Consumer complaint received 2021-08-31
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Opening an account — Didn't receive terms that were advertised
Company: TRUIST FINANCIAL CORPORATION (NC)

I have XXXX  so recalling numbers are extremelly difficult. In XX/XX/ I went to Suntrust to open a checking account. I explained my ex had stopped paying alimony for a year, so it was absolutly necessary that enough funds would be released for rent and groceries within the next two days. If the funds wouldn't be released, I needed to cash the payment elsewhere, retain the needed funds and I'd put the remaining amount in the account. The mgr kept saying a real person would verify the funds in the morning, so if the funds were available, they'd be released. Since the payment was coming from XXXX 's payment center, I explained the funds are removed from the account, before the check is even cut. After the funds are removed there's no stopping the payment. Previously, half of the funds were available immediately, and the rest the following morning. After several months, all of the funds were available immediately. She kept repeating the same statement, so I requested she verify the payment will be treated as a cashier 's check, rather than a personal check that needed to pull the funds afterwards. She checked twice and kept saying the funds would be verified and " if '' the funds were there to cover the payment, the funds would be released. Since cashing it elsewhere would greatly reduce the amount, I deposited the payment. The following morning none of the funds were available. Two days, three days, four days, five days, etc. the funds were not released. Everytime I contacted Suntrust asking why aren't the funds being released, they just kept repeating the funds haven't cleared. I kept confronting Suntrust that the payment is from a payment center that removes the funds before the check is even cut. Suntrust flat refused to provide a reasonable explanation for why the funds weren't being released. I contacted XXXX and they confirmed the funds should be available. In order to return the funds Suntrust had to close the account, which I insisted they do. I was extremelly angry, because after two months Suntrust was STILL saying the funds hadn't cleared. This was appalling and was clearly an act of spite. XXXX came out with a phone app to deposit checks into your account and the recent payments had cleared XXXX immediately. Because the check had been deposited, I didn't have an image of the check, nor did I receive any checks, statements, documents, etc. from Suntrust, because they " CLOSED THE ACCOUNT '' and kept insisting the funds hadn't cleared. I filed a complaint and Suntrust 's response was that I had to return to the local branch, close the account and obtain the funds. However, when I contacted Suntrust via phone, they stated the account had been closed two weeks after it was opened and there was no closing balance on the account. Suntrust kept refusing to return the funds claiming they hadn't cleared the account, which is a bald faced lie. When I kept calling Suntrust, the account was still open for weeks, but the funds hadn't cleared, so Suntrust kept saying they couldn't return the funds until after they cleared. On XX/XX/XXXX XXXX illegally locked my cell phone, and I don't have access to my gmail account and I've been unable to recover my account, because gmail is demanded to send a text to my locked cell phone. With each complaint I reported, Suntrust acknowledged the account was in their system and had been closed, but omitted having the funds and wanted me to go to the branch in person to avoid having anything in writing from Suntrust proving they're illegally withholding the {$36000.00}. I recently received a letter from Suntrust claiming they don't have an account in my name and consider the matter closed. This is a bald faced lie. Suntrust knows they stole this {$3600.00} out of spite, because I refused to allow Suntrust to sit on these funds indefinitely and keep the account with Suntrust. This may not seem like a lot of money to some people, but this is four months rent from me. Suntrust was repeatadly told these funds were sorely needed and I wasn't going to keep an account with Suntrust, if they weren't going to release the funds for months after the check was deposited from a payment processing center. I'm facing eviction and homelessness, because Suntrust refuses to return these funds. Since Suntrust acknowledged the account for 6 months, kept insisting they couldn't return the funds, because they hadn't cleared, and later wanted me to deal with the same lying, deceitful individual I endured before, which I strongly felt just wanted to publicly humiliate me further, I demanded Suntrust mail the check. There's proof this account was opened, there's proof the {$3600.00} never cleared, there's proof the account was closed, but there's no proof that the funds were returned. Suntrust is maliciously exploiting my XXXX  ( protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act ) to avoid returning the {$3600.00}.