Wells Fargo froze my account

[jribe]

i don't understand why the freeze's are random. I have muiltiple accounts at Wells Fargo; and none of mine were frozen.

Maybe it's a regional decision if they freeze for BK?

How odd... Anyway, due to an unrelated issue i will be closing my accounts there after the BK is finished.

Glad to see you got your funds back so quickly

[doingpoorly]

I have been following your story and I am very glad to hear that your funds have been given back to you. Good luck with the rest of your journey.

[eddiep]

I'm glad to hear you got your money back so quickly!

[jshep]

Congrats on your speedy recovery. You had a much more pleasant experience than others here. Some spent a very long time tackling this problem.

Gald to hear you and your family won't be left floundering while the system crawls at a snail's pace.

I give a lot of credit to you and others here on the forum. When I found this place, I wasn't even sure what had happened or why. Reading the material online here over the weekend helped me understand what was going on, so when Monday rolled around, I knew what to do and say.

That definately helped. THANKS!

[DeadManCrawling]

Congrats on your speedy recovery. You had a much more pleasant experience than others here. Some spent a very long time tackling this problem.

Gald to hear you and your family won't be left floundering while the system crawls at a snail's pace.

[jshep]

The money is back in the account

As of 5:15pm on Monday, the money is back in the account.

I'm glad it didn't drag out for weeks, especially after I learned that my wife's Mother had been dragged into it due to my wife being a signer on her account in order to help her with bills during her long illness.

Thanks to everyone here for the advice and encouragement.

-Joseph

[jshep]

now that ive been sued, im glad i read on this forum about freezing accounts..

I'm trying to tell everybody I can about this, because I think it's really outrageous. I'm going to close my Wells Fargo accounts ASAP. My daughter is going to close her business account with them. My brother-in-law and wife agreed to close their Mom's account (that got frozen with ours).

I'm just not sure where to go next. From what I've read, Union Bank (another big player here in L.A.) does the same thing. Then, I've got to watch out for the banks I had credit cards with... not to mention the ones our closed company had cards with.

That box buried in the back yard is sounding better all the time. Especially considering the pitiful interest they pay these days.

[floridian]

about a year ago, when my financial situation floundered, i remembered that i was a co-signer on my moms checking... i went to the bank to remove my name... finally i had to appear with my mom and sign a statement, to get it removed... even then, they didnt want to cooperate...

now that ive been sued, im glad i read on this forum about freezing accounts..

[jshep]

They froze my Mother-in-Law's Account

As if things weren't bad enough...

My Attorney's office called me a few minutes ago asking why Wells Fargo reported two additional accounts beyond what I had told them about.

I sincerely had no idea what they were talking about. Then they thew out two names, which end up being my Mother-in-law and Sister-in-law.

Several months back, my wife's Mother had a very serious stroke. It impacted her ability to walk and balance. Then, just as she was beginning to recover, she fell and broke her hip. My wife has been taking care of her along with two of her siblings for months now.

At some point, my wife went on her Mom's bank account at.... you guessed it... Wells Fargo, so she could help her by paying her bills for her.

About once a week, my wife gets together all her Mom's bills, and writes checks and signs them, since her Mom has been in the hospital a lot over the last several months.

So... when Wells Fargo froze our accounts, they froze my wife's Mother's accounts too, because she appears as a signer.

The Attorneys office tells me that they are trying to beat a 3pm deadline today to get file an amendment with the Trustee that includes my Mother-in-Law's accounts along with mine.

What a nightmare.

[jshep]

To be clear and for the benefit of other readers is the bank account that was frozen a Wells Fargo checking or savings account; meaning Wells didn't freeze your account at another bank?

No they froze my Wells Fargo Checking, Savings and Home Equity Line accounts.

There was a lot of mystery at first. I thought that another bank had put a lien on the account, but then... over the weekend doing a lot of research (including finding this great forum), I figured out that they were just holding my money in case the Trustee wanted it.


I think Wells really oversteps their bounds by doing this. I will never feel the same about banking with them again. I did everything to treat my Wells accounts so that they were not abused or caught up in the bankruptcy. For example, paying off my Visa card many months ago, and making sure my home equity line was always paid on times and within terms. Then they turned around and froze the accounts. They claim they notified my Attorney and the Trustee, but they didn't notify me and that ended with my wife in line at the market unable to pay for grocieries on Friday afternoon.

