised him they may place a hold on it so be prepared. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, my son visited the Renasant Bank branch at XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, AL XXXX to convert the savings bond. Upon completing the transaction, he was informed by the bank that the bond was valued at approximately {$8000.00}, a sum significantly higher than we had anticipated. Notably, the bank representative advised him that the funds were immediately available in his account. This was contrary to my previous advice to my son that the bank might place a hold on the bond until the funds were verified. Its been years since I processed a savings bond, so I wasnt sure of the exact procedure, but I knew either way that they would verify and proceed accordingly. 

However, on XX/XX/2023, we received a phone call from the head of the treasury department informing us that the teller had made a mistake and that we would have to return the excess cash. It was both shocking and distressing to learn that the bank expected us to bear the financial burden of their error. Without prior notice, the bank proceeded to withdraw the remaining {$4000.00} from our account, leaving us in a precarious financial position. This significant error has caused us financial hardship, as our account is now overdrawn by {$3100.00} due to the bank 's attempt to rectify the teller 's mistake. 

According to the Department of Treasury, if a financial institution accidentally cashes a bond or note for the wrong person, or if the transaction results in a financial loss, the institution is liable for the loss unless the Department of the Treasury determines that the institution was not at fault or negligent as a paying agent. It's clear from these guidelines that the bank should be responsible for this error, not us, the consumers. We have spoken to several representatives at the Department of Treasury to understand how this could happen, first they were baffled at how that could happen, they couldnt make sense of it themselves. The representative also advised us that this is not our fault and the bank should resolve this and how the savings bond was supposed to be cashed, never deposited into our account, and financial institutions are aware of this. However, as you can see from the attached documents, the teller not only wrote in the wrong amount but also deposited it as a check. Even processing it as a check, the teller did not place a hold on it, which could have possibly prevented this loss from happening. That account never had {$8000.00} before, so why didn't the teller do her due diligence to protect the consumer and the bank?