sorry for the large title. i have a checking acct that was stolen and was full of unauthorized charges. this started back in 6/01 of this year. i received in the mail today a collection statement from a CA. now, compass is telling me (as of yesterday) that this acct is still under investigation. i plan on using the letter below (with minor adjustments) and would like some input as to what else (if anything) i should include of whatever other route i should take, or what route i should do in addition to. thanks in advance. Dear Sir/Madame: This letter is a formal complaint that you are reporting inaccurate and incomplete credit information. I am distressed that you have included the information below in my credit profile while you have a pending investigation on said account. You have failed to maintain reasonable procedures in your operations to assure maximum possible accuracy in the credit reports you publish. Credit reporting laws ensure that bureaus report only 100% accurate credit information. Every step must be taken to assure the information reported is completely accurate and correct. The following information therefore needs to be re-investigated. I respectfully request that the investigation be completed to its fullest before any judgments are made. Failing that, the item must be deleted from the report as soon as possible: Original Checking Account #xxxxxxxx The listed item is entirely inaccurate and incomplete, and as such represents a very serious error in your reporting. Please delete this misleading information and supply a corrected credit profile to all creditors who have received a copy within the last six months, or the last two years for employment purposes. Additionally, please provide the name, address, and telephone number of each credit grantor or other subscriber. Under federal law, you have thirty (30) days to complete your re-investigation. Be advised that the description of the procedure used to determine the accuracy and completeness of the information is hereby requested as well, to be provided within fifteen (15) days of the completion of your re-investigation. Sincerely, scoobydude (i have included all the addresses in stuff in the original letter, i merely posted just the meat of the letter.) EDIT: i forgot to mention that this particular letter was being sent to the OC, and i have already prepared a debt validation letter for the CA.
Is this a checking account not opened by you, but opened by someone else with your identity information? If so, you need to file a police report of identity theft, on top of written notification and disputing to the bank and any CA. Or is this your checking account that someone either wrote forged checks stolen from you, stolen while sent thru the U.S. mail, stolen and altered checks you wrote to another party, wrote forged checks they fabricated against your account, or ran unauthorized debits against your account? Or did someone take over your checking account by filing a false change of address to divert statements and correspondance to a different address? Did you catch the fraudulent charges on your statements, and have you notified the bank in writing that the charges are fraudulent? In all cases, if criminal acts were commited, file a police report, get a copy, and talk to your local DA. This is not just a civil matter, treat it as the crime it is, whether the bank reports it or not. If they are claiming on the one hand that they are "investigating", while on the other hand they have sent the account to a collection agency, you need to start stirring up hell with written complaints to your local DA, state AG, and OCC, even as you make sure you have filed complaints with the bank, in writing, both regarding the original forgeries, and their attempts to collect from you. Make sure all correspondance is sent CRRR, and keep copies, since they appear to be trying to shove the liability on you, and will use any excuse to do so. Generally, if you don't handle this timely, and in writing as required by law, while making sure you can prove it, you can get stuck, even if these are forged instruments. Since their chances of getting paid by a criminal are virtually nil, they may prefer to try to stick you with the theft if they can get away with it, regardless of law. They may try to divert your filing of the proper written complaints, and if they can delay it long enough, you may lose rights under law. For example, if you failed to file written complaints on the first fraudulent check fast enough, you might be stuck for later fraudulent checks even though you disputed them promptly. Go thru everything, dispute every single item that is fraudulent, make it clear it is being disputed as fraudulent, and make sure you can prove they got the dispute. Do not depend on telephone conversations alone, and if you do talk to them, follow up with a memorialization letter to document the call, and anything they said they would do. Always send CRRR. Make sure you have a checking account at another urelated bank, to fall back on, if this takes pressure from regulators, attorneys, etc, and requires time to resolve. You will need this anyway, since if forged checks or charges are being made to this account, you will have to close it and pay your bills some other way. You don't want them to leave you unable to pay your rent and bills while they sit on an "investigation" whose conclusion they have no incentive to want to reach. If you start hitting a brick wall, start talking to attorneys. You might ask how to handle this on bankersonline.com, where a number of bankers handle questions related to bank policies and regulatory compliance, as well as questions from consumers with problems.
