Consumer complaint received 2021-09-23
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Closing an account — Can't close your account
Company: PNC Bank N.A. (WI)

My mother had an account with PNC bank. She XXXX  in XX/XX/XXXX due to complications from XXXX XXXX XXXX. While my mother was alive, due to her condition, I had a general power of attorney, which allowed me to handle her finances, including accessing funds from her PNC account ( essentially, to pay for her XXXX supplement and miscellaneous expenses related to her care ). Upon my mother 's death, the general power of attorney expired and I could no longer access her PNC account. She had {$850.00} remaining in her account. My mother XXXX  in Florida and I lived in Florida at this time too. As her heir, I assumed, I could eventually access the funds upon proof of my relationship to her. 

I have since relocated to XXXX, Wisconsin. In early XXXX, I went to a PNC branch in downtown XXXX, where the bank employees told me I needed to complete a " Transfer by Affidavit '' before I could close my mother 's account and acquire the remaining funds. I completed the Affidavit, but the pandemic happened, and I did not resolve this matter at that time due to the need for social distancing. Recently, however, the State of Wisconsin, sent me a notice that the state intended to seize the funds in my mother 's PNC account because the account has been dormant for a significant period of time. This notice motivated me to renew my efforts to resolve the outstanding matter with my mother 's PNC account. 

In Spring XXXX, I submitted the " Transfer by Affidavit, '' along with copies of my mother 's Florida death certificate, my Illinois birth certificate ( establishing my relationship with my mother ), my mother 's Social Security card, and my photo ID to PNC bank employees in XXXX XXXX, Wisconsin for their review. At that time, the PNC employees said they needed to submit copies of these materials to " document reviewers. '' I never received a response from PNC. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I returned to the PNC branch in XXXX XXXX, Wisconsin to inquire about the status of closing my mother 's PNC account and my receipt of the remaining funds as her surviving heir. The PNC employees ( different from the employees I originally dealt with ) contacted some PNC official, who determined that the " Transfer by Affidavit '' I originally submitted was incomplete. On the same date, I completed a new " Transfer by Affidavit. '' The PNC branch employees, however, refused to notarize the document because I was not a PNC customer ( arguably, as heir to my mother 's funds, I was technically their customer, but I didn't quibble ). I therefore walked down the street to another bank, where I had the Affidavit notarized. I then returned to the PNC branch with the properly notarized " Transfer by Affidavit '' and submitted it to the PNC branch employees. I also had the same supporting documents ( i.e., my mother 's death certificate, my birth certificate, my photo ID ) available for their review. The PNC employee said they would contact me once they heard from the " document reviewers. '' The PNC employee gave me her business card, which indicated her name and her title- Branch Manager. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I decided to return to the PNC XXXX XXXX branch because I had heard nothing from PNC since my last attempt to resolve this matter on XX/XX/XXXX ( a month ago ). I was met by one of the PNC employees with whom I dealt in Spring XXXX. Not knowing about my XXXX visit, she referred to my original " Transfer by Affidavit, '' and said it was not accepted. I told her I had since returned and remedied the problem with a new " Transfer by Affidavit, '' but was unaware of my last effort. She apparently contacted Ms. XXXX, who evidently told her that my latest " Transfer by Affidavit '' was secured in Ms. XXXX 's desk. The employee told me that she couldn't access the " Affidavit, '' and that I would need to return to the branch on another date. 

About an hour after I left the branch, Ms. XXXX called me. She said the " documents reviewers '' again rejected the " Transfer by Affidavit '' because the affidavit was a Wisconsin, not a Florida, " Transfer by Affidavit. '' Because my mother XXXX  in Florida, they claim I needed to execute a " Florida '' Transfer by Affidavit. I objected and said it seems the " documents reviewers '' change the rules whenever I submit a revised Affidavit. PNC 's new insistence that I use a " Florida '' affidavit ( vice the " Wisconsin '' affidavit ) is unreasonable for a couple reasons : ( 1 ) I have demonstrated through proper documentation ( e.g., my mother 's death certificate, my birth certificate, my photo ID, and an affidavit attesting that I am my mother 's heir ) that I am my mother 's heir and should receive the remaining funds in her account, and ( 2 ) the new insistence that the affidavit I use be a " Florida '' affidavit seems unjustifiably pretextual given : ( a ) PNC knew as early as Spring XXXX that my mother XXXX  in Florida, but only now ( after purportedly reviewing 2 submissions of my affidavit ) insists that the affidavit be a " Florida '' affidavit, ( b ) the State of Wisconsin, not Florida, is claiming a potential interest in the funds, and ( c ) it shouldn't matter where a customer dies if that customer 's funds can theoretically be accessed from anywhere given that PNC is a business involved in international and interstate commerce. 

PNC seems to be using ad hoc rules that, in this case, emphasize form over substance in order to wrongfully appropriate funds.