Consumer complaint received 2026-01-07 00:00:00
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Closing an account — Can't close your account
Company: BEACON FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: VA

Complaint narrative:
I am the Owner and Sole Member of a XXXX XXXX, having done business from XXXX to XXXX in XXXX, XXXX. This XXXX  XXXX ( a retail XXXX XXXX XXXX ) was closed on XX/XX/XXXX and I relocated with my husband to another state. 

This Complaint is against XXXX XXXX, my company bank relationship in XXXX, XXXX, regarding the ATTEMPTED AND DECLINED CLOSURE of a Business Checking account, held at their branch office at XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, XXXX  XXXX, an active account for my LLC from XXXX, XXXX till present ... XXXX  years. 

The account was left open after business closure in XXXX to deal with stale and pending transactions that have now been cleared. In XX/XX/XXXX I wrote to XXXX XXXX  at the XXXX XXXX office and asked to have the account closed. I did not want to keep it open as all business was concluded. There was a small balance on deposit and I asked for it to be sent to me minus any recent monthly statement fees due. I received no response through mid-XXXX, XXXX. 

In XXXX, XXXX, I called the XXXX XXXX XXXX  branch to follow up on why my account was not closed, as I got another monthly statement fee but no returned balance nor notice of closure. The balance was whittling down over time due to monthly fees. The XXXX XXXX  respondent refused to close the account, stating that I needed to have my signature guaranteed by a notary public before they could do anything more. He suggested that recent monthly fees might be able to be waived, as there had been no transactions for some time, except for the bank charges. 

I told the bank that I would not pay the {$45.00} charge for notary public in my new state of residence to verify my legal signature to get back my remaining balance and close an account that was clearly not functioning any longer, nearly a year past closing my business. The banker refused to close the account without the notary. 

Right before XXXX in XXXX, XXXX. I wrote a check for cash and removed my remaining balance down to {$0.00} from the XXXX XXXX  Account. Then today, XX/XX/XXXX, I called the central customer service line at the XXXX Bank headquarters and asked for my account with a {$0.00} balance to be closed and explained the history. The respondent refused to close the account and sited the same requirement of a notary to get the account closed and mentioned that another monthly fee of {$9.00} had been charged, so the account was now into a negative balance. 

Once again, I explained that I was not going to pay nearly {$50.00} to close an account with a XXXX balance. I had done business with them for XXXX years and was not being treated like a " customer ''. 

The reason I chose to zero out the bank balance, other than the obvious reason that it was my money, was that my husband had just closed his XXXX XXXX XXXX account by doing so. Once his account balance was {$0.00}, with a simple phone call to Customer Service he was able to close his account. He was also a small business owner in XXXX XXXX, XXXX  prior to moving out-of-state. I used his example and followed the same procedure, but was unsuccessful, declined by the uncooperative bank. 

So a MALE small business owner can close his account without putting the request in writing first or having his signature even provided, and without requiring a Notary Public to do it, however a FEMALE small business owner can not close her account without having her signature guaranteed by a Notary Public at a cost. Also, my husband no longer had to pay additional monthly fees on a lingering account, but I do, because the bank refuses to act. 

This smells of DISCRIMINATION, not just a customer-unfriendly bank policy or practice. 

And I still do not have resolution.... the bank account remains open on a defunct business!!!! 

I want to close this business account, without the added expense and hassle being required by XXXX XXXX. Please review and advise.

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