Question Heard to take money out of bank but to where?

[proto]

Been reading a few posts about a lein being put on cash when filing bk despite lawyers advice not to worry about it (at least in California which is where I am ... and especially with Wells Fargo).

So before filing you take cash out and do what with it?

Also wouldn't doing that raise red flags about where the cash went?

[StartingOver08]

You put the money in another bank. A neutral bank where you do not have any debt tied to it (no cc's or LOC's or mtg's). Also keep it out of Wells Fargo.

You can open it at whatever bank/CU that has the best terms. Its not that you are advised not to have an account, it is advised to not have your funds subject to setoff or to have them frozen by Wells Fargo. BOA has a bad reputation too.

[cyn5]

We had accounts with Chase (of which we have two credit cards to be included in our bk) and one with a credit union (also have a credit card with them to be included in bk as well). We just opened up a new checking/savings account with a local bank in our area (not a national chain bank) and had our direct deopits transferred to our new bank. A little bit of a pain to set up all your direct bill payments that come out of your checking, but well worth it as we are no longer paying our accounts with Chase and the credit union and I was worried that they would freeze our checking to use to pay the credit cards.

[diebroccoli]

Why does everyone keep saying to keep money out of Wells Fargo? Is it ok to have $$$ there if you dont have any CCs, locs, or debts with them?

What if we have money in Wachovia? Are they Wells Fargo now?

[StartingOver08]

Apparently Wells Fargo freezes your account the minute you file BK in order to "protect the BK estate" for the Trustee. This is their bank policy. They will not allow you access to the funds until the Trustee makes a determination - even if you have exempted the funds on your petition.

There is a thread that was posted within the past few days discussing this policy of Wells Fargo and several links were posted by DingDong showing that this is a Wells Fargo policy. Search for it, it is an eye opener!

[diebroccoli]

Thanks. So, is Wachovia now part of WF? I read that Wachovia Securities became Wells Fargo. But, does this have anything to do with their banking side?

[StartingOver08]

Yes, WF bought Wachovia - including the banking side. As of last month the 2 banks were not linked yet. (Tried to deposit into my daughters Wells Fargo account from a Wachovia bank and couldn't do it yet). I would not be surprised if the WF policy were in place though....after all, it is a benefit to Wells/Wachovia to not release your funds.

[kenshirley]

Apparently Wells Fargo freezes your account the minute you file BK in order to "protect the BK estate" for the Trustee. This is their bank policy. They will not allow you access to the funds until the Trustee makes a determination - even if you have exempted the funds on your petition.

There is a thread that was posted within the past few days discussing this policy of Wells Fargo and several links were posted by DingDong showing that this is a Wells Fargo policy. Search for it, it is an eye opener!

Wrong!

First of all it would be illegal for them to do so without a court order and secondly I am with Wells Fargo and just filed in March.
No such actions were taken whatsoever.

[joab]

I've seen it happen with Union Bank of California as well.

[StartingOver08]

Wrong!

First of all it would be illegal for them to do so without a court order and secondly I am with Wells Fargo and just filed in March.
No such actions were taken whatsoever.

Kenshirley,

This is the post here so you can read what happened:

http://www.bkforum.com/showthread.php?t=38571&highlight=planetary

If you read the entire post plus the links posted by DingDong you will see that this is apparently a Wells Fargo policy.

Either your branch did not follow policy or your were lucky!

[Fresh]

It definitely sounds like you were lucky.

[kenshirley]

Kenshirley,

This is the post here so you can read what happened:

http://www.bkforum.com/showthread.php?t=38571&highlight=planetary

If you read the entire post plus the links posted by DingDong you will see that this is apparently a Wells Fargo policy.

Either your branch did not follow policy or your were lucky!

No, let us say that they are lucky! I'd show them how to unfreeze my account in a heartbeat.
Company policies don't make law.
You don't want to have to deal with me in person, take my word for it.

[diebroccoli]

ok, not to stir the pot, but i just met with my attorney (40 years experience) AND a TT who we have paid to advise on my case . Anyway, they said there is absolutely, positively no reason that Wells Fargo can freeze an account if they are not owed $$$ from you.

I'm not saying it doesnt happen, but they assured me it was not correct/legal/appropriate action on their part.

[dealingsdone]

I'd like to get to the bottom of this issue, because I JUST opened an account with Wells Fargo and I will likely be going bk shortly. I figured I would be ok with them because I don't owe them any money. How is it that they would be able to freeze a person's account?

[phoenixrisin]

It's probably in that 142 page book they give you when you open an account. I know my bank pointed it out to me where they are allowed to charge me a $150 fee to put a lien on an account. I have not read further to see what the lien policy is, per se...

I don't think the WF thing is a law- I think it's their own internal policy. I think that is why it's so hard to find bank levy info on the web. Read the booklet, or better yet, ask an employee to provide written info/proof of their levy policy. I bet their legal dept would know.