Posted on 05/03/2010 5:12:21 PM PDT by Kartographer
When Hope and Matt Hughes stopped for supplies at a pet store last month, they thought the trouble with their debit card was just a glitch. But it turned into a financial crisis.
They quickly discovered that their bank, Wachovia-turned-Wells Fargo, had deducted $4,059.82 from their checking account, wiping it out.
It was no glitch. It is called the right of setoff or offset, a long-accepted practice dating to early English common law.
(Excerpt) Read more at ajc.com ...
Why do I have the feeling, reading this, that this is like one of those guys in New York with the little upside down cups on the table...:)
Happened to my son's ex girl friend once. She got an income tax refund and had it sent to her account at the bank she had just included in a bankruptcy.
How dare that bad bank! /s
BUT, one thing does seem to stand out and it is common to several people I know who have found themselves in the barrel:
Communications from the bank, especially those dealing with the current spate of bad home loans, are confused, contradictory, and seem to the borrower to be intended to lead to failure.
Just sayin'
The remedy for this is small claims court. The cost of filing against the bank is minimal, and the result will either be a reversal of fees (inclding filing costs) or a victory in court when the defendent bank fails to show. Sometimes simply a letter to the branch manager threatening legal action is all it takes.
I bet if that lady did some cost-benefit analysis on how much her degree cost against the extra income she can expect to earn with it, it's a net loss.
Higher education has become a scam. The universities and the government conspire to bury young people in debt before they understand just what it is they're setting themselves up for. Meanwhile, the universities sell their student info to Citibank and MasterCard to put the finishing touches on the scam.
College professor are nothing more than unofficial union goons these days.
Wait till Obama care kicks in-it wont be the bank withdraw
ling money it will be the IRS
BINGO!!!
Perhaps...sounds like they had her graduation date wrong. Still, even with that mixup, it sounds like she should have started paying in December.
You are exactly right. “Disposable” income is a very easy thing to manipulate in your favor if you know what you’re doing.
Student loans and tax delinquencies anyway. It was pretty stupid to have their checking account with the same institution they were delinquent with.
Not any more - instant gratification now. I want everything and more that my parents have and I want it now!
“Higher education has become a scam...”
BINGO!! They take just as much advantage of the young and inexperienced as the mortgage scamtsters
That was my point. They don’t sound like they should have had a house, they should have been living in an apartment or something. Granted, even buying an older car now can require a loan for some people. Those $500-$1000 cars sure don’t go as far as they used to.
LOL!
This is not the first time reading about Wells Fargo.
Illegally they tapped into a disabled person’s account that held only social security money. That is specifically not allowed. They eventually returned the money but then slapped an exorbitant fee on the disable person.
This is a bank to avoid at all costs. Seems sub-humans work there.
Sounds that way to me too. Look at where they ran into trouble: at the pet store! I know that pets can bring joy into people's lives, but they are a luxury; if you can't pay your bills you can't afford a pet.
Especially with Wells Fargo. They are the kings of offsets.
“You mean if someone owes me 10 and I have 5 of theirs , I can keep the 5 ? Shocking .”
Another way, one time I had a check for $25k that bounced.
I called the bank several times requesting whether the account was good for a lesser amount, lowering the amount each time.
When I finally got an answer that the check for $22,500 was good I took $2,500 cash to their bank and deposited it into the customers account, went to another teller and cashed the check for $25k!
Thanks PB. Obama’s reform package will call for a jubilee year for debt?
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