Consumer complaint received 2025-01-30 00:00:00
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Struggling to pay your bill — Credit card company won't work with you while you're going through financial hardship
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: NC

Complaint narrative:
I am filing a complaint against Bank of America regarding their handling of my credit card account during a financial hardship. I have been a long-time customer and have always made my payments on time. My credit score has remained in the high XXXX for as long as I can remember. 

I work for the local school district, and in XX/XX/XXXX, my employment contract was renegotiated, resulting in a significant pay cut from approximately {$90000.00} to {$76000.00}. This financial setback made it increasingly difficult to meet all of my obligations. Despite this, I continued making my Bank of America payments until XX/XX/XXXX, when I was forced to make the difficult decision between providing for my son and paying my credit card bill. 

I missed my XXXX payment of {$200.00}, and as a result, I sought assistance from a debt settlement company. Prior to this, I logged into my Bank of America account and removed my automatic payments to prevent further withdrawals. However, in XX/XX/XXXX, Bank of America accessed a bank account that was previously connected to my profile and withdrew {$200.00} without my authorization. 

I immediately contacted customer service and was met with hostility and condescension. The representative spoke to me in a degrading manner, dismissing my financial hardship and my attempts to work with a settlement company. When I requested assistance in removing my bank account information to prevent further unauthorized withdrawals, I was told that no one could help me until I made all past-due payments. Despite repeatedly explaining that I could not make a payment at that time, the representative continued to pressure me to do so. 

Shortly after this conversation, my online banking access was revoked, preventing me from viewing my account details or making payments. When I later decided to discontinue the debt settlement service and handle the situation independently, I contacted Bank of America again to regain online access. I was informed that my account had been closed and sent to collections and that I could not access it until payments were made, effectively blocking me from resolving my balance. 

Bank of America has offered no hardship assistance or reasonable options to help me bring my account current. Other financial institutions provide support to customers facing financial challenges, but Bank of America has instead treated me with disregard and made my situation even more difficult. I have a XXXX XXXX XXXX and am actively applying for higher-paying positions, but obtaining interviews without connections has been challenging. In the meantime, my past-due payments continue to accumulate, negatively impacting my credit, while Bank of America refuses to work with me in good faith. 

I am requesting an investigation into Bank of America 's handling of my account, including : XXXX. Their unauthorized access to my previously removed bank account to withdraw funds. 
2. Their refusal to offer reasonable hardship assistance.

3. Their removal of my online banking access preventing me from managing my account.

4. Their overall treatment of customers facing financial difficulty. 

I appreciate you taking the time to review my complaint, and I look forward to hearing back from you.

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