Bank Froze Our Joint Account

[gimygirl 0]

The representative on the phone said due to the Patriot Act, they cannot unfreeze the account until paperwork goes through verifying her identification.

Nothing to do with the Patriot Act.

Time to move banks.

so the bank representative lied to him?? this is not the first time this has happened ....

on feb 8, the nuns of the Holy Name Monastery had their wachovia bank acct frozen down in florida. they too, were told that the patriot act was the cause for the acct being frozen. the troubles started because one 80-year-old nun who is a signatory to the account didn't have her Social Security number and photo ID on file.

among the lesser-known parts of the USA Patriot Act are banking provisions designed to help law enforcement agents track potential terrorists and money launderers. The law holds financial institutions accountable if money is funneled through them to terrorist organizations. the Patriot Act requires banks to verify client information on all new bank accounts but not on existing accounts. Many banks, however, are checking information on existing accounts as well.

it's amazing how many people remain ignorant in regards to the Patriot Act and then whine and moan and complain when it actually affects them (this is a general statement and not specifically directed towards the OP).

sorry boiler ... this has EVERYTHING to do with the Patriot Act.

[bhajishah 4]

Wow I am so sorry to hear this happened. I am amazed at after all the checks and the CR1 takes long time that this would be an issue. Once my husband is here we will open an account jointly and keep funds set aside. Thanks for bringing this issue to light and pray that it is resolved soon.

Mary

Ditto

thanks for posting . wow

[BlueEyesInTexas 0]

DHS not good enough

I guess the bank thinks they can do a better background check and a more thorough investigation

Stupid banks

I sure hope you get it all worked out soon

[gimygirl 0]

DHS not good enough

I guess the bank thinks they can do a better background check and a more thorough investigation

Stupid banks

I sure hope you get it all worked out soon

again ... that's not the issue! banks have regulations that they now have to follow and abide by due to the wonderful Patriot Act. do some research!

[mellie 1]

Nothing to do with the Patriot Act.

Time to move banks.

[BlueEyesInTexas 0]

DHS not good enough

I guess the bank thinks they can do a better background check and a more thorough investigation

Stupid banks

I sure hope you get it all worked out soon

again ... that's not the issue! banks have regulations that they now have to follow and abide by due to the wonderful Patriot Act. do some research!

The regulations are each banks interpretation of the Patriot Act, tis why some banks decide to do this more thorough investigation and others don't. Some allow new spouses to be added to accounts with no problem, some demand every piece of proof possible

[mandolinv 0]

This is a pain. But, on a good note, our money is relatively seccure. My husband is very scared about putting money in our account. His family lost 40 thousand dollars when their bank in Nigeria bellied up. So, there are problems here that are big pains (and the "patriot" act is a big cause of usless hassle and harrassment- just my opionion) but we are better off than some places. At least we can be fairly assured that our money will be there tomorrow (or whenever it becomes unfrozen if it is frozen). Gosh, that is got to be a pain. I don't know what I'd do if I wasn't able to access my bank account. It's surely something to think about once he gets added.

[junglee069 0]

if you READ the patriot act - nowhere does it specify what the banks need to do. banks have implemented their OWN assanine regulations to cover their a$$es and have been know to arbritarily freeze accounts and what not and blame it on the patriot act. the actual 'freezing' of an account is NOT sanctioned by the patriot act - but the provisions it lays out and the subsequent controls banks have laid in place to meet the criteria set forth by the act is what leads to banks freezing accounts. what is silly is their abuse of the patriot act when in fact they can do much of what needs to be done without freezing accounts and using 'scare' tactics to have some 80 year old nun come in and give her social . they just like to throw that term around to shut you up.

[bhajishah 4]

So what do you suggest Juni?ask before hand if this is thier protocol, change banks

[babybunny 2]

I got a letter from Chase bank about a month ago, saying they'd lost Felicity's photo ID, and needed another copy of it for tax records or something like that. That's shocking, because I watched the woman at the bank make 2 copies of everything. She hasn't accessed the account since she's been stateside, but I hope her account hasn't been frozen!

US Bank also stuffed our account info up as well, putting Felicity's middle name first on the account, and then listing her first name as the middle. It's been a nightmare to straighten it out, having to call them at least 4 times, being told every time it's been fixed. Finally they just sent out a signature card. Problem is, there's no one that will notarize it, because she's not here to sign it in front of them.

Banks, such a pain in the #######. I'm getting really close to just keeping everything in mason jars out in the back yard.

Thank you for all this information guys..I will know what to do when my husband gets here....(which is soon)

It's good to spread your eggs in different baskets..ie....matresses or mason jars..

at the same time I am sorry you guys had to go through such problems....again, thank you for sharing your

experience with us.......

dayum . I am gonna get me a box of mason jars myself.

oh god this is horrible.

god bless!

[britbird 4]

Or you could just get yourself a government job (not very difficult...there are loads of them) and open one of their government employee only money market accounts...those don't get frozen.

[perfect 39]

I agree that it doesn't seem like anything to do with the Patrio Act. If it were, why did they let her name go on the account in the first place - most banks are very strict about providing ID at the time of opening the account. Most likely something else.

The same thing happened to me, only it was because they say someone else who had lived at my address had a bad credit score. They allowed me to open the acocunt and pay in every penny I had which was about $16000 at the time. I wanted to open a savings account so literally got my own bank, Union bank of CA to issue a cashier's check, walked across the road to Washington Mutual who having verified all my ID's etc, allowed me to open the account and about one week later told me the accound was suspended and that no activity could take place on the account whatsoever. I had bills to pay and went and created merry stink that they had MY money and because of nothing I had done, I was not alllowed to access my money, even to withdraw it and pay it into an acount somewhere else. It wasn't until I got my own bank involved and threatened to charge Washington Mutual with my overdraft fees caused by their freezing my money that I got it all sorted out.

WAMU - suck big time!

Now they're trying to chase my husband for a debt I personally paid over a year ago - @#**#!!

[chocolaterie 0]

I know how you feel. This happened to my husband and I a total of 3 times. Was this Bank of America?

This was Vanguard. Our main account is a money market account on there.

Sorry to hear it happened to you so many times. How did you resolve the issue and figure out what was causing it and how to avoid it?

They told us it was because I didn't have a SSN the first time. We told them I was a CDN citizen with an f-1 visa, and the bank manager said he put in more paperwork so we should be fine. Then it happened again, so we went back, he did the same thing. After the third time we closed our account and went to Washington Mutual. We haven't had a problem since and we've been with them for over 1 yr 6 mos. Go wamu!

I also want to mention that the manager blamed the situation on the Patriot Act! So whether or not the Patriot Act has anything to do with it, I just find it funny that his higher ups would tell him to give us this excuse!

Edited February 23, 2006 by chocolaterie

[babybunny 2]

let me ask you all something. how long has the banks been keeping your account frozen? one of the ladies in this office said maybe its a good idea to ask them about the banks policy in writing. I am certainly concerned here.

[yogib37 3]

I'm curious - under which part of the Patriot Act was this done? What reason did they give?

Just like any part of the Patriot Act, they can just do what they want. It is a total joke of a act. If my bank did that to me, I would just take out my money and tell them to stick where the sun don't shine.

And FYI, the main author of the Patriot act is a Imagrinat from North Vietnam. He is not even a native USC but a Commie. That patriot act takes away so much of my civil rights.