I've sent the following to my representative and senator. I've also contacted BofA and been rudely dismissed. I've even emailed Ken Lewis (ken.d.lewis@bank of America.com) trying to at least engage him in conversation. Would love your help in bringing discourse around this matter to a public forum….see the note below….and thank you…. I'm writing you because you represent my voice and that of my fellow Americans in government when we feel we are being wronged. At this time, Americans are struggling mightily to make ends meet. Your efforts to fix predatory lending practices (especially in sub prime lending) have been noticed and appreciated. To that end, I feel that another predatory practice by Bank of America needs to be discussed in a public forum and addressed soon thereafter. B of A currently charges fees of $35 per charge when one tries to charge more than one has in his or her bank account. At face value, it may seem that this is a fair practice. I can understand the practice if someone is passing bad checks and a fee has to be assessed. But with today's debit technology, an automatic decline should be easy and free to the public. When one digs deeper, one realizes that this is a practice purely designed to unfairly gouge the American public through deceit and obfuscation. So, here's the policy…A $35 fee for each time a charge over your funds is ATTEMPTED. As an example, recently I unknowingly was making charges on my debit card when I didn't have the money to cover it. The charges were numerous but only totaled $23. That's $23. One charge was for $.27 cents…for which I was charged $35. B of A charged me over $400.00 in overdraft fees for that $23 overage. I called Bank of America to try to find some relief for these charges and was told no. Seems counter to the "flexibility" and understanding for families that the new administration is trying to get in return for billions in bailout dollars. Look a little deeper and the practice is even more disturbing: 1. You can't actually just get an option for a decline on your charge without the $35 fee. So, even if you don't have overdraft coverage, you will still be charged $35. Since technology has allowed banks to simply decline a charge, I don't understand how BofA can justify charging a $35 fee for each charge versus just declining it for FREE. 2. BofA says the only way to protect against this is to link a BofA credit card or a savings account to your overdraft checking. So, an over-limit charge is charged to your BofA card or deducted from you savings account. In both cases, BofA makes money….either through interest on your credit card or from service fees on the savings account that you are required to have. And, by the way, the overdraft service also has another fee associated with it. 3. As if that weren't enough, BofA recently increased the allowable number of charges per day from 5 to 8. That a $105.00 per day increase, per cardholder. The bottom line is that I don't want my money back from BofA (though they should have at least treated me better considering I hold six accounts with them). I, like the many Americans flooding blogs with similar stories, want justice. I would like this issue explored fully and for Bank of America to be called to answer for this unfair practice. The fact that American taxpayers in the US now own a $50B TARP stake in BofA (which only has a market cap of $40B, by the way), only makes our voices that much more relevant in this matter. Lastly, I will say that I firmly support Obama's call for Americans to be more responsible with their money. I was less than responsible for letting my account go overdrawn by $23. Thankfully, my wife and I make decent money and can cover this amount. Just think how American's with lesser incomes would struggle with this. Then realize that this a core profit center for BofA.

Reading these complaints, I find little comfort that I am not alone. I have been having major problems with Bank of America and my mortgage with them. Due to personal issues and work reduction I have fallen behind on my payments and I can not get anyone to work with me. They are telling me my only option is forclosure or a short sale. I think not. What really gets me, is that I can not get anyone to give me numbers on exactly how much it would take to bring the loan current and that they have to submit info and then forward it to me and then I have 10 days to come up with the money. This is after finally speaking to someone on the phone. I have spent many hours on hold or an automated voice tells me to leave a message or to call back at a different time. What?!!!. I can not stay on hold at work or my entire lunch time spent on hold. I know that I am not the only person dealing with this issue now but if you are going to say that you are going to help then at least have the resourses to do so. I have speoken with some very rude and unfeeling people and they always end the call with, "Thank you for your business." What a crock. They don't want our business and are doing nothing to try to keep our business. I can not even pull up the information on line to see if the payments I have made are really being posted to the mortgage.
It is a shame the way that this Bank treats people and yet you hear of all the profit they made, while they are increasing fees and changing the rules to suit them.
If there was anyway to get this mortgage taken over by someone who is willing to to work with people then I would be happy.
When I first started banking with them they did everything in their power to make sure I was happy and satisfied. The customer service and their buisness practices are shoddy. Once and if I ever get this taken care of I will never do business with them again.

