Closing Accounts and Continued Auto-Pay

[BkinTX]

We closed out our BoA account today. They grilled us about closing it.

One lady kept pitching how convenient it was to us -- locations at x,y, AND z.

We just told them we closed it because we switched banks. That didn't satisfy them, but I didn't feel like we owed them any sort of explanation.

I have switched all our auto pays over to our new account, save one. It's our vehicle loan. Our lawyer advised us to stop paying it. DH feels that closing the account is sufficient but I believe we need to call and stop auto pay -- tell them we want to pay ourselves, then not pay.

If we don't call and they try to pull money from a closed account, what will happen?

Our lawyer filed for us yesterday.

[StartingOver08]

Stop all auto pays. Do it in writing. Yes they will try to pull from a closed account and if that happens BOA will reopen the account - issue OD charges etc. Stop all auto pays in writing.

[BkinTX]

Ok, so the auto pay will come out on the 1st. Wonder if we can get it to them in time?

EEK. Thank you for alerting me to this issue!!!

[mamaluv]

That reminds me...I need close my BoA account too!

[BkinTX]

Good luck with closing the account. It was pretty quick and painless for us but they did ask us repeatedly why we were closing it and they tried to convince us to stay with them, which I found to be uncomfortable and annoying.

[Recessionist]

I am getting ready to close my WAMU/Chase accounts here soon. I owe Chase money from a credit card, and I am going to BK on the line of credit on my checking account that I opened with WaMu lo these many years ago when they were the hopeful new player on the scene. Kerry Killinger of WaMu, who I have met, is the reason I no longer wish to do business with them - and that's all they need to know.

[BkinTX]

I have stopped feeling bad for the cc companies. The other night we figured out that over the years we have paid waaaaay more to these companies than we have borrowed.

It was our mistake and stupidity that got us on the debt treadmill but the cc companies practices are nothing short of vicious and blood-sucking. They have gotten TONS of money from us.

[BkinTX]

Oh, question -- the written notice -- can it be faxed, or does it need to be mailed a certain way to have record they received it? We are running out of time.

[StartingOver08]

Fax it.

[Recessionist]

1. Call to request the auto-pay be suspended (most reputable companies will honor this alone)
2. Fax a written confirmation
3. Mail it certified mail

[willbfree]

Watch your BofA statements closely after your close the account. It took months of contacting BofA to fix issues to finally get a zero balance statement. You will need a zero statement (or at least we did) for the BK. BofA would try and charge a monthly service fee (something they never did when we had the account) then it would bounce the account into a negative range and dun us for the amount. I went thru this scenario three months in a row with two BofA accounts. So don't just toss the statements aside without opening them. Aggressively fix any incorrect issues that occurs with those accounts.

[BkinTX]

WOW that sounds like a nightmare. I hope this doesn't happen to us.

I feel way more informed after spending time on this board, but I also am more nervous because I'm now aware of so much more that can go wrong.

Also, our BoA checking acct is tied to a BoA cc for overdraft. What should we do about that? Nothing? Close the account?

[StartingOver08]

Close the account, JMO.

[BkinTX]

That won't look bad for the BK?

I am so sorry if I am asking really elementary questions. I appreciate all the feedback.

[MichiganMan]

Fifth Third

Fifth Third is notoriuos for reopening closed accounts and then charging you fees. I closed an account with them for almost a year then a company did an annual auto pay that I did not even remember being only once a year and they reopened the account and gave me NSF fees and etc.

They said it was to keep me from getting into trouble with the company making the withdraw. Then they spent the next hour begging me to keep the account and get it in order. I ended up paying the fees and everything.

I contacted the company and stopped thae auto pay.