Chase loses customers safe-deposit box

This is the first I have heard of any bank losing someones safe-deposit box.  Perhaps it happens all the time, I don’t know, but that it happened at Chase is not at all surprising.

It seems that my safety deposit box is lost. I have both keys to my safety box, yet Chase is claiming it is closed. I have asked them several times to provide me with documentation that proves my signature. They have not been able to produce any such document. Just now I had a call from a chase attorney telling me that she would call me on Friday with answers.

How can this happen? My deceased mother’s jewelry, the jewelry that my father gave me, the legal property documents for my mother’s house, and many other valuable gold and diamond pieces are all gone.

Sacramento homeowner loses house twice to [mistaken] foreclosure

Oh bother, and Chase CEO Jamie Dimon says that no-one has lost their home due to paperwork errors.  WRONG!

SACRAMENTO, CA – Miriam Lord lost her home of 19 years to a bank error, then lost it again while the bank tried to correct its mistake.

“It was a case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand was doing,” said Lord’s attorney, Paige Hibbert.

Lord fell behind in her payments to Chase Home Finance two years ago following a divorce and personal injury, but was approved to enter into a trial loan modification program in March 2010.

“If you make your new payments timely…we will not conduct a foreclosure sale,” the letter from Chase promised.

Home auctioned during trial period

Lord dutifully made four monthly payments by mail and in person at the Chase branch near her home beginning in April 2010.

When Lord called Chase in July 2010 to ask about progress on a permanent loan modification, a bank representative told her the house had been sold at auction.

Fannie Mae, which owned the loan serviced by Chase, began eviction proceedings a month later.

Homeowner evicted

Lord fought the eviction on the grounds the foreclosure was improper, but a Sacramento judge ordered her out of the house no later than Feb. 1, 2011.

Lord and her teenage son moved into a rental house at the beginning of the year.

Loan payments misapplied; bank realizes mistake

Chase bank statements later revealed the four trial loan modification payments had been applied to the wrong account.

Property records suggest Chase and Fannie Mae recognized the error in early March, when the trustee’s deed upon sale was formally rescinded.

Foreclosure round two

On March 12, Chase sent Lord a letter notifying her that her loan modification had been approved, but the bank sent the letter to the house where she no longer lived.

Lord, of course, made no mortgage payments because she didn’t know the house was hers again.

Warning letters came in the spring, followed by notice of a new foreclosure auction scheduled for Aug. 4.

Vacant house vandalized

Hibbert said the bank’s letters were eventually forwarded to Lord’s new address, but by the time she got them, the house was already a wreck.

Following Lord’s eviction, the house was vandalized, fixtures were stolen and there was evidence squatters had taken up residence.

“In essence what (Chase) said was ‘here, have a piece of garbage back.  Now you’re the owner.  Start making payments again,'” Hibbert said.

Hibbert is suing Chase for $1 million in general damages plus $5 million in punitive damages claiming negligence, unlawful business practices and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Chase spokeswoman Eileen Leveckis said she could not comment on the circumstances surrounding the double foreclosure because of the pending litigation.

Adding insult to injury

Sacramento County code enforcement filed a complaint against Lord in July about the shabby condition of the home because she is still the owner of record.

The Aug. 4 auction was postponed for unknown reasons and according to Auction.com, no new date has been set.

Lord said she has no interest in returning to the only house she ever owned.

“It used to be a home and it’s no longer a home,” Lord said. “It’s just got a lot of bad memories.”

Full story

Chase closes long-time customer account for no reason

Another story that attests to the mysterious and often backwards ways of Chase.  The story calls the seemingly random closing of good standing customers accounts for no reason (that Chase will give) a mistake, but I can’t help but wonder if Chase just determined the customers weren’t profitable and decided to cut them loose.

MONROE, Wash. – Mike and Meagan Farrell have been customers at their neighborhood bank on Highway 2 in Monroe for six years. First, when it was Washington Mutual and later, when it became Chase.

They’re on a first name basis with the tellers and managers.

“It was our personal banking place, you know, one stop banking,” said Mike Farrell.