your house located at 4069 flat creek road in lancaster s. c. 29720 joins my property. house has been empty for at least three (3) years. grass, weeds, trash, all over, decreasing my property values, is an eye sore, is a neusance to my community. i've contacted b.o.a. twice already but have not seen any one out there. property has not been turned over to a realtor . would be interested in purchasing the property but would have to be a substantially reduced rate considering the condition and the fact that it has asbestas. my next step is to contact help from my county and state officials. please respond and reply. previous owner is crystal brantley who has 1st and 2sd mortgage with b. o. a.

I've been banking with Bank Of America for 10 years. Since they accepted the bail out money I've gone to Bank Of Texas but still use Bank Of America as a spending account and have my merchant services deposits go in there. I keep a typically low balance, about $500 and transfer more money when needed. Anyway, I woke up to 6 $25 fees but I had not overdrafted. My account fell to $65 and then I transferred another $500. After arguing with the CSR for about an hour we broke down every single transaction and they had to admit they were wrong. What happened was a merchant (over a week ago) authorized my card twice, once for products without shipping and once for products with shipping but the authorization fell off the next day. But they deducted this authorization from my balance and hit me with fees 7 days later when I would have overdrafted had the transaction actually been paid. (I know, it's complicated, but it's highly fraudulent). After they corrected the six over draft fees of $25 each I wake up the next day and find TEN overdraft fees of $35 each! The first set of overdraft fees caused me to overdraft FOUR more times, which is true but why TEN charges? Nobody seems to know! After another hour on the phone this was taken care of. So I cynically wrote the bank an e-mail asking for $500 worth of credits towards my account for wasting my time. I made the point that if I had overdrafted by mistake I would not be able to deposit the difference and say 'I'm sorry' I would have to pay $500 worth of fees!!! They wrote me back with 'We've researched this account and found that you overdrafted blah blah blah'. I wrote back with 'apparently you didn't research this account because xxx and yyy'. They wrote back again with 'Oh. You're right. Sorry'. It just drives me so mad! First, they use a fraudulent fractional reserve system and create money out of thin air! The Federal Reserve is about as Federal as Federal Express and then they have the nerve to assess fraudulant fees on the public! Let me tell you how money is created. No, it's not backed by gold, it hasn't been in DECADES! The United States Government decides they need $10 million dollars. So they print up some fancy looking treasury bonds. Then they call up the Federal Reserve (who is a private corporation) and they print up some more fancy pieces of paper and give it to the US government. That's it! 10 million was just created! Oh but it gets far worse than this. The new created money has to have value and since the only thing regulating the value of money is how much is in circulation 10 million dollars has stolen value from the money you have in savings causing inflation! Now imagine 700 Billion being created out of thin air and given BACK to the bankers! And you wonder why gas is $2/gallon when a barrel of oil is going for $35 (it should be $.75 at the pump!) It gets worse! The fractional reserve system requires banks to only have 10% of their reserves in holding. This means they can loan out 90% of their reserve. So what happens to the $70 Billion of bail out money? It goes into bank accounts. Not $70 billion has because 7 TRILLION!!! Thus causing MORE inflation! And if you really want to realize how you're getting screwed let's factor in INTEREST! The US government doesn't just give the bonds to the Federal Reserve but the bonds are promissory notes that the US government will pay back the Federal Reserve with INTEREST! But if the Federal Reserve made the first dollar where does the money to pay back the interest come from? You got it! Print more money and borrow more money from the Federal Reserve! Causing a never ending cycle of inflation! Inflation is a tax on the people. Look at cars for a minute. In the 80's a new car cost an average of $7000. Now it's an average of $20, 000. Did things get more expensive? No! The value of the dollar has been chopped down to a third while wages have not even doubled! So you save a million dollars to retire on. When you retire that million dollars will have the buying power of $250, 000 if your lucky! And to top it all off.. they hit us with overdraft fees! We need to hit THEM with overdraft fees for bankrupting this economy and creating money out of thin air! And if you really want to hear the truth watch two movies on google video. America: From Freedom To Fascism The Obama Deception And speaking of Obama, lets take a look at the stimulus package for a moment. WE've already established the Federal Reserve printed 700 billion for the bail out right? OK. Well, we authorized the bail out money to be printed and we (the people) took responsibility for the debt, the interest and inflation. Then Obama writes a 700 billion dollar stimulus package. So what does the Fed do? They loan the US 700 billion dollars at INTEREST! AAAAAHHHHH! They're not even using Vaseline!

