Discharged but BOA took out automatic payment

[paynbigtime]

my in-laws had their ch 7 discharged on 12-14. That very same day Bank of America withdrew over $300 from their checking account, which is what their old payment was on their credit card with them. My mother in law has been trying to get in touch with lawyer but apparently she is unavailable until after new year. Is this legal, especially since the debt was discharged? Is there anything that can be done? Thanks for any advice!!!

[music12]

the question is, first, who initiated the withdrawal: was it originally set up by your in-laws and the automated payment just did not get cancelled? or was it initiated by BofA? if it was set up by your in-laws, the creditor might claim that your in-laws chose to pay back the debt, as they are allowed to do after discharge. but if it was initiated by the creditor (BofA), then the $$ must be returned.

[paynbigtime]

the in-laws previously had automatic payments set up for their monthly bill but had requested they be cancelled 6 months ago when they decided they were going to file the bankruptcy. My mother in law said the person she talked to back then stated that all future payments would be cancelled and she never heard a word from them again until she got her bank statement in the mail.

[music12]

so you are saying that for the past 6 months no payments were going out, and suddenly on the day of discharge they reinstated it? or were they going out at $50 a month, i.e. were never cancelled?

then the person she talked to messed up. i hope she has some documentation that she cancelled it. she can take that to her bank and complain, and ask for the money back. i think her bank will have to foot the bill, because the creditor might not want to return the money. let the bank give her the money back, and if the bank wants to get the money from the creditor, let them try.

[paynbigtime]

no payments had gone out for the 6 months..just the payment on day of discharged. I think she talked to somebody at the bank about it but I'm not sure. I doubt she has any documentation about payments being cancelled...she is not really good at dealing with this kind of stuff. Hopefully her lawyer will get it straightened out. Thanks for your imput...I appreciate it.

[music12]

oh, so if no payments had gone out for 6 months, then she does not need documentation that she cancelled it, because obviously it was cancelled! now, it's the bank that will have to prove that she reinstated the payments, and seriously, nobody is going to believe she would do that. i'm guessing this may be a mistake unrelated to the bk, and the timing is coincidental. i would call the bank and tell them this was unauthorized. i think they will give back the money from an unauthorized transaction. and seriously, $300 is nothing for the bank. they'll just give it back.

[paynbigtime]

I'll pass that on...thanks again!

[fireworks]

BofA twice pulled payments out of my bank account after I had canceled the auto-pay through their website. Both times I went to the bank and explained the situation and the bank gave me my money back (I assume they took it from BofA). In my case it was $600 the first month and $1200 the next. After the second one I closed that account and opened another one at the same bank so I don't know how many times they tried afte that. AMEX did the same thing.

[maxwellv8670]

Yikes! I have never set up an automatic payment plan but sounds like I should open a bank account elsewhere so this doesn't happen to me.

[2manybills]

BofA is notorious for this kind of thing. That's why I pulled my account from them. I would contact their BK department, advise them that if the funds are not put back in the account immediately, that you will pursue an action against them for violation of a court order (automatic stay) and also pursuing collection of a debt that discharged in bankruptcy. Let them know that you (your parents) will seek damages against them.

[music12]

hi 2manybills,

do you just happen to have the phone number of BofA bk department? they are still, still dragging their feet on money they are withholding from me

[2manybills]

I don't have my old notes, but I googled it and this is what I came up with:

1-800-669-5224

They do answer Loss Mitigation Bankruptcy Department. You may see where that takes you. Hope it helps!

[music12]

thanks! i'll try it...