The thing is, we've always done well, had money and paid our bills. I couldn't help what happened to us when the economy went bad and over half of my clients went out of business. As far as I can tell, inside of about a year, things should improve for us financially and we will have money again. Where I keep it is going to have a lot to do with who treats me decently right now, and almost nobody is.

I don't want to get all misty eyed over this, but I did pay these people for over 30 years, it took all that time to build excellent credit. It was wrecked in an instant, after the company I worked for filed Chapter 7. I never wanted it to end up like this, but the situation became impossible when banks like Advanta came after me personally for money that was charged on the company credit cards.

The really amazing thing about that is the company went under, there was an auction of over 2 million in equipment, that money went to the creditors, yet they still came after me and ruined my credit. It really is a racket.

[lala]

Our attorney warned us that we should move our money from WF before we file. They will freeze your account even if you have no debts/loans with them.

[Mi Bankruptcy]

Wow.. great of you to update Joe. I had 3 accounts with Wellsfargo when I filed. A mortgage, student loan & Auto Loan. I reaffirmed all of them after I filed Chapter 7. To be clear and for the benefit of other readers is the bank account that was frozen a Wells Fargo checking or savings account; meaning Wells didn't freeze your account at another bank?

Wells Fargo never touched my bank. I don't bank with them and I have my house payment automatically deducted from them from my bank account. I was also current on everything with Wells. I filed Nov 08 and discharged May 09.

[jshep]

Spoke with the BK Dept of Wells Fargo

I was finally able to talk to someone in the "Deposit Bankruptcy Department" at Wells Fargo.

As I had assumed, their hold on the account has nothing to do with debt to them. They said that my money was pledged to the bankrupt estate, and that on Friday they notified my Attorney and the Trustee that they had frozen the accounts pending further instructions by the Trustee.

I thought it was lovely that they took time to notify two other parties, but we were not notified which resulted in my wife being in line at the market with a basket full of food on Friday evening and no way to pay for it.

I asked them under what authority they were doing this. They said that in the ost recent account agreement on page 13 under "Adverse Claims and Legal Practices" they spell out the policy. They also said they were acting under sections 541 and 542 of the Bankruptcy code. I have not yet looked these up, but I will.

I explained that they had placed me and my family in an emergency situation, and that we have a sick minor child at home who requires medication that we are unable to pay for.

The person seemed unphased by it and kept telling me that I needed to call my Attorney and have them contact the Trustee, who would authorize them to release the funds.

I told her that I was aware of people who had waited weeks for a release, and she assured me that it is unusual for that to happen. I asked if if there was any recourse for me if that did happen, and she said she didn't know of any.

She also told me that any other money I put in the account would be left alone. They were only allowed to take what was in the account the day they were made aware of the Bankruptcy. So, I could put more money in and use that to operate. I explained that I have been unemployed for six months and what was in the account was my first paycheck after going back to work. Of course, they hear this stuff every day an could care less.

I explained how this is a very dangerous thing to do to families, especially when they are struggling financially. That due to my daughters condition we have professionals who are treating her, and if they were to realize that we were in a position where we could not buy her medicine, they might take her into foster care, and then we would have to fight to get her back.

You guessed it... they still could care less.

I called my Attorney and she said she was waiting for her assistant to come in and she would get the assistant to call the Trustee and get a letter faxed over today to get the funds released. She too acted like it was all no big deal and I shouldn't let myself get so upset over it.

I hope they are all right. So far, nobody is doing anything about it but me.

According to what I was told by the person at Wells Fargo, it sounds as if I could have walked into the bank on Thursday, taken most of the cash (leaving enough for the account to stay open), took it home, put it in a sock.... then, this morning walk back in and redeposit the money an none of this would have happened. If I had read this forum last week, I would probably would have known that.

Thank you to everyone here from the bottom of my heart, for helping me understand what was happening. It was a very lonely weekend, and finding this forum really helped.

I will continue to update this thread as things develop. Hopefully, it willl help someone in the future not make the same mistake I did by leaving all the money I had left in the world in a Wells Fargo Bank account on the day my bankruptcy was filed.

-Joe

[BKorbust]

I had a 25K cc with BOA that I defaulted on and was charged off. I still have 2 checking and 1 savings acccount with them that they never touched. When I file I will make sure their is no money in any of those accounts though just in case.

[jshep]

I don't have any debt with them except a home equity line of credit, which has been paid to terms, and is secured by my home (not my deposits). I still have no idea what their justification is for this. I'm still waiting for the office to open in about 20 minutes.