Consumer complaint received 2020-03-29
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Managing an account — Deposits and withdrawals
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION (MA)

I am submitting this as a formal complaint regarding Bank of America 's freeze on my checking and savings accounts, WITHOUT ANY PRIOR NOTICE TO ME. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I went to a Bank of America ATM to withdraw funds. There are always two choices on the screen- the first account listed is the joint checking account that I hold with my husband ( " primary '' account ) and the 2nd account listed belongs to one of my sons. I withdrew a significant amount of cash. 

On or about XX/XX/XXXX, my son called me and asked me why {$400.00} was withdrawn from his account. On that same date, I called Bank of America and was told that the Patriot Act required identification of bank account holders and that my checking and savings accounts were frozen, but they could not divulge any details to me because the matter related to the other joint owner ( my husband ). I was also told that they could not unfreeze the accounts ( checking and savings ) until they heard directly from my husband. 

I contacted my husband, who then immediately called Bank of America. He was told that the " notice '' about freezing the accounts was given to him sometime in XXXX. He was also told that he needed to answer the following questions : ( 1 ) was he a US citizen ; ( 2 )  is he a citizen of any other country ; and ( 3 ) what was the source of his income. He answered these questions and was then told that the accounts would be unfrozen. 

I never received any prior notice that my Bank of America accounts would be frozen because of this " missing '' information. 

To the best of his knowledge, my husband also never received prior notice from Bank of America that our joint accounts would be frozen unless certain information was provided. 

We have held these Bank of America accounts for a very, very long time, and have a significant amount of money in them. Any review of the checking account activity would very clearly demonstrate that there are NO transactions involving a foreign country and that my husband 's source of income has been from one employer for more than twenty years. 

I again called Bank of America on XX/XX/XXXX and asked for the Complaint Department. I was told that there was no formal Complaint Department, but my call was redirected. I finally spoke with " XXXX from Texas. '' I asked him if notice from Bank of America was sent to me before the accounts were frozen. He said " no, '' I was not notified, and referred me to the Patriot Act and " Know Your Customer. '' I asked him if these laws authorized Bank of America to freeze accounts to get a customer 's attention. He said " I am not a lawyer. '' He would not give me any information about the notices supposedly sent to my husband, nor would he send me copies of these notices. 

After I learned that my checking account had been frozen, I found out that checks were dishonored - two credit card payments and two long-term care insurance payments. I was charged {$27.00} for one dishonored credit card payment to XXXX XXXX, and had to scramble to resubmit payment for the other items before the due dates. I also found out that the automatic debit for my gym membership was dishonored. I have never before had a check or automatic debit payment dishonored. 

It is unconscionable that my account was frozen, to my detriment, without prior notice. 

I submitted a complaint to Bank of America on XX/XX/XXXX and have yet to receive a response.