wow. alot of great info, thanks! to answer your questions, it is my acct that i've had for about 4 years, but hardly used this past year. it was more or less an emergency acct. i do have another checking acct to fall back on. when i went to the bank branch in question, they immediately opened up a new acct for me. now i've talked to quite few people (in person at the branch and on the phone) and they said that while they are investigating the acct, they cannot close it. why? i dunno. so while they initially investigated the acct, other unauthorized charges were being placed (via checkcard online). to their credit, they have reimbursed several charges placed on there, but there still remains about $300 to be credited. the main problem is that since they refuse to close the acct, the daily negative balance bank fees keep piling up. so as they "fix" the acct, every day new bank charges are thrown on there. while leaving the possibility of more unauthorized charges to occur. i have not filed a police report, but will do so. i called the bank a little bit ago, and they stated the CA is in-house. whether that constitutes as a regular CA or not, i dunno. they are completely different home office addresses in 2 different states, so i'm really not sure. i will also write written complaints to the DA, AG, and OCC. thanks again for your help. on a side note, what do you think of the letter? should i be more specific (ie, dispute #s and such)? should i still send the debt validation letter to the "CA"?
What you want to ensure is proveably in writing is your notice to them that the charges are fraudulent. Read the back of your statements about how to dispute in writing, and where to send that dispute. Do not trust to the apparent current good-will of the people you have talked to. Federal law gives you rights only when you dispute bank errors timely and in writing, and if you don't do that, both timely and in writing, they can leave you twisting in the wind, and you would likely even lose in court. How stolen checks and fraudulent charges are handled, and who gets stuck, often hinges on timely written notice, and if you miss it, too bad. If you lose, you lose the fraudulently stolen money, the fees, and your good credit, too. Dispute each and every fraudulent charge, do it in writing, send it CRRR, so you get a green card, and also print out the USPS site notification of delivery for your records. Also request that they block and close the account, in writing, regardless of what they tell you verbally. They are the ones running the risk of keeping the account open, and they are not doing so for your benefit. Even if they hold the account "open" for their accounting purposes while they track and correct the charges, there is no legitimate reason for them to accept additional fraudulent charges, for which there even a small chance you might get stuck. You don't want to find yourself liable for additional fraudulent charges they let slip thru. Therefore, you want it on the record that you sent them notice to close the account due to repeated fraudulent activity. Your letters are both notice and disputes of fraudulent charges and errors, and you are covering your ass. You want a clear indication of what you demanded should be done, should you have to take this to court. That is the best way to ensure they will not let it go that far, if your paperwork is in order, and they screw up.
In your dispute with their in-house collection department, make it clear that you have disputed fraudulent charges to your account in accordance with federal law, that you have notified the bank in writing of these charges, and that the bank claims they are investigating. Demand removal. Tie all your letters together. In other words, if you have to send another letter, reference your last letter, and that you had already notified them of fraudulent charges on xx/xx/xx. Attach a copy of the earlier letter. That way both your earlier letters and each later letter documents the timely notification of fraud. You do not want to depend on their records to prove your case, should you have to prove you notified them timely. Loss of a letter, or a file, will not leave you with a weaker case, or raise your cost of litigating. Your records will be in order, with documented delivery confirmation, regardless of whatever they claim. Your complaints to them, as well as to law enforcement and regulatory agencies will show a consistant picture of timely notification of the fraudulent charges, and attempting to block further fraud.
Note that Federal Reserve Board Regulation E (Title 12 Part 205) governs electronic transfers and resolving of errors: http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/tex...5;view=text;node=12:2.0.1.1.5;idno=12;cc=ecfr Note that it appears the bank may require that you follow up with written notice within a certain number of days from an oral notice of an error, but it appears they have to tell you that when you tell them of the error. Read it all, and CYA by doing everything in writing, CRRR. Regulation CC covers checks, and when they have to clear, and what happens if they don't.
well this morning i get a call from an "account specialist" with the bank, and she said that she is going to close the account at a $0 balance. i said right on. now i am still going through with everything (if not but anything for the experience). i asked to her to send me a letter with what she said in writing, and she said yes she will. so i guess we'll see what happens now. to their credit, i tried to log onto that account online like i used to be able to, and it does not exist.
You still want to make sure your dispute of any fraudulent activity on the account is in writing, for the record, sent CRRR, and sent timely, if you have not already done so. You might combine it with a letter summarizing her call, and that you are awaiting her letter confirming their closing of the account and reversing the fraudulent charges. You don't want their handling this as fraudulent transactions to later unwind for any reason and leave you with no legal leg to stand on, which might happen if you do not make sure your notifications are documented in writing.
