Bank of America
Reviews and Complaints

After myself and my other half Thomas White being customers of Bank Of America for 20 years, Bank Of America's customer advocate Sharon Tabor, suspended our credit card and closed our account without our knowledge or consent. This was done after we made a formal complaint to the federal authorities regarding Bank Of America continually increasing our rate to 32% after being late on two bills. We had always paid our bill on time, but were late twice. Both times we called Bank Of America to let them know the bill was going to be late due to being in a financial crunch. They told us there was no problem, they would be more than happy to work with us. After that, the slapped us with a $39 late fee each time, but we had that credited back to us reluctantly. Then they started increasing our rate.

After some time of being on time with our bill and also paying more then the minimum payment when we could, we inquired about the rate being lowered. We were told "NO". Then Sharon Tabor called us, gave us a rate of $15.99% but never told us that our account had to be closed. She only told us after doing what she did. Bank of America told us that they can close anyones account at any time for any reason and they dont have to let the person know. They said because we had a high balance, that it was determined that our account had to be closed. Well we had payed our account down to "0" twice, both times in one lump sum. We have recently paid it down again. Bank Of America had examined our account before and never took any kind of action until we made a formal complaint to the Office Of The Comptroller of The Currency. We believe they took the action they did in direct retaliation for our complaint. In so examining our account as many times as they have, it has compromised Mr. Whites credit score. Before Ms. Tabor closed our account, A week or two prior to this, Mr. White made a purchase for a $1, 300 computer. He made this purchase in good faith. Ms. Tabor stood in the way of this purchase being authorized making the arrogant comment that this was an unnecessary purchase. That if the money had been for food or for utility bills, she could authorize that. Where does Bank Of America get off telling someone what they can and cannot purchase with their card, and how much they can or cannot spend. Bank Of America clearly violated their own credit card agreement when they closed our account. It states in the agreement, that Bank Of America has to give a person 15 days notice before closing anyones account, it also states that if a person is delinquent on their account or over their limit, which we were not, that the 15 day window does not apply but they still have to give a person proper notice. We were "NEVER" given any notice about this. Ms. Tabor took it upon herself to take this action.

This has caused us unnecessary pain and suffering, and alot of anxiety. It has also been hard on us financially. It has set us back a bit. We feel we are entitled to compensation for what Bank Of America has put us through. Bank Of America needs to be held accountable for their unethical business practices.

Countrywide bought our loan a few months after we purchased our home. Everything was fine for a while until I started trying to refinance a few years ago. They would not work with me and made it impossible to go anywhere else for financing. They started rasing our payments 4 months before they were supposed to and they went from $1258 a month to $1938 a month in 1 year knowing full well that we couldn't afford that much each month. I was told by some snotty man at Countrywide that if they wanted they could raise the interest rate to 13.75% instead of the 11.125% rate they raised it to if we really wanted to push the issue.

I fought for 2 years to save the house and finally ended up losing it last month and had to move in with my mother-in-law until we can try to fix our credit reports and save a little money to move somewhere else.

I am VERY angry about this whole deal and want some justice. I want to Countrywide to have to answer to everyone they have wronged and have to apologize, not just to me, but ot America as a whole for the way they run their business. Everyone I have talked to about them has had nothing good to say about them.

I went to Macys to purchase some items on Saturday, I tried to use my debit card and it was declined. Shocked, I call Bank of America to figure out what is going on because I know I have funds available and I am automatically transferred to the Fraud Dept. in Phoenix AZ. Because I am not fluent in English, I have my granddaughter interpret for me while I am on the phone with the "fraud analyst". After taking about 30 minutes into verify my information, because they insisted that they had to find an interpreter themselves and not go through my granddaughter the fraud analyst representative Cordella said my account was blocked because there was unusual activity at the beginning of this month. The unusual activity was an atm withdrawal of $500 at the beginning of the month, which I use to pay rent. I have been doing this for the past 2 years and now they say this is unusual activity? So my granddaughter asks the rep to explain why this is happening ALL OF A sudden, and the rep's reply was "I have the authority to monitor your account, it is my job and I can put a hold on it whenever I feel like there is unusual activity." We wanted to speak with a supervisor because this person was rude, unhelpful and almost discriminating in her attitude towards us. She said "I don't have a supervisor, I’m a financial analyst and I was providing you exceptional service because even though you were using profanity, I dealt with it!" And we were so astonished at her accusation because we are not the type of people to use profanity in conversations. My granddaughter was out of words and just shocked at the type of service BofA was trained to provide. She was obviously not treating me as a customer, but more of an annoyance because I could not speak English well and she wanted to get us off the phone and even denied out request to speak with a supervisor. I have never felt so discriminated by a bank employee, especially a big corp like B of A. And to think that my card can be blocked, without any reason, any time they want to... it makes me cringe to my stomach.
When I was declined of a $20 charge a Macys, I was extremely embarrassed and baffled. This is my hometown dept. store where everyone knows everyone! Who is going to pay for the embarrassment I got when my card was declined? I have a chronic cardiac disease, where if I am stressed/shocked, it could be detrimental to by survival. I had to get emergency treatment with nitroglycerine at home because I was so shocked from the situation. Also, the ruthless representative at b of A made me feel unsafe with my available funds AND was illogical in her explanations as to who this is happening. From now on, every time I use my atm card, I need to be in fear that it might be declined because someone at fraud services is having a bad day.

