Bank of America refuses to let customers close accounts

Simple answer. Withdraw everything but $1. Do not ever go back to them. So it stays open? The government should be held accountable first, then these putz's. Our government creates the rules, then when they fail , target evryone but themselves. Congress needs to be re-vamped.

I'm going to take what may be an unpopular stance here.

That guy was yelling how BOA kept foreclosing on homes, as if they were evil for doing so.

I am TRULY sorry that the housing market has crashed all over America. I've personally been hurt by it. Our house is not worth what we have invested in it. HOWEVER, if I stopped paying my mortgage, I would expect to lose the house. I would not expect the bank to cut me some slack. A bank is not a charity. They paid out hundreds of thousands of dollars for my house, and I have only paid a fraction of it back to them. They actually OWN my house, and they are letting me live here in return for paying them each month. We have got to stop blaming the banks for the ACT of foreclosure.

Yes, some crooked deals were made in the mortgage marketplace (selling mortgages, bundling bad mortgages, etc.) but that does NOT relieve the homeowners of their DUTIES to pay back the money they borrowed. No matter how you scream, it does NOT.

Yes, BOA was bailed out. Blame the GOVERNMENT for that. So BOA doesn't pay enough taxes? Again, blame the GOVERNMENT for that. The government has made the tax laws and bailed the banks out.

Seems to me our anger is misplaced. We should be mad at the government. We can blame ALL of Congress AND the past 2 presidents for their policies. The government should NOT give special treatments to "favored" companies.

But if the government does grant these favors, of COURSE the banks and corporations are going to take advantage of it. They have a duty to their stockholders to maximize profits. Stockholders are us. All of us with 401K plans, IRAs, etc. We ARE the stockholders. Mom and pop. Your neighbors. While there are many "fat cats" on Wall Street, millions of Americans benefit from corporate profits.

If I ran a bank, I wouldn't let in an angry mob, either. I'd probably call the police. If those men had calmly entered the bank like any other customer, of course they could have closed their accounts.

This video is pure propaganda. I can't believe how many of you are falling for it.

Now, I'm sure the flaming of me will begin. There's a lot of emotion being thrown around right now, with a lot of anger behind it. I challenge you to really think about where the blame should fall. Look to the government.

reply to post by GeorgiaGirl

Can I ask what bank you work for? The bail out was a fiasco that never should have happened. There should be no such thing as "too big to fail". They should have went bankrupt and been split into smaller, regional banks. Mega banks and international mega corporations are sounding the death knell of this country. They own dear leader and most of congress and the courts.

reply to post by GeorgiaGirl


You do realize that Congress and the Banks work hand in hand?

The fact is, consumer banking isn't profitable, and hasn't been for over a decade. The fed makes them "Let" you keep an account. And the public banks have to promise to reserve a certain percentage of accounts for real live humans, even though it costs them money.

The only time a bank makes money off of you, is when you take out a loan, and pay them interest.

Think about it. When you have a checking account, how does the bank get paid? They may charge a per check fee (if you still use checks), but that fee goes to pay the Federal Reserve clearing system (the "real bank" in the USA). Unless you have a minimum balance over about $3000 for an entire month, they can't make a profit from your account. (If you do, they'll "borrow" your 3K and speculate on wall street with it). Some of them give you perks if you keep 500 as a minimum balance; but they don't make a profit form you---it just means you're less likely to accidentally overdraw on them.

All of the other hit about having you open a checking account, a savings account, money market, etc., is just to get you used to bringing your business there for they day you want a home loan.

Problem is, they aren't writing any home loans these days; so they are actually losing money on the checking accounts. The fee is merely their attempt to keep this part of their operation profitable.


And no bank is easy-going about letting you close your account. They will claim that you may have written a bunch of checks, so they need to keep it open for 30 more days so any and all charges come home to roost. In thirty days, they'll tell you the same thing, hoping you'll get desperate and give in--start banking with them. It will probably work for bank of A this time, at least partially.

reply to post by GeorgiaGirl


" if I stopped paying my mortgage, I would expect to lose the house. I would not expect the bank to cut me some slack. A bank is not a charity. THEY (emphasis added) paid out hundreds of thousands of dollars for my house"

Actually, i have to correct you there.

The "money" that the bank allegedly "leant" you, did not come from them. It was created by YOU as soon as you signed the papers for your "loan"

In essence, you are paying massive interest to a third party on funds that YOU CREATED, AND LEANT TO YOURSELF.

If that's not a big enough scam, then there's always the fact that the banks knew (those inpositions of real charge)about the coming collapse and were complicit in the scheme from the get-go.

Now I'm all for being fiscally responsible personally, but these azzholes played millions of hard-working folks for SUCKERS and deserve to be PUNISHED for that, not "bailed out"