The Farrells not only had their checking and savings accounts at Chase; they had individual retirement accounts there, even a savings account for their 10-year-old daughter.

They had tens of thousands of dollars in the bank. And they were happy customers.

“We were considered platinum, premium customers,” said Meagan Farrell.

Then on Saturday, August 27, Meagan walked to the mailbox.

“I went and got the mail, and I opened it up, and I was mortified by what I read,” she said.

Account closing

It was a letter from Chase.

“It says here [in the letter], ‘We are writing to notify you that we are closing your deposit accounts in accordance with your Chase deposit agreement terms and conditions,’” said Mike Farrell.

It was a one-page form letter that said, “Your account will be closed 10 business days from the date of this letter.”

The letter set off a cascade of problems the Farrells are still recovering from. It instructed them to stop using their ATM debit cards and destroy them. Missing among all of the fine print and instructions was any reason for Chase’s drastic actions.

So the Farrells called the phone number on the letter and talked to customer service.

“They just told us, ‘We’re closing your account,’ and they said that they could not give us a reason why,” said Mike.

It was a weekend. So the Farrells figured their friends at the local branch in Monroe would be able to sort it all out on Monday. Yet when they arrived at the bank they’d always counted on, they were in for another shock.

“Our accounts were already frozen and they had already bounced all of our outstanding checks. Even though there was sufficient funds to cover everything,” Meagan Farrell said.

The Farrells say the bankers were sympathetic but said that the decision had been made at the corporate level.

“They also seemed confused. The manager said they usually only see this sort of thing in cases of check fraud, which they knew that we weren’t committing any check fraud,” said Meagan.

Read more …

Chase incorrectly claims woman is dead

Just when you thought you knew all the ways that Chase could possibly screw up someones life, they come up with a new one, claiming you are dead.  God only knows what possessed Chase to claim this woman was dead when she was in fact very much alive.

SANFORD, Florida– A Florida woman says she’s having numerous financial troubles because of a bank error that caused Chase Bank USA to declare her dead last November.

Wrenella Pierre has filed a lawsuit and Chase officials said Monday they’re investigating how the mistake happened.

When Pierre and her husband built their home in 2007, they got two mortgages through Chase.
According to the lawsuit, the bank notified credit-reporting agencies last year that Pierre had died. They sent a letter of condolence to the family, saying someone from the bank would be in touch about the mortgage.

Pierre says she notified bank officials that she was alive and also went to a local branch to correct the mistake.

A month later, the lawsuit alleges, credit agencies still reported her dead.

Chase’s $10,000,000 overdraft solution

Making an account overdrawn by $10 million to restrict access to an account sure makes it sound like Chase doesn’t really know what they are doing.

I opened a joint account and I’ve been a loyal customer of Chase for about 12 years. I have great credit history. I deposited several hundred dollars when I opened an additional checking account online last weekend. Then, when the business week started, I got a series of 4 text messages telling me my account was overdrawn by $9,999,135.00  and did I want to cover that overdraft with a transfer from my other accounts. Ha. Like that would be possible.  I didn’t get a call from a Chase person–just the shocking texts. And then when I called, they said “Oh. Yes. That’s our way of locking down your account in case there has been fraud.” Sure, because a sudden $9,999,135.00 withdrawal doesn’t freak me out as much as real fraud. If they want to do that, I at least deserve a personal phone call to explain. instead, they’d rather give you a heart attack by sending you a phantom text message with an almost $10 million dollar apparent w/d. That is beyond stupid.

