Do I Have To Change Banks?

[Jgoodall08]

My checking acct is with wells Fargo and I
Have a credit card with them that will be included I'n
the bankruptcy. I'm current on everything.
My childsupport and husbands check are direct
Deposited. Do I have to change banks? Can the bank
Take the money In my checking acct after I file
For bankruptcy? Thanks for the help!

[despritfreya]

My general rule: You should not bank where you owe $$.

My rule for Wells Fargo: Do not leave $$ in the bank. Drain the account. Wells Fargo has a nasty habit of taking the law into its own hands by freezing accounts once it finds out that its depositor has filed bk. Good luck getting the $$ released.

Regardless, if you owe $$ to Wells Fargo and there is $$ in the account on the day you file, the bank has the right to setoff the money and apply it to the debt. And, while child support may be exempt and there may be a rule that the setoff right does not apply to child support, if you are commingling the money with your husband's income, you most likely have lost any exemption rights.

Bottom line, drain the account before filing and try to banko someplace where you do not owe $$.

Des

[helpmeout]

Do you have to change banks? No. But should you? Well, answer the questions below:

Do you want to keep your money?
Do you want access to your money after filing? Some banks freeze accounts and Wells Fargo is one of them.

If the answer is yes to any of the questions above, change banks.

[iv65536]

Numerous other threads on this subject exist, especially with respect to Wells Fargo/Wachovia. Drain your Wells Fargo/Wachovia checking and savings accounts, and deposit the money at a bank or credit union to whom you owe nothing. You don't necessarily need to close the accounts altogether; after you file, you may have some difficulty opening a new bank account.

For what it's worth, I had one checking account with a balance of less than $5 at a bank where I discharged two credit cards for a total of over $12k; they did not touch the money and I was allowed to keep the account, and in fact had no problem opening a savings account there.

As for Wells Fargo, I had a car loan there at the time I filed, but it was almost paid off, so I went ahead and paid off the car loan. About a year later, I got a checking and savings account there; they asked about my BK, I answered honestly and was approved for the accounts. (I had never overdrawn a bank account, which helps.)

[Jgoodall08]

Can they only take the money on the day I file? And not
Before or after that day?

[tobee43]

to be safe you should either close the account.....open one at a credit union...keep as little cash it is possible ....just to pay your bills.

never eat where you poop......to be blunt about it...LOL!! wells fargo will grab you cc payment in a ny minute....get out of there! i have even heard banks take payments out of the accounts for their cc's when there was no money in the account...leaving the poor person with overdraft charges, fees...etc.

i would immediately find another bank....if it were me...best of luck!

[Jgoodall08]

Awe man that sucks!!! Thanks for the tips.
Changing the child support from one bank to
Another should be a nightmare. I don't understand
Why they can take your money after u file, that seems
Really messed up to me.

[WhatMoney]

My checking acct is with wells Fargo and I
Have a credit card with them that will be included I'n
the bankruptcy. I'm current on everything.
My childsupport and husbands check are direct
Deposited. Do I have to change banks? Can the bank
Take the money In my checking acct after I file
For bankruptcy? Thanks for the help!

I will give you an answer based on the law, and not uniformed opinions.

Wells Fargo, as a nationally chartered bank, cannot by law take any of your credit card debt as an offset to your checking account. You can look up your checking account agreement to confirm this, or you can listen to the paranoid advisors on this forum, and change banks for the wrong reason. Wells Fargo can offset other loans you might have with them, but not credit cards. Again look it up in your Deposit Account Agreement to confirm.

However, as our resident attorney correctly pointed out, Wells Fargo does freeze your checking account the moment they find out you have filed for bankruptcy, usually the day after you file. Then you have to have your trustee contact the bank and tell Wells Fargo to release your funds because he doesn't want them. This is reason enough to not do business with Well Fargo. In fact, doing business with any of the national banks is just supporting their lawless behavior.

State chartered banks and credit unions can and will offset your credit card debt against any other deposit accounts you may have, as they are not restricted by the federal law that applies to the nationally chartered banks.

