Bank policy frustrates grieving family

ABC7.com ^ | July 30,2008 | KABC

[kms61]

HEMET, Calif. (KABC) -- He gave his life serving this country in the war zone of Afghanistan. But a local bank has refused to cash the government check to pay for his burial. Now his family is fighting back. Navy Corpsman Marc Retmier was the 500th Californian to die in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. He had dreams of coming home to Hemet to become a doctor. Click in the Eyewitness News Story Window above to watch the accompanying video to this story. But now his family says a controversy involving a bank and his bereavement check is adding an insult to their tragedy. The family of 19-year-old Navy Medic Marc Retmier told Eyewitness News they were stunned when they told by their bank branch manager that they would have to wait nearly two weeks before they could have access to their son's bereavement funds -- money they needed to pay for his funeral services. The family says the two $50,000 checks from the U.S. Treasury could have been verified with a phone call. However, according to the Retmiers, the Hemet branch of Downey Savings and Loan refused to budge. "He did what he believed in doing," said Joy Retmier, Marc's mother. "And they said he was the best of the best, and I believe that. And I

[purpleraine]

My bank shows the full deposit and makes only partial funds available immediately if they are holding the check. Union Bank.

When faced with a government check and a grieving family, the manager should have stood up on his hind legs and done the right thing. Sometimes policy is an a--.

[rawhide]

I agree with you. Two weeks is not that long. I imagine most bills will wait that long to be paid. Besides, the bank says two weeks to clear, but they can release the funds much sooner than that.

[savedbygrace]

AFAIK, the law allowing banks to hold funds deposited from certain classes of checks was NOT either of the two laws you cite.

If I’m wrong, I’ll certainly apologize.

[Issaquahking]

Time to find another bank! If your bank doesn’t have the time of day for a reasonable transaction, so that you may act appropriately, then act appropriately - get another bank.

[WilliamReading]

There are hundreds of banks out there. Take your business elsewhere, and don’t make a big stink about it.

[rmh47]

Two weeks is not a long time to wait for life insurance. Most funeral homes will wait for their money or take a credit card.
It took nearly three weeks for my husband's insurance money last year.
I think that their grief is clouding their thinking.
I thank this family for their sacrifice.

I watched the video clip. It appeared to me that the family already had two checks in hand from the government, and the bank wanted to put a hold on the deposited funds for two weeks! If that is accurate, it's pure BS. The bank just wanted to use the funds interest free (or at an extremely low rate) for that time period. Banks have gotten very good at moving money around very quickly. A three day hold to verify that the check was legit is plenty.

[savedbygrace]

Here’s the law:

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode12/usc_sec_12_00004002——000-.html

Assuming the two checks were drawn on federal or State accounts, the funds should have been made available on the next business day after the day of deposit.

[caseinpoint]

You may be right but I don’t know all the details. Was the manager there at the time? This is vacation time and a lot of decision-makers might be out. I can see the frustration and perhaps some action needs to be taken in terms of changing that institution’s policies in the future, but calling publicity hound Gloria Allred in on this seems a tad over the line.

[purpleraine]

I agree about Gloria Alred, I’m glad the credit union stepped up.

[CDHart]

I don't understand why anyone would want to cash checks of that size anyway. It would make more sense to do a wire transfer to wherever you wanted the money to end up rather than carry around cash.

Carolyn

[Tammy8]

It’s not a stupid policy for the bank- they make money holding checks. It is not necessary for them to hold checks that long to verify and it is a pain for customers. My bank clears funds as soon as they clear- it can be 1 day, or three days is about the longest time it takes now to clear a check. My bank says they can hold checks up to 10 days but really they release the funds to you as soon as the check is processed and they know the funds are there.

[blu]

It’s very easy to find out if a check is “good”. You call the issuing bank, ask to “verify funds”, then give them the checking acct number. In this case, I would assume it’s the treasury dept. A few minutes with our good friend google would have made this much easier on the family.

I say this as a person who “verifies funds” a lot, and as a bank customer who wanted cash for a very large check, drawn on the same bank. They “didn’t think they could do it...it’s very irregular”.. So, I told them I’d be happy to sit in their lobby and chat it up with the other bank customers, and voila! 10 minutes later, I walked out of there with my cash.

Banks need to remember that the money they hold is not their own personal fortune, it belongs to the depositors!

[reformed_dem]

Most banks no longer verify funds. However, if you walk into the bank where the check is drawn and ask if you can cash it, you will find out then and there whether or not the check is good. A lot of banks may not allow you to walk in to the branch and cash a large check. Depending on the size of the branch and how much cash they keep in the vault, a large check may clean them out till the next shipment. At the bank I work for we ask for 2 days notice if you want to cash a large check so we can order the cash for you and not put us out.

[MJemison]

Too right. Any and all checks (under $10,000), we request to be deposited as CASH. Since we hold accounts at the bank, they cannot deny us this, and the funds are available immediately.

[caseinpoint]

I see your point but I wonder if there is anything to the fact this was an S&L, not a large bank like Wells Fargo or Bank of America. It could be its funds are not as liquid and it had to wait for the checks to clear. I just want more facts before I jump all over the S&L.

[newzjunkey]

Two weeks is not a long time to wait for life insurance.

Most funeral homes will wait for their money or take a credit card.

I think that their grief is clouding their thinking.

I thank this family for their sacrifice.

Quoted for truth.

[newzjunkey]

Such a hold on a large check is *NOT* unusual. They’re complaining about a standard business practice of the banking industry. I’ve seen five business-day holds on checks far smaller, a longer wait for two 50K checks is not unexpected.

[newzjunkey]

Even large banks will put a hold on. I suppose the number of days for the hold might be a factor that it's an S&L but Downey have over $13 billion in holdings and 50 years of being in business.

Bottom line here is people are upset ONLY because it involves a veteran's grieving family. If it were you or I unexpectedly needing to bury a loved one, no one would give us the time of day on this kind of story.

Death is not cheap. Even if they chose a no-frills cremation without ceremony, with a free burial at a national cemetery, it's likely to run $5000 or more in California. Of course, you can't forget the sales tax either.

[combat_boots]

It’s “Tear It Up” time, folks. Remember the character in the movie, “Glory?”

Tear it up.

Downey Savings
Location : Hemet Loan Center
1211 S. Sanderson, Suite B
Hemet, CA 92545
Branch Manager : Armando Martinez
Phone : 866-885-0889
Fax : 951-658-5513.

Michael D. Bozarth, Chairman
Gary W. Brummett, Vice Chairman
Michael B. Abrahams
James H. Hunter
Thomas E. Prince
Jane Wolfe

Who are these people? What are their political affilitations?

Call. Write. Fax. Tie up their comm lines. Tear it up.

http://ir.downeysavings.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=92306&p=irol-govhighlights

[Coldwater Creek]

We are a military family, and you are severely overreacting!