I don't know if this is the correct forum but I feel rather helpless at this point and am grasping at straws now. 

In mid to late 2009 I applied for the Obama Administration's Making Home Affordable Home Loan Modification Program with my mortgage holder, Bank of America.

For almost 8 months I went through hell with BOA representatives just trying to get my application through! Although I provided EVERYTHING they asked for, during the first 3 months I heard nothing about my application.  Then after my repeated calls, they began telling me over and over that either they never got my documents, they were "incomplete, " or I needed to update them.

Each time I would re-send the requested documents via FEDEX Return Receipt Requested AND GET THE RECEIPT BACK. Yet I would hear nothing for weeks and then when I called to check my status I would be told again that I had "missing or incomplete" documents- the SAME ONES!- despite the fact that I had the signed receipts!!

This went on for MONTHS!

Finally, I went on a Trial Modification Program in March 2010 which was supposed to last about 3 months while they reviewed my file to determine if I could receive a permanent modification.

During the next 6 months I went through hell AGAIN...the SAME scenario...BOA reps claiming I wasn't supplying the correct documents, or they lost them or some nonsense.  Each time they would tell me I was in danger of being DENIED the permanent modification if I didn't straighten out the paperwork!  But how can you straighten out a mess that's being made IN-HOUSE!!?

This ridiculous back and forth FedEx signed receipt "I don't have the right documents" mess went on until August 2010.

Then, in early August one of the BOA reps told me I had NOTHING to worry about because my loan app was sitting in the "approved" Dept and I would soon be receiving an "offer" letter for my "new loan modification." I was so happy and relieved.  She ASSURED ME that all the NIGHTMARE was OVER!

A couple days later Fedex was at my door with a package.  I was happy.  I thought "Finally! After all the hell I've been through! Here's my modification offer!"

Imagine my SHOCK when I opened the package and found a LETTER OF DENIAL, stating the reason for the denial was "MISSING OR INCOMPLETE DOCUMENTS!" To add insult to injury it made some reference to the fact that they would get in touch with me later about possible foreclosure info!!!

I was LIVID!  First, I had just been told I'd been APPROVED 2 days earlier! And 2nd, how DARE THEY even MENTION foreclosure to me YET?!! I had not MISSED one single payment on my mortgage in the 20 years I'd lived here!

I immediately got on the phone and called them.  Guess what they said!?  "Gee, I don't understand why you got a Denial Letter. Everything here looks good. All your documents are in order." Yet they couldn't guarantee that the Denial Letter wouldn't "stand!"

So I then wrote my Senator and I wrote Brian Moynihan, President and CEO of BOA.  To his credit, within one week Mr. Moynihan had a rep contact me for details.  And within two weeks I received my new Loan Modification offer/Agreement.  I signed the Agreement/contract and sent it back.  In addition I also requested a SIGNED letter from Mr. Moynihan's office stating that I had been APPROVED for the new loan, which I received via FEDEX.

