Clueless about the law

One California homeowner (and fire victim) was charged a cancellation fee for paying off his home equity line, despite that practice being against CA law. He informed WaMu/Chase about the law, but they were clueless. He took them to court, but they didn’t show. He contacted the press, and Chase finally said they would do someting about it. Is that what is necessary to get Chase to get a clue?

Willing to negotiate

According to this article, Chase may be more willing to negotiate to help customers get out of debt. It is worth a try.

Added fees to make up for lost fees

This Business Week article details how banks (including Chase) are adapting to the new credit card rules by adding new fees to make up for the onese they lose control over. My bottom line suggestion: pay attention to your card and the notices you get. Don’t be afraid to switch to a better card from a better bank.

Lost backup tape

On a smaller note, Chase apparently lost a backup tape with customer personal information on it. But, surely this could happen to anyone.

Comments on Chase’s ads

Read the comment on this blog post to find out why Chase won’t every be your local bank.

WaMu trades lowering minimum payment for doubling the interest rate

Consumer’s Union has joined two other organizations in calling on Chase to stop raising minimum payment terms from 2% of the outstanding balance to 5%. Chase agrees to drop the minimum payment back down to 2% on loans with a guaranteed low interest rate only if customers agree to a doubling of their interest rate. Low minimum payments are a scheme originally cooked up by credit card companies to get customers to remain in debt and therefore pay more interest and other fees (see the Secret History of the Credit Card for more info).

WaMu causes heart attack

(Happy Labor Day) WaMu gives a guy an equity line credit card on a house he already sold instead of a regular credit card, freaks out when they find out about the mistake, sues him, the stress causes him to have a heart attack. They finally admit THEY made a mistake, and then are seized and sold the Chase. Now he is in limbo. Seriously, I can’t make this stuff up. (story)

More WaMu to Chase transition woes

Here is one couple’s experience from when their WaMu account was transitioned to Chase:

• Savings account overdraft protection was unlinked without notice
• Debit cards stopped working before new ones arrived
• Deposits used to be available same day, now multi-day holds are placed
• Auto bill-pay stopped working so bills that should have gotten paid didn’t