Then they said there was a problem with my SSN and I had to go to the SSA to get a piece of paper verifying I am me and then make more time to go in to a Chase branch. Seriously? Who has time for that? And I’ve been a verified customer for YEARS. Then I got smart and told them it prob wasn’t my SSN with a problem; it might be the joint account holder. They said “Let me look. …oh….hm…Oh you’re right.” What I don’t understand is, why does Chase even “open” an account that isn’t verified? I cannot access the initial deposit until this mess is resolved. Chase should simply deny the application instead of taking my money and then locking it up. They should approve me but not the other holder, whom I have known for years and saw the SSN card myself in order to enter the info online for the application. They should let ME access my money. Why they would ‘approve’ an account only to promptly close it is RIDICULOUS. they are not protecting me from fraud–they are removing my own access to my own money. Right now, fraudsters are more likely to get my money than I am. I cannot believe Chase’s policies are so ridiculous. JUST DENY THE APPLICATION. Don’t accept it, immediately restrict it, and then keep my money. When I get this mess resolved, by re-opening the account that I JUST opened 7 days ago, I will be sure to close it for good. I am not doing anymore business with Chase. I will open this account at Wells Fargo or Some local credit union instead of dealing with Chase’ stupid policies and very very impersonal banking. I even requested a manager contact me, and they wrote me back saying, sorry. You have to call us again. We can’t tell you anything.

Chase can’t properly identify own check, has innocent man jailed

Chase seems to have done just about everything wrong in this case.  First, they had a man jailed claiming he presented them with a forged check. That check was valid and had in fact been issued by Chase bank itself.  Second, Chase let the man stay in jail over the weekend rather than doing everything they could to make sure he got out after they determined he was no in the wrong.  Third, after an entire year of trying to get Chase to even acknowledge the mistake (much less reimburse him for all the costs he experience because of their mistake) they only apologized after the local media ran a story and contacted Chase.

Here is the story:

AUBURN, Wash. – Buying his own home was a big accomplishment for construction worker, Ikenna Njoku, of Auburn. He’s only 28 years old.

“I was really excited. For the first time, I actually got to buy a lawn mower, mow my lawn and everything,” said Njoku.

Njoku qualified for the first time home buyer rebate on his tax return.

“It was really important, I had a vehicle I was looking on paying off,” said. Njoku. And it wasn’t just any vehicle. “It was a 2001 Infinity I-30, silver…just like my favorite car, “he said.

Njoku signed up to have the rebate deposited directly into his Chase Bank account. But when the IRS rebate arrived, there was a problem.  Chase had closed Njoku’s account because of overdrawn checks in the past. The bank deducted $600 to cover what he owed them and mailed him a cashier’s check for the difference–$8,463.21.

But when Njoku showed up at the Chase branch near his house intending to cash the check, he was in for a nasty surprise.

The check had Njoku’s name and address on it and was issued by JP Morgan Chase. But the Chase Customer Banker who handles large checks at the Auburn branch was immediately suspicious.

“I was embarrassed,” Njoku said. “She asked me what I did for a living. Asked me where I got the check from, looked me up and down—like ‘you just bought a house in Auburn, really?’ She didn’t believe that,” he said.

The Customer Banker said the check looked fake, so she took it, along with Njoku’s driver license and credit card, and called Bank Support.

After waiting for about 15 minutes, Njoku said he got impatient and told Chase he was leaving to do an important errand. By the time he got back, the bank was closed. Njoku said he called customer service and asked them what he should do. He says they told him to go back to the bank the next day to get his money.

But when Njoku arrived, it wasn’t the money that was waiting for him.

“They just threw me in jail; they called the police and said this guy has a fraudulent check,” Njoku said.

Auburn police arrested him for forgery – a felony crime.

“I was like – you’re making a mistake, you’re making a mistake, don’t take me to jail, I got work tomorrow. I can’t afford to miss work,” he said.

Njoku was taken to jail on June 24, 2010, which was a Thursday. The next day, Chase Special Investigations, realized it was a mistake. The check was legitimate. The Investigator called Auburn Police and left a message with the detective handling the case, but it was her day off. So Njoku stayed in jail for the entire weekend. Finally, on Monday, he was released.

Auburn Police Commander Dave Colglazier said Chase could have done a lot more to let them know they’d locked up an innocent man.

“We do have a main line that comes into our front office,” he said. “There are ways to reach someone 24/7 at a police department.”

For Njoku, going to jail for five days meant a lot more than just losing his freedom. He said the entire time he was “just stressed out…trying to figure out what was going on with my vehicle.  I love my vehicle,” he said.