I've never had any trouble closing any accounts and I have had several. One at the Wachovia bank they had 7,597 dollars of my lottery winnings and they said that "I couldn't close it because of fees" I said "I want it now and you can send me a bill for the fees" I sat their and waited while the teller talked to the manager who came over and talked to me I was asked why I was closing my account and I told him straight up why I showed him how the bank's policies almost screwed my kids out of football and cheerleading by saying to post date a check for the day the funds were to be available. Well lo, and behold the damn bank went and put the check through a full hour before they allowed the funds to be available to me...long story short I had to pay 400 and some odd dollars to my coaches for teh children and a twenty five dollar overdraft fee to the bank automatically after that hour when they made the funds available it came out. I was royally pissed and told him they should be lucky I don't go to the consumer protection agency about it. He said sorry for the mix up (HAHA YEAH MIX UP MY BUTT!) and said you can certainly have your money today. So maybe a slight problem not really they just wanted to know what had made me take it out and close my account so soon (The fourth day) and that was because the coach of cheerleading knew about the check before the bank even gave me notice. Thank God. Also the manager told me they were waiving my fees because of the "mix up" and yet now I have on my credit report a 7.00 dollar and I think some odd change owed to them??? Just enough to really screw up my credit rating. F'ing A's!!!!
So well they gave me the illusion of giving me no trouble at that time at least, also I went to the equifax and I even disputed it but they won't take it off, I told them I never owed it because the bank allowed me to close the account and waived ALL FEES!!! They still refuse to take it off, all the effers are crooked as hell!!!

I've been with a regional bank for years

but don't think you won't be effected of BOA goes belly up, that would be bad for everyone

the markets are emotional, and it would cause a 10 day sell off

Originally posted by DarthMuerte
You really need to get out of the mega banks now while you still can. At least go to a regional bank or even better a credit union. Personally, I refuse to deal with the system at all anymore.

Wise words to live by. Use a local credit union and keep only what you need in an account to cover an ATM, debit, or CC account. Here is where a union membership has additional benefits, when you can join a good CU. If the SHTF you only lose some money, not your life savings. I pity people who have their wealth tied up in CDs or annuities with some of these mega banks, when things start going downhill they'll never have the time to get their money out.

On another note, this story makes me wonder whether it truly were "hackers" that took down the bank's home page for 2 days or if that was just an excuse for them to keep customer's out of their accounts.

reply to post by KySc5

reply to post by Lysergic


Closed my account a few days ago.

Bank of failmerica can suck it.

I tried using my Bof A debit card last night and it would not work, I figured it may have been blocked for some security reason like using it too often in different states since I travel for work this has happened a couple of times before. I called them to straighten it out as I have done before without any problems. This time, for some unknown reason, my personal security answers to their questions were "not matching what they had on file", I argued with them that I know I have my driver's license number correct since I am staring at the dang card and I know I haven't forgot my SS# WTH?
Long story short, I still can't use my debit card and I am out of state without money and there are no Bof A's here
So until they get their s**t squared away I'm screwed!

If every customer does not close their account with them then they deserve whatever they get from these scam artist! I am glad to see people actually reacting for once and making the right decision to get outta BOA!!! I did months ago and went to our local credit union and have no problems at all since!!!!! Everyone should move to some kind of credit union and leave all big banks completely!!! This is a way for we the people to actually make a difference in what is happening!!! Everyone that closes their account matters in the big scheme of things! Maybe we all can't go to rallies or visit Washington, but you have a voice that speaks loud and clear when you close that account and leave then high and dry! And the more people that do it the bigger our voice will be heard!!! Keep on closing out those accounts!!! Everyone leave BOA NOW! Save yourself and make an example for everyone. Get your friends to do the same. We need many people to do this for it to make the dramatic effect that they deserve!!
End of rant!

Originally posted by HIWATT
The banks are not simply just "holding onto" your money. It doesn't even physically exist. Sure they have a "float" just like any other "business" just to handle the expected day to day transactions... but go in there and try to pull out a large sum and watch them get very nervous very quickly.

Yep. I wonder how many people even realize this. It certainly flies in the face of what we traditionally think of as a bank, but many of us have probably heard about fractional lending and had a general idea that bank runs could happen. Well, welcome to the 1920's people.

Hey, since we have a massive federal government and a "Fed" which can print as much money as it wants, I think it's time for a bailout of the people. Bail us out Fed.

No? Well, maybe it's about time for the revolution we've been putting off...

After all of the bank failures of the Great Depression era the government changed the rules for banking. If you read your deposit account agreement carefully you will find that the bank (any bank) can take up to 90 days to give you your money after you request it. This is to stop banks failing due to a "run on the bank." On most days you can walk in to any bank and get your money immediately. However, if things go bad you better have a cash reserve somewhere else.

Do you know the "Move Your Money" campaign?

Take a look:

moveyourmoneyproject.org...

Very interesting...

reply to post by GeorgiaGirl


Quick note.....if they foreclose on you, they auction the house....if no one buys it, they sell it to themselves....So now they have the property. Then they tell the foreclosed individual that they are still in hock for the amount of the house. So they have now doubled the value you owed.....Then, they send you a 1099 saying you earned the value of that house.....Seriously, this is exactly what nationstar told us two days ago.....So we lost the house, we still owe the value of the mortgage, AND now we have to pay income tax on the value we owe.......YES.....I love it, this is the fair market system.

Here in Illinois, congressmen are telling people to pull their money out of BofA because of the $5.00 fee. It's like they WANT BofA to fail.

Originally posted by mugger
Simple answer. Withdraw everything but $1. Do not ever go back to them. So it stays open? The government should be held accountable first, then these putz's. Our government creates the rules, then when they fail , target evryone but themselves. Congress needs to be re-vamped.

And then the bank starts charging you each month fees for falling below minimum account balance. They'll zap your credit report and you cannot get another account anywhere until you pay up because it'll go on the record and you'll be flagged every time you try to open an account.

reply to post by GeorgiaGirl


BoA has been foreclosing on homes that were not behind. They have also been foreclosing on homes they didn't even have mortgages on. It isn't just people who fell behind.