Consumer complaint received 2019-09-26 00:00:00
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Managing an account — Fee problem
Company: BBVA FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: CA

Complaint narrative:
On the XXXX of this month XX/XX//2019 I noticed two debits from my checking account, one for {$44.00} and another for {$150.00}. 
Both said Garnishment Credit Levy as a comment on each of these debits from my account. I found out that the California Franchise Tax Board did this and I couldn't think of any reason why they would do this.

So I called them and they said they put a hold on my account because I haven't filed a tax return for more than 3 years. 
I told them that's because for the last 3 years I've been living in my car and didn't have enough income to be required to file a tax return each year. 
So they said they would release my money if I submit a Hardship form to them. So I downloaded the form filled it out and emailed to back the the lady. I spoke to at FTB within an hour. This was last Thursday. 
The Next day, Friday, I called the lady XXXX XXXX at the California FTB but all I got was a voicemail from her. After 3 calls and no answer I called my state Senator 's office because all the money I had in this world {$190.00}, was taken away from me without warning or good cause. 
A staffer from Senator XXXX XXXX 's office call the FTB for me and said that the lady who told me to fill out the hardship form and email it back to her, went on vacation. 
This lady knew I was homeless and needed my money back in my account ASAP so I could eat and pay for gas to go to my new job I just got hired for the week previous. 
She knew this and didn't assign me to someone else knowing she wouldn't even look at the form I emailed her for a week. 
Anyway the staffer from Senator XXXX  office got the FTB to release the hold they had on my checking account and I was told my money would be back in my account within 24 hrs. 
So yesterday evening I checked my account online and found that the debit for {$44.00} was posted back into my bank account but the {$150.00} was not posted back to my account. It was too late to call Senator XXXX  office so I call back this morning. 
What I was told by the Staffer was the {$44.00} is what the FTB took from my account and they refunded back to me. The other {$150.00} was taken out of my account by my bank as a fee for what they said was for processing the hold on my money that the FTB had ordered them to do.

After calling my bank BBVA they refuse to reimburse the {$150.00} back to my account. Even though this hold that the FTB did was not my fault, that the FTB should never have done this without first trying to contact me or bother looking to see If I had been collecting Food Stamps, which if they didn't they would know that I was homeless and making less than {$1200.00} per month living in a City XXXX XXXX where {$1200.00} won't even pay for a studio apartment per month. 
Anyway even though I was not responsible for the FTB putting a hold on my checking account, BBVA wouldn't give me back my {$150.00}. Now if someone debits my account that I didn't authorize them to do and that amount that was taken causes my account to be overdrawn, which had happened in the past. BBVA refunded both the unauthorized amount and refunded back the insufficient funds fees that they charged me. This situation is no different. 
Someone took money out of my account with out authorization and no fault of my own, but BBVA refuses to give me back my {$150.00} they have stolen from me.

Please get my money back as I have {$44.00} with no money coming in until I get my first paycheck from my new job which won't be for 3 more weeks and I know that {$44.00} is not enough to pay for the gas to get to work for 3 weeks ( gas here in XXXX CA is {$3.00} a gallon ) if I can't get to work I lose the first good job I have been able to find that hired me in more than 5 years because I'm XXXX years old and its very hard to not be discriminated against because of my age. 
if I loose my good job because BBVA stole my money I need to keep me alive for 3 more weeks and get to work, I can't tell you what I may do to them, but I will have no reason not to because my live will in essence be over. 


Thank you for your help, XXXX XXXX

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief