Creditors withdrawing money from Checking

[MissB]

I'm looking to see if this is covered..but what do I do if WellsFargo keeps attempting to withdraw money from my checking acct? I have accrued 6 overdraft fees of 30 each.. in 2 weeks. I used to pay them via electronic draft out of this account but did not have recurring payments..

thoughts? I don't even have money being deposited into this account anymore but the bank won't close it until 60 days have passed with no activity.

[jribe]

I'm looking to see if this is covered..but what do I do if WellsFargo keeps attempting to withdraw money from my checking acct? I have accrued 6 overdraft fees of 30 each.. in 2 weeks. I used to pay them via electronic draft out of this account but did not have recurring payments..

thoughts? I don't even have money being deposited into this account anymore but the bank won't close it until 60 days have passed with no activity.

who is the electronic draft from? Wells Fargo? It sounds like an ACH. Do you have control over this payment? IE: when it comes out, how much? If not, it's an ACH. File a fraud claim with customer service..
Have you called customer service or gone into the branch to have them waived? They can certainly do 6 fees... If one doesn't work-go the other route. Don't listen to CS BS if they said "we cant - go to your branch".

The 60 day thing is in regards to chargeoff. They meant that if you keep the account overdrawn- it will charge off and close in 60 days. If you pay before then- you can close the account as soon as everything is cleared. If you deposit cash to clear it today, it will be able to close at midnight same day.

[MissB]

The amount I paid them was not a fixed amount, I would just pay them either through my debit card or checking, but I always set it up as a one time transaction, not recurring. I set up the fraud through Bank Of America? (that is where my checking acct is that this is happening).

I was wondering if they have a right to try to take the money since I do owe them..

[justplaintired]

Not sure, but I would definitely contact the bank, let them know you are not authorizing this payment and you need it stopped. It appears from reading other threads this is becoming common with some creditors. I would definitely speak with the bank. Unauthorized withdraws, which these are, have to have a way for you to stop them. When this happened with us, one auto withdraw right after we filed, (our mortgage) which I had paid using billpay at the same time the auto came out, our bank reversed one of the charges. So go to the bank, don't call, talk to the manager, make them aware you are not authorizing these withdraws, have them put some sort of alert on your acct. You maybe able to even reverse some of these overdrafts. If you are not set up with some sort of auto pay, these have not been authorized by you.

We bank at a small town bank, I believe if I was anyway getting ready to go thru a BK I would say small banks (local banks) offer much more protection for the consumer then a larger bank does.

[optimistic1]

Here's an idea, just go open a new bank account and stop worrying about it. The bank has fine print written in the contract authored by attorneys, to which the average consumer cant even begin to understand their own rights, much less the banks rights. If you are in doubt about what they may have the power to do, then just go open another one somewhere else.

[justplaintired]

Here's an idea, just go open a new bank account and stop worrying about it. The bank has fine print written in the contract authored by attorneys, to which the average consumer cant even begin to understand their own rights, much less the banks rights. If you are in doubt about what they may have the power to do, then just go open another one somewhere else.

Good idea, make it a local bank. Let the bank who keeps honoring this payment know why you are moving too. Honestly, if you have banked there long, they should not be continuously charging you overdrafts on something you have informed them hasn't been authorized by you.

[optimistic1]

Right, they dont deserve your business, there will be plenty of banks that will approve you, even if you are on ChexSystems, dont risk putting money in the account any longer.

[albacore44]

I had Wells Fargo. In March I removed all but $20 and opened an account with a Credit Union. The only thing I was debited for was the monthly fees for online banking. I received a notice last week the account was closed and charged off after the balance went negative a few bucks

[franken55406]

I closed my Wells Fargo checking after my hair stylist mentioned that Wells was withdrawing money from her checking after she stopped paying her Wells mortgage. She has thousands of dollars withdrawn with a negative balance. She could not close due to negative balance and they are threatening legal recourse. Nice banks..

I had Wells Fargo. In March I removed all but $20 and opened an account with a Credit Union. The only thing I was debited for was the monthly fees for online banking. I received a notice last week the account was closed and charged off after the balance went negative a few bucks

[treehugger1]

I don't want to upset folks, but there is a reason why others, myself included, state that as soon as you know you have financial difficulties dump your bank. Close the account while you have a positive balance. Open a new account (prepaid debit works great,) or opt for some obscure bank or credit union. I wish I would have known of this years ago. I would never have had both a checking account and unsecured credit with the same bank or financial institution. I would never have given my bank account number to make payments online to an unsecured creditor. Live and learn. Consumers became far to trusting of "banks." It took me a while to learn this. I had an overdraft account work the same way. Eventually they closed the account and sent the "debt" to collections. By that time, it went from $1000 to $1800. They are now just another CA account I occasionally need to deal with. Now, I use prepaid accounts that allow for ACH payments, and direct deposits. While I would like to make use of the direct deposit feature, I don't. It's just another trail leading to my paystubs. F'EM.

It may now take me a 1/2 hour to go to the post office or grocery store to buy some money orders, but I have not had a usable checking account in many months (year?) I have to pay for some stamps. Cheap, compared to a bank charging you an overdraft fee for an account you are most likely to default on.

I realize that there are LAWS, but it will be up to you to see they are enforced. Good luck with that.

Twenty years ago, it cost me $5 per month and $0.20 per check for an account at a mainstream bank. Given this, The $5 - $10 monthly charge by the prepaid accounts seems reasonable. It turns out that Free Checking is not really free, when the sh*t hits the fan. Free seems to become even more debt!

As optimistic stated, forget the current bank. Open an account elsewhere. You might fight the current bank on its practices, but if you are bankrupt, it is unlikely you have the financial resources to do so. JMHO.

[catleg]

You really have to hop up and down and yell identity theft to get a bank to close an account these days. I've gotten the same line about a soft close, it takes 30-60 days with no activity, etc. If you have an overdraft credit line your only choice seems to be to max it out by taking cash out at an ATM. Otherwise you'll end up owing tons of fees. One of the sad fallouts of the Check21 legislation is ACH's being treated like checks for charging NSF fees. Destroyed what was once a useful tool. Now it's like a license for anyone to steal from your account, plus you get hit with tons of bank fees.

[junker]

i set up a ONE TIME PAYMENT with a creditor using Wachovia. not trusting them, when it was close to one month past, i withdrew all money in checking and left a couple of bucks in it. sure enough, at about one month past initial one time payment, they PAID a second payment. overdrew my acct for total amt, plus nsf charges... i argued and argued with bank and they just said, WHEN you give anyone your CHECKING INFO, it is ASSUMED it is a recurring charge, and they would not correct my checking acct. they said if you want a one time payment, to use their bill payment plan, where your checking info is not given out, payment is made without your personal info...needless to say i strongly recommended what they could do with checking acct and they eventually closed it. altho i am now in check systems, and getting regular dunn letters, fortunetaly i dont need checking acct anymore.....