There are more detailed posts about this in the forum, this is an old question. But the bottom line is dump Well Fargo to avoid them freezing your checking account until the trustee releases it. But they won't take your funds to offset your credit card debt, before or after bankruptcy.

[tobee43]

I will give you an answer based on the law, and not uniformed opinions.

Wells Fargo, as a nationally chartered bank, cannot by law take any of your credit card debt as an offset to your checking account. You can look up your checking account agreement to confirm this, or you can listen to the paranoid advisors on this forum, and change banks for the wrong reason. Wells Fargo can offset other loans you might have with them, but not credit cards. Again look it up in your Deposit Account Agreement to confirm.

However, as our resident attorney correctly pointed out, Wells Fargo does freeze your checking account the moment they find out you have filed for bankruptcy, usually the day after you file. Then you have to have your trustee contact the bank and tell Wells Fargo to release your funds because he doesn't want them. This is reason enough to not do business with Well Fargo. In fact, doing business with any of the national banks is just supporting their lawless behavior.

State chartered banks and credit unions can and will offset your credit card debt against any other deposit accounts you may have, as they are not restricted by the federal law that applies to the nationally chartered banks.

There are more detailed posts about this in the forum, this is an old question. But the bottom line is dump Well Fargo to avoid them freezing your checking account until the trustee releases it. But they won't take your funds to offset your credit card debt, before or after bankruptcy.

can't sleep Whatmoney?? up early but i guess as we age we need less sleep..

YES...it doesn't matter about the deposit account agreement...if you have a cc card with the bank, they will break the law...simple as that....as chase??

remember LAW is NOT justice...and the banks break the laws everyday.

and by the way CHASE did it to us....but i fought and got the money back...that is a "true" life experience with this situation...and we were, in fact lucky to get our money back that they took out for a cc CHASE payment....so it does in fact happen...and CHASE is most certainly a nationally chartered bank...if not internationally chartered....

and have more coffee b4 you bark back at me this morning please.....nice to see you tho Whatmoney...lookin good. (cheerleader enough for you?)

[ValleYum]

Awe man that sucks!!! Thanks for the tips.
Changing the child support from one bank to
Another should be a nightmare. I don't understand
Why they can take your money after u file, that seems
Really messed up to me.

I think a worse nightmare would be having no money in the account or having it all frozen - no money available to buy groceries, gas, medicine or pay your light bill. It may be a pain to change it but it will be very well worth it.

When we filed, our lawyer's questionnaire asked if we had closed a bank account within the last year - fortunately, we had left $5 in the one we moved out of so we could answer, "no" to that question.

[WhatMoney]

can't sleep Whatmoney?? up early but i guess as we age we need less sleep..

YES...it doesn't matter about the deposit account agreement...if you have a cc card with the bank, they will break the law...simple as that....as chase??

remember LAW is NOT justice...and the banks break the laws everyday.

and by the way CHASE did it to us....but i fought and got the money back...that is a "true" life experience with this situation...and we were, in fact lucky to get our money back that they took out for a cc CHASE payment....so it does in fact happen...and CHASE is most certainly a nationally chartered bank...if not internationally chartered....

and have more coffee b4 you bark back at me this morning please.....nice to see you tho Whatmoney...lookin good. (cheerleader enough for you?)

WTF is it with you tobee that you must personalize everything? I've noticed you give a lot of uniformed and inaccurate advice on this forum, and must be corrected by others over and over.

Exactly what were the details on your Chase situation? Did you have a credit card payment system set up with Chase that deducts your payments? Did they claim they did not receive notice from you that you no longer authorized payments from your checking account? That is completely different than the law I am stating. Again, your anecdotal experience doesn't mean much unless you accurately explain in detail the conditions that Chase setoff your checking funds to pay for their Chase CC debt.

If a bank does not follow the account holder agreement you agreed to and signed, then you have a legitimate complaint, and it will get corrected. What actually happened in your case you haven't explained. You will note my conclusion - that no one should be dealing with nationally chartered banks because of their lawless behavior. Do you agree with this?

