bank took out my funds without my permission

[sly176541]

What is the name of your state?
I currently live in Illinoins.

In Dec. of 1999, I lived in a small town that did not offer but one bank,the bank was in Texas and no online banking. I bought a vehicle and financed through them, and signed to get payments auto withdrawn.
Well, in April of 2000, I traded this in and bougth a new car, financed through them. and I specifically said no auto payments. My problem is is that right after( a couple of months), i deposited my paycheck in their and for some reason they withdrew the payment without my knowledge. So, a couple of day's later i wrote a check for the monthly note and sent it in, and of course they took it. but it set me back one whole payment. Now, a day or so later, I went to the store and mought some items and wrote a check for this, less then 100, and it went through, but it got returned due to insufficient funds. The bank never bothered to tell me what happened or that i had a bounced check.
Funny thing is, Two years later i got arrested for it, and when i went before the judge i explained to him what happened and he mentioned that I wasn't the only one in this spot. So, he recommended that i pay the check amount to finish any legal matters and pursue a civil with the bank.

Ok, the problem is is that my wife just got transfered to Illinois and I am in the process of starting this suit, but it is still on my record, the bad check.

Is there any way I can open a checking account, or hell, just a savings account with a atm card would suffice, with this on my record. I am so upset with them for this, I am going to try and get every penny i can from them, and give it away to people in my situation.

All I need is a way to deposit my checks here, and have them secure, and all i would really need is a atm, or check card.

Thanks for any advice anyone can give.............

Sly

 

[J10]

I don't have a legal education, but I do have a question and a suggestion.

The question is, didn't you ever look at your bank statements and reconcile them with your checkbook register? If you had you would have noticed the discrepency immediately and could have taken care of it then.

The suggestion is this: if you trust your wife (and I am assuming that you do) deposit your checks into her account. Make sure her bank accepts two-party checks (some banks don't). Then, sign your checks, have her sign them and deposit them in her account, and use cash.

 

[sly176541]

You see, right after i did this, i changed banks. The reason the judge understood what happened is he told me that it had happened to 7 other people the same year. And my wife's bank is a credit union in California, were she is from.

 

[Ben Skrewd]

If the original bank is not willing to write an explaination on your behalf, contact the original banks state office in charge of regulating banks and file a complaint.

It worked for me twice so far.
One was when my credit union starting deducting for a loan I was approved for but did not recieve.

Banks can and often do make mistakes but do not like to own up to them.

 

[JETX]

Sly, the answers you have received so far have no basis in law (and even don't apply to your case).

If I understand your post correctly, it all boils down to:
- You financed a car through your 'regular' bank.
- You were apparently late in a payment and the bank automatically debited your checking (or savings) account for the payment.
- As a result of this auto-debit, you bounced check(s) on your account.
Is that pretty much it??

If so, then you have no claim against the bank for anything. If you will look at your original loan papers, you very likely gave the lender (the bank) the right to deduct any late payments from your account (this is a VERY common provision in lender agreements).

I assume from the ending of your post that, due to the NSF check(s), you have been turned into a bank clearing house (like ChexSystems or Telecheck) and you can't find a bank that will allow you to open an account.

Your questions:
"Is there any way I can open a checking account, or hell, just a savings account with a atm card would suffice, with this on my record."
*** With the NSF on your account, those banks that subscribe to that clearing house (ChexSystems) will not accept you. However, there are banks that will accept you. You just have to find them.

"I am so upset with them for this, I am going to try and get every penny i can from them, and give it away to people in my situation."
*** Nice thoughts... but based on your post, you have no claim against the bank. You don't say anything about it, but I assume this entire situation came about due to your not making a payment (on the loan) on time.

You might try:
http://www.newcheckingaccount.com/
http://www.debtadvisory.net/links/nonchexsystembanks.html
http://badcreditinfo.com/chexsystem.htm

 

[sly176541]

I was not late on a payment. The car I had purchased earlier was on a direct withdrawal. But, I traded it in and got a new one, and did not sign up for the automatic withdrawal. they did it by mistake. I left the bank shortly after, as i moved to another town. This same thing happened to several other people. the town pop was only 7000, it was a real small bank. The judge himself said I had an ironclad case against them. Problem is, the damage is already done.

 

[skyy]

Have you ordered a copy of your report from Chexsystems or Telecheck to see what they have on file for you? I know of a situation in which the woman was moving and asked that her final payments be made in person and not by autodebit since her new bank was not in her state. Funds were withdrawn anyway, and she was given an NSF label. Basically, it looked like she stuck the bank with the bill and ran off (since the bank was obligated to pay due to the previous agreement to autodebit).

Chexsystems is (at least, to me) similar to Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion Credit Agencies. Your information is documented for years. I believe this may stay on your record for 5 years or more. I've known some banks to accept someone to a savings account after 1 year, but the debt had to be repayed. In my area, checking account is not availabe until after a year.

See what is on your report first to know what everyone is reading on you. If if was a legitimate mistake by the bank as you say, then you need to take steps to fix it. Mistakes are made often on people's reports, and they're penalized for it. You have a right to fix it. Ask them (ChexSystems or whatever) to give you the steps you need to take. Most likely, you'll have to contact the bank, get this straightened out and have THEM contact ChexSystems on the error.

Be patient. It may take a while, so stay on top of it.

 

[JETX]

"I was not late on a payment. The car I had purchased earlier was on a direct withdrawal."
*** Maybe you need to be a little clearer as to WHICH car the auto-debit was done on. If you traded in the car with a balance owed, you are STILL liable for the payments (until you make sure the dealer had paid the balance on the account).

"But, I traded it in and got a new one, and did not sign up for the automatic withdrawal."
*** The 'auto-withdrawal' for non-payment is NOT something you sign up for..... nor can you waive it. It is written into your agreement and once you sign it, that written acceptance supercedes any other verbal claim to the contrary.

If you are claiming that this payment was auto-debited from your account from the debt on the original vehicle AND that the vehicle had been paid in full prior to that payment (by the dealer), then you MIGHT have a claim against them on several issues (deceptive trade, fraud, etc.).

In any event, if you do decide to take action against them (for whatever reason), I strongly suggest you get an attorney to represent you. You can bet that they will have an attorney to defend them and, if you don't have proper representation, you will likely get saddled with THEIR legal expenses.

 

[sly176541]

First I bought a truck through them and setup auto payments. It was a year or so later, I traded this in and bought a new one, financing through the bank. The TRUCK was payed for in whole. Problem is is that they mistakingly set up the new car notes to be auto payed, and I didn't know. They made the mistake, and admitted it. But, you see the problem is is that I moved and transfered everything to another bank in another town. It was so close together that i moved and had the bad check, a notice never got sent out. I did not even recieve my last statement for several months later after hassling them. I really don't want to sue them for a bunch of money, it's just that i wish i could get this off my record. thats more important to me. Since I have moved to Illinois, and I am getting all the documents together to obtain a lawyer. I am going to try to get this taken off my record, but, my question is is can i still do good banking with this still there, as this may take -in the years to finally get it removed.