Consumer complaint received 2020-06-23
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Problem with a lender or other company charging your account — Transaction was not authorized
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION (CA)

Complaint:
I am a long-time customer of Bank of America XXXX BofA XXXX with what was set up as a non-profit account for the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ( XXXX XXXX  ) acct # XXXX XXXX XXXX, a church service group for young people that held Spiritual activities and events. This account was opened in the early XXXX and historically had no monthly fees. The group became less active and then inactive in the early in the XXXX. Even so the account remained active. For some unknown reason statements stopped at the ended XXXX ( attached ). Since the group was no longer active and I was the last one to maintain the account, I would receive a notice that the account was going to be given over to the state due to lack of activity every so often as set by CA state law. When I received these notices by mail, I would go into a bank branch and deposit {$10.00} or {$20.00} to keep it active for the subsequent years. In XXXX, I was at a XXXX XXXX XXXX  XXXX event where we raised about {$800.00}. That money was deposited into the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX acct # XXXX XXXX XXXX in late XXXX. The next notice I received was at the end of XXXX indicating that again the money was going to go to the state due to inactivity. I again visited a local branch and deposited {$20.00} ( both attached ). When my balance was shown on the receipt there was approx. {$86.00} in the account. Because I knew that I had deposited that sum in XXXX I knew something was wrong. I inquired about while I was in the branch that same day on XX/XX/XXXX. I asked why there was so little money in the account and the branch manager gave me a printout of all the fees that had been taken out in the last year indicating that's as far back as she could see ( attached ). She told me I needed to call the customer service line to get more information. For the next six months I've gone back and forth between the branches and the customer service line XXXX, to try to get this issue resolved. Several times I was told a claim or investigation was in process. First they told me that these charges were always in place since the beginning of this account and that I knew about them ( attached ), later they made me sign up for an online account because they said that was the only way I could get back statements to try to find out when the charges started. That proved to be untrue as this process would not produce the back statements I needed ( attached ). At some point in this run-around I searched through my records and found a letter from BofA from XX/XX/XXXX that clearly stated that the account did not have any monthly charges at that time nor at any time in the accounts history. Furthermore, it specifically stated that if any charges were ever going to be applied to the account that a notice would be sent out prior to ( attached ). After finding this letter time, I started putting in what would end up being multiple claims requesting that this letter of notifications be produced or that I be refunded all charges ( attached ). I was repeatedly met with suspicion, hostility and the same argument that I always had charges, and/or that I knew about the charges, and/or that I had gotten statements that should have told me about the charges, and/or that a letter had been sent to me in the past letting me know of the changes. What I didnt get was any proof that I ever received this letter stating monthly charges would be commencing, from their records. If I had received such a letter, I would have closed the account immediately because the XXXX XXXX  account would never been able to meet the requirements to avoid fees. At one point, a representative on the phone took pity on my plight and returned one year 's worth of fees or {$190.00}. At another point I finally spoke with a supervisor XXXX XXXX XXXX who promised to get to the bottom of the issue and report back to me within a week. I did receive one call from her stating she needed more time, then Covid 19 hit and despite repeated messages I never heard back from her. I do hope she is ok. But I've yet to get the full amount returned, nor an accounting of how much that is based on past statements and a time line of when this monthly fee was started, nor a letter notifying of a change in status to include a monthly fee. With the issue still in limbo, I tried again on XX/XX/XXXX. I went in person and spoke to a representative at the branch, XXXX on XXXX XXXX and XXXX in XXXX XXXX. She was supposed to, once and for all, track down this letter and prove it was sent out or help me get the money returned. She gleefully called me last week to tell me that I the letter had been sent to my address prior to implementation of a fee, and that the proof was sent to me via email but that turned out just to be an email irritating that there fees on the account presently and how to avoid them ( attached ). I have yet to receive any documentation that I received a letter at the time the account converted to having monthly charges nor have the fees been returned. I'm now wanting to make a formal complaint with this Bureau to try to help me resolve this matter with Bank of America once and for all. If I did indeed receive that letter and I did not read it or did not understand the meaning of it and in any case did not respond to it then I am totally willing to take responsibility and forgo the fees charged on the account. But if I never received that letter as they indicated they would send in if there were to be any future changes, then I should be entitled to have the money returned to the account if not legally then morally. Should the money be returned I would close the account to avoid the ongoing fees still being charged. At this time I fear that if I close the account before resolving this, they will stop talking to me. I have already had to make an online account and password so that I could talk to them over the phone and when I call the service dept., they direct me to the branch and visa versa. The branch has conveyed there is nothing we can do for you It is very hard to even get them to communicate now when I am a customer. I don't dare close the account until this is resolved. I really hope that your agency will help me thank you so much. 

Sincerely, XXXX XXXX XXXX trustee for the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Account # XXXX XXXX XXXX

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief