Consumer complaint received 2025-12-03 00:00:00
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Managing an account — Banking errors
Company: BMO BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: CA

Complaint narrative:
Complaint against BMO, unauthorized account closure, blocked access to funds, and misleading statements by staff Company BMO Bank Product Checking account What happened On XXXX XXXX XXXX I noticed my BMO account was showing a XXXX balance. I immediately called BMO customer service and was told that my account had been closed. I was not given clear advance notice of this closure and I had not requested that my account be closed. 

After that call I contacted the BMO XXXX branch and spoke with an employee named XXXX. She told me, we closed your account and I called you today. I told her that I never received any call or voicemail from her. Then she told me to talk to XXXX. 

I was then connected to or referred to XXXX XXXX, who I understand is a regional manager for BMO. XXXX told me that XXXX said I was being rude to her and that I was not a good experience at her branch. I explained to XXXX that I had not even been in XXXX XXXX since XXXX and I did not visit that branch often at all. Most of my interactions with BMO are over the phone with customer service, not in person at that branch. I believe what XXXX told XXXX about me was false and used as a justification to close my account or block me. 

Before this, some BMO customer service representatives had already been giving me trouble by falsely claiming that I failed security verification. Because of these false notes I was repeatedly forced to go in person to the downtown XXXX XXXX branch to verify myself. Each time, the branch representatives there told me something like, we do not see anything wrong and we are not sure why customer service told you that. This shows that the problem was coming from inaccurate or misleading notes in my account, not from anything I did. 

I later spoke with a customer service manager named XXXX. He admitted to me that the representatives I had spoken to had wrongfully put notes in my account. He told me something along the lines of, these reps you spoke to wrongfully put these notes in your account, let me remove and fix this for you. So BMO management already acknowledged that the information in my account notes was false and needed to be corrected. 

I brought all of this to XXXX attention and explained the situation in detail. After hearing this, XXXX told me that I was welcome to open a new account with BMO and that she would allow it. However, when I went in person to the BMO XXXX branch to follow through, the staff there told me that they could not open a new account for me without XXXX confirmation. The branch XXXX in XXXX, named XXXX, told me he tried to call XXXX for confirmation but she did not answer and did not give any reply. 

On XXXX XXXX XXXX I also emailed XXXX at her address, XXXX. In my email I told her that XXXX at the XXXX branch had tried to contact her for confirmation to open my new account, but that he got no answer, and that he said he could not open my account without her confirmation. I never received any response from XXXX to my email. 

Because of the way BMO has handled this, I have no access to the account that they closed, I have been blocked from opening a replacement account that XXXX XXXX told me she would allow, and I am being left without access to funds that are still owed to me. 

There are still incoming refunds that were supposed to go back to my BMO account which I need. There is also an ongoing dispute for about XXXX dollars against XXXX that was tied to this account. I am worried that I will not receive these funds and that BMO will mishandle or ignore the outcome of that dispute now that they have unilaterally closed my account and then refused to follow through on reopening a new one. 

In summary BMO closed my account without clear notice or a valid explanation. 

A branch employee, XXXX, claimed she had called me when she did not, and also told a regional manager that I was rude and a bad experience, even though I had not been in her branch since XXXX. 

Customer service reps repeatedly and falsely said I failed security verification, which forced me to visit a branch many times. The branch staff confirmed they saw no issue. 

A customer service manager, XXXX, admitted that reps had wrongfully added notes to my account and said he would remove them. 

A regional manager, XXXX XXXX, told me I could open a new account, but then did not cooperate when the XXXX branch tried to get her confirmation, and did not respond to my follow up email on XXXX XXXX XXXX. 

Because of this, I can not access incoming refunds and there is also a XXXX dollar XXXX dispute that is at risk. 

What I want BMO to do I am asking the CFPB to require BMO to do the following. 

Restore my access to the funds that belonged to me in the closed account, including any incoming refunds that were directed to that account, or if that is not possible, promptly issue those amounts to me by check or another method I can access right away. 

Confirm and honor the ongoing XXXX dollar dispute with XXXX, and ensure that any credited amount is paid out to me even though the original account was closed without my request. 

Provide a clear written explanation of why my account was closed, including what internal notes or accusations were used, and why false statements about me being rude at the XXXX branch were relied upon even though I had not visited that branch since XXXX. 

Correct all false and misleading notes in my customer profile, including any claims that I failed security verification when branch staff confirmed no problem, and any notes saying I was rude or disruptive when that did not happen. 

If BMO will not reopen my account, then they should clearly document that the closure was not due to fraud or wrongdoing on my part, so that this situation does not harm my ability to bank elsewhere. 

Provide compensation for the time, multiple unnecessary branch visits, stress, and inconvenience caused by the wrongful notes, account closure without proper notice, and the lack of follow through from their regional manager. 

I am submitting this complaint because BMO closed my account without proper notice, blocked my access to my funds and pending refunds, allowed or created false internal notes about my behavior and security verification, and then failed to follow through on their own managers promise to allow me to open a new account.

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