I just spoke to a friend of mine this morning, and she told me she'd had her checking account closed by the bank because it sat overdrawn for over a month. This happened to her last week. I told her to run out QUICK and open an account at another bank if she can; otherwise, she won't have a checking account for the next five years. She didn't know anything about Chexsystems until I told her about my own personal experiences. So, she is going out this morning to try and open an account somewhere. Is it going to be too late, though? When a bank closes your account for overdraft, how quickly does that report get into the database at Chex? Does anyone know? At this point, I think her account was closed about 7 or 8 days ago.
If she has the money to open another account, why doesn't she pay off the overdrawn account and then talk to the bank manager about keeping the account open? Something similar happened to me and it worked. I had to beg them to keep the account open, but it worked.
chex takes like a month. Get her off her butt quick to open a new one, then go pay off the chex issue. Nobody will talk to you once you have chex, Most banks will not reconsider you after closing either. And tell her to quit writing checks that aren't good. You'll get a warrant sooner or later and a criminal record when they come knockin at the door
She didn't write a check that wasn't good. She got into selling some kind of product for extra money (some kind of MLM thing or something) and someone bounced a check to her, which overdrew her account. I knew about this when it happened because she called to cry on my shoulder when she couldn't track down this ex-coworker. I didn't know until I just talked to her, though, that she'd let the account sit overdrawn (about $200) for long enough to have her bank close the account. She had just quit using her checking account and cashed her paychecks at her employer's bank because she couldn't afford the overdraft. She's a single mom who has always lived paycheck-to-paycheck, never used credit at all and always paid her bills, but just barely. Thus, having no experience with ever being in any trouble, she didn't know anything about Chexsystems or the ramifications of letting that account sit like that. She was trying to find the person who gave her the NSF, and I guess time just got away from her. I don't think she can afford to cover the overdraft right now, but I'm sure with her paycheck from today (I think she gets paid every Friday) she can have some money to open an account somewhere else. I'm sure she will pay the overdraft; she isn't the type to not pay money she owes. It's just that she didn't know what she was getting herself into when she let that account get closed. You know, most people don't know anything about Chex unless they have been through it or know someone who has.
By the way, are you pretty confident that it takes a month or so? Has anyone here had any experience otherwise?
I know people who had one single bounced check, paid it that week, but got reported to Chex AFTER they paid. It depends on the bank. Steph
Do you know, though, how long it took the bank to get that report to Chexsystems? Was it actually sent over to Chex that very week?
Just be careful - a bank can close your account once they find out that you're listed on Chex. It happened with me due to an oversite when I moved to Phoenix and opened an acccount with Wells Fargo. An account back in St. Louis I thought was closed actually wasn't and an autopay went thorugh and I got reported. When WF found out they tried to close my account. I got it straightned out but it was pretty hairy there for a week!
How did WF find out, anyway? Do they run routine inquiries on you with Chex after you have already opened an account? Is this common? I really appreciate all input. I want to help my friend protect herself from a real nightmare, as I feel really bad about her situation.
Apparently they run a routine "check up" about once a year. The timing was such that it fell right after I opened the account. Also, they did not run a Chex report right away when I opened the account but waited a couple of months.
Oh Nooooo!! I hope this doesn't happen to her. I advised her to run out and open a new account to avoid being unable to get one, but I had no idea she could run into this. Does anyone here know if this sort of practice is limited to Wells Fargo? The bank that just closed her account was Bank One, and I *think* she's going to B of A for the new one. I'm going to tell her to steer clear of Wells.
