Consumer complaint received 2022-05-19
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Managing an account — Funds not handled or disbursed as instructed
Company: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO. (IL)

Hello, I am writing to the CFPB to file a formal complaint against Chase Bank. These are the events that transpired. 

I was using the feature on my banks website to pay bills electronically. The transactions in question were payments made to my utility company, XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, and XX/XX/XXXX payments of {$50.00}, {$50.00}, and {$100.00} respectively were sent to XXXX. I initiated these payments via their website the same way I always submitted utility payments. 

In XXXX of XXXX I was shocked to see that I had a balance of {$440.00} with XXXX. Upon further investigation, my account reflected no payments received from me since XXXX of XXXX. There were more payments sent to XXXX other than the XXXX mentioned above, but only those three were debited from my account. The other payments would later be canceled. 

I have had some issues with XXXX so I initially believed this was a XXXX problem. After a bunch of back and forth, I realized that the payments were not sent electronically. Chase mailed physical checks. Chase cut checks with my name and current address as the payor and mailed the checks to my old address with XXXX as the payee. The checks were cashed by someone else. 

I called Chase once I realized the source of the problem. Chase recorded a claim on XX/XX/XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, Chase credited my account the {$200.00} that was lost. On XX/XX/XXXX, Chase took the {$200.00} back out of my account. When I called to find out why the best answer I could get was that there needed to be an investigation. They wanted me to fill out these forms, a Declaration of Unauthorized Endorsement or Altered Item, and fax them with copies of the checks. I was told that once they received this paperwork, an investigation would begin which could take up to 90 days to resolve. 

These forms basically state that Im a victim of fraud and that these checks were improperly endorsed by someone other than the payee. The problem with this process is that Chase is the victim of fraud, not me. Im a victim of Chase and their mishandling of my utility payments. I did not cut checks to XXXX and I certainly did not mail them to the wrong address, Chase did. All of my payments to XXXX prior to this were electronic and always received without issue. 

I filled out the forms, took them to a local Chase branch, and had an employee fax them on my behalf on XX/XX/XXXX. After an hour, I was informed that the fax was sent but they could not confirm that it went through or that it was received. On XX/XX/XXXX, I called the bank to confirm they received my fax. All they could tell me was that they received 15 pages from me. Now I would have to wait out the 90 days. 

On XX/XX/XXXX I decided to follow up on the status of my claim. I was told that my claim was being escalated and sent over to the investigation team. After what felt like teeth pulling, I found out that the 15 pages I faxed over 2 months ago had gone nowhere but because I called, they could now send them over. I was told that after sending these documents over to the investigation team, it would take 5-6 days to get a response. 

I called back on XX/XX/XXXX to go over the timeline of events since the beginning of my claim. A Chase employee verified dates and assisted me with organizing an accurate presentation of this experience in the event this wound up in court. She also made sense of my last conversation. 

She said that after sending over the documents, I was supposed to call back and assert my claim. She apologized if that had not been explained to me. This means that after the bank sent my utility payments to the wrong address, funded the checks, did not refund my money, made me fill out and fax 15 pages to file a fraud claim, I was supposed to call back and tell them I wanted them to conduct an investigation.

The 5-6 days for a response from the investigation team had passed so I thought I would check in. I called Chase on XX/XX/XXXX. I was told that my claim had been forwarded to ANOTHER investigation team and the 90 days starts over as of XX/XX/XXXX. 

In conclusion, Chase bank sent checks from my bank account to the wrong address and someone else cashed them. Their response to their mistake was making me jump through hoops to get my money back while providing nothing but runaround. This investigation has not progressed one iota since its inception on XX/XX/XXXX. Im hoping that the CFPB can assist me in getting the {$200.00} of my money that Chase gave to someone else. I understand that this was probably an honest mistake and that an investigation should be conducted. I dont believe that I should have to wait to get my money because this was a mistake that Chase made, not me. 

I appreciate any assistance you can provide and I have submitted supporting documents for my claim.