Njoku’s car had been towed from the bank parking lot and his check seized as evidence.

“I had to wait a couple of weeks,” he said, “and my car got sold, auctioned off.”

Njoku says he didn’t have the money to pay the impound fees and fines to get his car back before it was sold.  He said he also lost his job because he didn’t show up for work while he was in jail.

After all of that, Njoku said he never heard a word from Chase.

“They haven’t even sent me a letter or apologized,” he said. “It’s been a year we’ve been trying to contact these guys.”

Finally, A Seattle attorney offered to help. Last week, Felix Luna sent Chase a scathing letter. Read the attorneys’ letter to Chase

“It’s one thing to make a mistake,” Luna said. “It’s one thing to make multiple errors of judgment like Chase has made and then, once you realize that your error has caused such harm to somebody else, to just ignore it for a year. I think he deserved better. I think all their customers do.”

Like Njoku, KING 5 had a difficult time getting answers from Chase. A week after first contacting them, they sent a two line e-mail.

“We received the letter and are reviewing the situation.  We’ll be reaching out to the customer,” wrote Darcy Donoahoe-Wilmot, from Chase Media Relations.

But on Thursday, Chase issued an apology.

Njoku said that even after he got out of jail, he said was confused and upset. “For a month, two months, I was just down and depressed,” he said.

He’s still happy he bought his house, but sad that his experience with his own bank was so humiliating.

“They treated me like a criminal,” he said.

WaMu nostalgia

A lot of our readers lament the day when Chase took over WaMu, and by all measures Chase made things worse for former WaMu customers.  But here is a not-so-subtle reminder that WaMu was also a bank firmly steeped in ineptness and unpalatable policies.

Chase – no rhyme, no reason

From a reader recently:

Let me start off by saying that I have a impeccable financial history and 760+ credit score.  I recently moved from Western NY to NYC and needed to switch banks, so I opened up a basic checking account through chase.com.  Gravy.  I set up my username and password and linked my chase credit card that I had from before to my new checking account.  Again, gravy.  A few days later I try to access my account, but it is blocked and says to call an 888 number.  I do and am told that my checking account was restricted for some unknown reason and that I had to go into a branch with two forms of ID to straighten things out–which I do.  The branch manager tries to help me figure out what’s going on.  He get bounced around the system when he calls cust. service for half an hour while I sit there twiddling my thumbs.  I swear I heard him give his credentials and reason why he’s calling at least 4 times.  Eventually, he hangs up and informs me that chase does not wish to do business with me and that they don’t have to tell me why.  Ok, I’m fine with that even though I could not fathom a reason why.  I’ve never missed a CC payment, never declared bankruptcy, never been arrested, etc.  Oh, I should mention that I made a $1500 deposit upon opening my new account with chase from my Discover savings account. When I asked when I would get my money back, he told me that I should be getting a check in the mail within 5 -7 days.  Fine.  A week goes by. Surprise, surprise, no check.  Now I discover my access to my credit card account is also restricted, which I was told was fine when I asked the manager about it when I was at the branch.  I call again.  They tell me to go back into the branch, which I do.  Same guy. Same bouncing around, but this time for over an HOUR.  Apparently no one knew where the hell my $1500 was and know had the authority to reset my user ID and pw for my CC.  I went into the branch at 2:50pm and came out at 4pm.  In the end I was kicked out of the branch because it was past closing hours, and I walked out with zero answers.
I am praying that I will see that check in the mail before I have to go to the branch for another session of hell on Monday.  I could not care less about my chase CC now.  I just paid of my balance over the phone and am putting it away.  I would cancel it out of spite, but thought it wiser not to because I don’t want to end up lowering my credit score b/c of this insanity.

Utterly ridiculous! I can say for certain that I will NEVER go anywhere NEAR chase EVER.  I’d rather be shot in the stomach and die a slow death than give these idiots my money.

The day after my first hell session, I went over to Citibank, which I should have done in the first place, and had my checks/card in my hands within 5 days.

Wow.  Recounting this story really ticks me off. Kudos for those of you who made it through to the end and long live Citibank!