Consumer complaint received 2017-01-11
Product: Bank account or service — Checking account
Issue: Making/receiving payments, sending money — 
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION (RI)

On XX/XX/XXXX, at XXXX, I attended a real estate closing where I sold a XXXX-family house that I owned. I attempted to pick up the check from the attorney, Attorney XXXX XXXX, later that afternoon, at XXXX, but due to miscommunication, the office was closed and I was not able to pick get the check until the following Tuesday, XXXX XXXX. 
On Tuesday, I deposited the check from Attorney XXXX Client Trust Account ( CTA ) for {$540000.00} into my XXXX account. When I checked my account Thursday ( XX/XX/XXXX ) morning, my on line account statement showed that the check had bounced. I contacted the attorney 's office immediately. At approximately XXXX that day, XXXX XXXX ( XXXXXXXXXXXX XXXX ) called me to inform me that the Bank of America XXXX where the funds were held, had made a " coding mistake. '' He assured me that the funds were there and that we could get this fixed. 
During the day, needless to say, many emails and calls took place. The attorney that represented me in the closing ( XXXX XXXX, of XXXX ) spoke with Attorney XXXX and we agreed that the Bank of America would put a stop payment on the check on Thursday and the funds would be wired to my account on Monday ( XX/XX/XXXX ). XXXX called me Monday at approximately XXXX. He told me at that time that he would be happy to pick of the returned check so he could bring it back to Attorney XXXX, after which, the next day, I would receive my funds .... Needless to say, since this was not was Attorney XXXX and I agreed to, I was very unhappy with the news XXXX delivered. 
Numerous attempts have been made by Attorney XXXX to get this resolved, but none have been successful. My account is still empty of the funds owed me. 
Later that day, I received an email from Attorney XXXX where he stated : 1 ) '' there is explicit language that BOA is not responsible for any checks negotiated after a stop payment '' 2 ) '' I have been instructed by the title company not is reissue any check until I have the original in hand. You can confirm that this would be the same practice utilized by Attorney XXXX 's office '' First, Attorney XXXX emailed me to say that despite what Attorney XXXX stated in the email above, this was NOT his policy. Second, it appears that no one will do anything until the copy of the original check ( upon which a STOP PAYMENT was issued on Thursday, XXXX XXXX ) is returned to Attorney XXXX 's office. 
In short, Bank of America messed this up and Bank of America is unwilling to do what they need to correct the problem because they " have an internal policy '' where " BOA is not responsible for any checks negotiated after a stop payment. '' The problem is, the error started with Bank of America and more importantly, no one has been able to tell me what happens if, in the unlikely event that the check does not make it back to me. Are my funds forever stuck in Attorney XXXX 's CTA account? I am more than happy to return the copy of the original check to Attorney XXXX, but this was not a condition that was agreed to on Thursday XX/XX/XXXX, nor is it a reasonable request. 
Clearly this is a blatant error on the part of Bank of America, for which, I am stuck in the middle and Bank of America refuses to fix.