[tobee43]

I think a worse nightmare would be having no money in the account or having it all frozen - no money available to buy groceries, gas, medicine or pay your light bill. It may be a pain to change it but it will be very well worth it.

When we filed, our lawyer's questionnaire asked if we had closed a bank account within the last year - fortunately, we had left $5 in the one we moved out of so we could answer, "no" to that question.

we did the same, but that it happened to us anyway...so we fought back. i'm certain the only reason the bank gave us our money back, was because we were with them over 20 years..but what a pain in the butt!

[tobee43]

WTF is it with you tobee that you must personalize everything? I've noticed you give a lot of uniformed and inaccurate advice on this forum, and must be corrected by others over and over.

Exactly what were the details on your Chase situation? Did you have a credit card payment system set up with Chase that deducts your payments? Did they claim they did not receive notice from you that you no longer authorized payments from your checking account? That is completely different than the law I am stating. Again, your anecdotal experience doesn't mean much unless you accurately explain in detail the conditions that Chase setoff your checking funds to pay for their Chase CC debt.

If a bank does not follow the account holder agreement you agreed to and signed, then you have a legitimate complaint, and it will get corrected. What actually happened in your case you haven't explained. You will note my conclusion - that no one should be dealing with nationally chartered banks because of their lawless behavior. Do you agree with this?

i know you love and so appreciate my replies...however, i, give advise from actual experience and education...not from copying pasting progranda... now...let's be polite just in case there are some newbies in here and we would like them to continue to enjoy some accurate information.

your correct, i did not explain the entire situation...

the bank was chase and we had a checking account there.......we did NOT have auto pays with them...however, i did make "regular" online payments..my agrument laid with the fact, that although the banks statement you paid on line...they attempted to say i had agreed to an auto pay agreement....we never did...i would do the monthly input on each and every payment.

chase insisted we agreed to auto pay...we asked them to prove it...and of course they couldn't...i showed the bank these receipts of "online" payments...NOT auto payments...so that was the exact, and correct story...for you Whatmoney...just for you.

i don't personalize everything.......you just LOVE attacking everything i write...so if you can't take it...stop serving it. although, there are times you do have a few excellent points...rare and far apart as they are...and some that are actually interesting although not helpful with the copy paste stuffs...that needs to go..k.

and as i said i do agree with statement.....or agree with you for maybe the second time.

[discouraged]

Okay you two - knock it off or go to your separate corners. With the advice of this wonderful forum I also moved my money out of Wells Fargo. Well, there's 11.00 in there. Maybe I'll go buy something with that and get rid of it altogether. My new bank is perplexed I know because I'm also taking money out of there. My lawyer said to only leave 5-10 in and bank account but the new one I have to have 50 in so will have 60 when I file (the 50 plus 10 just because). I am hoping that by having the small amount in WF, it will fool everyone into just looking there for funds. They can freeze the $11, I don't care.

Question though - when this is over can we keep money in our banks again? It is a pain not to use my debit card, but will do it as long as I have to.

[tobee43]

LOL....come on....PLEASE.........he loves to get me going....i just can't resist...but i really do love him...ROFL!!!!! i just need to teach him some manners you know.

$11...ummmmmmm.....bread, eggs...2 bananas...maybe?

ok...now, we opened two new account one with a local small bank..a community bank...and one with a "major" credit union ...this was prior to filing...we still kept the"old" chase" open...we just went into and signed a document saying no auto pays ...no electronic pays are authorized...so actually..that chase account was still open during our process.

we used the local bank for all "bills"....we used the credit union debit card for food and gas...just so hopefully we can borrow from them some day.

although we were to have only had $150 as per this states limit in our accounts at the time of filing...that never happened although it was written on the petition...why...because we always had money in the account for food and bills...and it was tracable on the bank statments.

we just open up a saving account about 1 and 1/2 months ago. we never did keep money "in" the bank...but i guess we are going to do that now so we can establish something for someone to see ...just in case we need a car...since we just closed on this house yesterday....we will never need a bank for a mortgage again ...whooopppppeeee de ...