I HAVE the new loan/agreement AND the signed letter in my possession as of this writing.

As a result I have been paying my new loan amount under this agreement since August 2010.

However, all of a sudden, yesterday, when I called to dispute the amount of interest BOA sent me on my 1098 for 2010, the rep that answered the phone informed me that I had NOT paid my April mortgage AND that I also owed a late fee!  I said "NO, I paid my April mortgage on April 1st!"

After some more review of my file she said she saw that I DID pay the money but the money was sitting in the holding area.  I asked why.  She said "because your modification was declined."

WHAT!!???!  I explained that I've BEEN in a modified loan for almost a year.  She said she could only go by the CODE she sees.  And the code says I'm DENIED.  OH MY GOD!!!  NOT THIS AGAIN??!!!

She said she would check something and get right back. When she came back she said she could see that I had been paying on a modified loan and wasn't sure why they didn't apply my April payment. She said she would transfer the money right then and remove the late fee.  But she said I'd need to talk to someone in another area about that CODE and why it was there.

She then transferred me over to discuss my tax problem.  While discussing my interest/tax problem, that rep and I discussed my Decline code.  I said the other rep had at least made sure my April payment got posted.  He said NO SHE DIDN'T.  He told me I was showing up as NOT HAVING PAID MY APRIL MORTGAGE STILL!!! AND that I owed a late charge!!

So what DID that other rep actually DO?  Nothing?!

He said he could NOT credit my mortgage payment as long as that DECLINED CODE was on my file!!!

So here I sit, having faithfully been paying on a SIGNED LOAN MODIFICATION AGREEMENT since last year, having faithfully PAID MY APRIL mortgage, yet being told I'm DECLINED for a mortgage modification ? Being told I'm delinquent for my April payment? Being told I owe late fees because BOA is HOLDING MY MONEY and NOT applying it as they were supposed to??!!

I can't get ANY decent or logical answers from BOA reps because when you call them, one Dept NEVER seems to know what the OTHER Dept's are doing!!! And when one Dept writes something in your file, another Dept has NO CLUE WHY, or what it means!

Now here's the BIG dilemma, among all the possible dilemmas:

Even though I PD MY APRIL MORTGAGE, I'm being told it's not being applied but in fact is sitting in a "holding" area because my modification was DECLINED! As long as it sits THERE, I APPEAR to not be following the rules of my NEW MODIFICATION/AGREEMENT, which could ultimately cause me to be KICKED out of the program through no fault of my own!!!

BOA has been happily collecting my monthly loan mod payments under the AGREEMENT for almost a year now!  Why have they STOPPED this month!?!

Why can't BOA get their stuff together so that the right hand knows what the left hand is doing at all times? Instead of making the customer SUFFER things like THIS!!?

What is BOA trying to "PULL" now?  It really makes me wonder!

The BOA rep that worked on the tax problem is looking into this for me but it's really NOT HIS AREA.  So he didn't seem real positive about what he might be able to do about this "decline code" for me.  But at least he, unlike the majority of the BOA reps I've talked to, has been willing to TRY.

My next move, just like before, will have to be my Senator and my Congressman.  And this time I'm taking it to the news media as well.  

Financially, I'm in a very bad place right now.  My home is all I have.  I will NOT let BOA put me through that nightmare again and try to make excuses for taking my home.  It is all I have left. It is the one thing I have ALWAYS paid for, even at times, not getting medications I've badly needed (I'm on disability), just to pay my mortgage!

I hope that someone reads this and helps me before BOA starts my nightmare all over again.

And I hope people realize that I'm probably one of thousands that BOA pulls this on daily.  I know I was one of thousands they pulled the "missing documents" scam on in order to try to discourage customers from participating in the home modification programs!

Sincerely,

Patti Bright

Cc: 
-Congressman Steny Hoyer
-Senator Barbara Mikulski 
-Brian Moynihan,               PRES/CEO, BOA
-Charles Holliday, Chairman of the Board, BOA