Consumer complaint received 2025-07-14 00:00:00
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Managing an account — Banking errors
Company: UNITED SERVICES AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION
State: DC

Complaint narrative:
XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, my divorce from XXXX XXXX XXXX was finalized by Judge XXXX XXXX XXXX in the XXXX XXXX of the District of Columbia. 

XXXX. Per paragraph XXXX of our divorce agreement, our joint checking account ( XXXX ) would revert to my " sole and separate property, free and clear of any interest of Husband. '' XXXX. Per paragraph XXXX of the divorce agreement, " Within XXXX ( XXXX ) days after the execution of the Agreement, both Parties shall execute any documents to remove Husband 's name from said accounts. '' XXXX. XX/XX/XXXX, USAA acknowledged receipt of the wet-signature voluntary removal of XXXX XXXX from account XXXX and advised him to cancel any automatic payments to said account. 

XXXX. From that point forward, account XXXX reflected that I was the only account holder. 

XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, I noticed an unauthorized {$250.00} payment from my USAA bank account ending in XXXX to a USAA credit card. This caught my attention because I had recently paid off the balance on my USAA credit card. I contacted USAA and confirmed that the credit card belongs to my ex-husband XXXX XXXX. 

XXXX. I conducted a forensic review of account XXXX and discovered XXXX unauthorized payments made between XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX totaling {$9800.00}, all directed to XXXX XXXX 's USAA credit card. 

XXXX. USAA has acknowledged receipt of the removal request in XXXX, and more recently confirmed that its own internal systems inexplicably retained XXXX XXXX as an authorized user, despite having documentation, authority, and the obligation to remove him from the account years prior. In effect, USAA failed to implement a lawful account change and then permitted a third party- without legal or contractual authority- to drain funds from my account over an extended period. 

XXXX. Upon discovering these payments, I immediately initiated multiple formal disputes with USAA, provided supporting documentation ( including the divorce decree, detailed spreadsheets, interface screenshots, and call logs ), and spent more than XXXX hours across XXXX weeks attempting to resolve this issue with USAA representatives and escalation teams including up to and including the CEOs office. While XXXX representative in the Member Service Resolution department eventually located the original wet signature card removing XXXX XXXX and attempted to attach it to the disputes, USAA has continued to deny full liability - relying on the irrelevant XXXX rule as a shield. 

XXXX. The XXXX rule is inapplicable here. That time limit applies when a financial institution has properly executed its duties and a customer fails to notice or report unauthorized activity. Here, USAA 's own documented failure to act on a lawful and binding removal request enabled these unauthorized payments. The burden lies with USAA, not the injured customer, and any assertion that the bank bears no responsibility due to the passage of time is not only factually false- it is legally indefensible. 

XXXX. USAAs clear and ongoing failure to safeguard my individual bank account and to carry out its legal and fiduciary duties following my divorce in XXXX is reflected in the above.

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 explanation