I have credit card with bank of america for over 15 years. Recently, they gave me apr of %8.00, and charged me annul fee of 18.00, I continue to make my payment, I noticed that the payments I am making never goes for that $18.00, now the $18.00 is $48.00 and that is because thy are charging %18.99 on the annul fees. So I called, and told them I like to pay the annul fee in cash and do not want to finance the annul fee, but thy told me you can not do that. Which means the $18.00 which is now $48.00" because of high interest" will continue to go up even when I offer to pay the annul fee in cash.
That means they are forcing me to pay interest on the amount that I do not want to borrow or finance?!
Do you think that is fare even if the law allow them?

TO: WHOM IT MAY CONCERN

FROM: VICKI MILLER

RE: COUNTRYWIDE HOME LOANS PREDATORY LENDING

I, like hundreds of other Americans, have a story to tell about the horrible and unethical business practices of Countrywide Home Loans. First, may I say that I have been a honest, hardworking, tax paying American for over 36 years. I am a single parent. I had purchased the home which I was raised upon the passing of my mother. This is the home where I, also have raised my son. So, this is more than just a house to me. It is our home and our foundation.

I originally got involved with Countrywide when they purchased my mortgage (unknown to me) by a mortgage company that was already under investigation, Ameriquest. At which time, I had never even been late with a house payment. After a year or so with Countrywide, they began to pursue me to refinance my original mortgage. They called me, mailed letters to me, and emailed me stating that I had over $24, 818.00 in equity in my home and they were offering me a “no closing cost”, “no appraisal fee”, “no hidden fees” etc. refinance loan. After several months of their persistence, I agreed to go ahead and refinance with the intention of borrowing $5, 000 from my equity to put in some energy efficient windows in my home. (As it is an older home, and living in PA, the cost of fuel is very expensive). Thus, not only conserving energy and saving on my fuel bills, but also improving the investment of my home. I agreed to refinance in Sept. 2005.

Initially, I was sent preliminary papers. The horror begins Oct.2005 when a notary comes to my place of my employment for closing with a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT SET OF DOCUMENTS? Ofcourse, I was completely offguard. There I was, at work, with no privacy, confused at the loan papers, I immediately asked the closing agent what was going on? He told me he was just a courier they hired to get me to sign the papers. He rushed me and assured me there would surely be a resolution. Not only were they a completely different set of papers and loan amounts that I was previously sent, but I did not get ONE CENT at closing to put in my windows and they had used up MY ENTIRE AMOUNT OF EQUITY! Being bewildered, rushed and not being mortgage smart, I signed, under duress! I am an honest, trusting Christian woman who would never have thought something like this would happen to me. I was wrong! I immediately went to the phone and began calling Countrywide.. I briefly got to spoke to the representative from their Full Spectrum Lending Div., who told me that they paid off a HUD loan I had taken out (to put a new roof on) and the rest was countrywide fees.He assured me that someone from Countrywide would call me and go over it all in detail with me. Guess what? I never heard from them again!

Remember the promise about no fees? What false advertising that was! Not to mention, don’t you think they should have advised me of the paying off the loan to Domestic bank and all of the loan changes and higher interest rate and fees than they first disclosed to me in advance? I was not notified ahead of time about any of this or I would have not refinanced! As, the only reason I left them persuade me was to take advantage of the low interest rates, no costs and to take advantage of taking some of my equity to put in the new windows! Had I been sent the revised loan papers ahead of time, I would have never agreed! I asked all kind of questions and was told someone would call me and explain everything to me. That never happened! I persistently called them, only to be passed around from one person to another. Never getting to talk to the same person twice! I wrote to them, I faxed them, I emailed them, on many occasions. Never did they even have the courtesy to explain anything to me! Is this how you run an HONEST business? To take advantage of people and not have any respect or customer service? If they had done nothing wrong, why didn’t they address the situation? I have kept copies of many of my letters and emails, Both from them pursuing me to refinance, and my letters to them asking for explanations as to why they did this to me? I also have several sets of legal documents. Some, I actually have 3 sets of the same papers with completely different amounts on them? Ofcourse, different interest rates then originally promised as well.

I have 3 different “Schedule of Real Estate Owned” with 3 different payoff amounts?

One set listed my payoff for my original Countrywide mtg. as $59, 624 and the pay off to Domestic Bank for my HUD loan as $13, 867. Another one said my payoff to Ctrywide. Was $62, 855.74 & Domestic Bank was $14, 078 on my “Settlement Statement”? So, I ended up with a sub-prime mortgage that ended up for $81, 830 @ 8.25 (another document says 8.75%?) with ZERO money received at closing. AND ALL OF MY HOMES EQUITY WAS GONE!

I have 2 different “Truth in lendingstatements” with different amounts, even the “final” one said amount financed was to be $78, 125.45, but my “Note” is for $81, 830? I have 3 different copies of “Assets and Liabilities”with 3 different amounts., 2 different “Settlement Statements”, 2 different “Amortization Schedules” Nothing, that matches or makes any sense to me? I wasn’t aware of the thieves they were until this happened to me! Ofcourse, making my payments much higher! But, I never gave up on trying to get some resolution. I didn’t know about their “Bait and Switch” schemes.

I felt I was taken advantage of, promised one thing and given another. I did sign the papers, but again, under duress! And immediately seeked explanations and help from them. But got nowhere! Now that I hear of all of the sub-prime mortgage mess, I am sure I was a victim of predatory lending! Every time I called Countrywide, I NEVER got to talk to the same person twice, I kept getting passed around, having to repeat my story over and over only to be told to call another phone #, etc. And I have proof of many letters and emails I sent to them asking why?

Not only that, but on several occasions they tried to charge me for home owners insurance, which they knew I already had privately, Again, I was given the run around, with the right hand not knowing what the left was doing. I even had my insurance agent call and fax them. I finally got it resolved, only to have it happen again!

To make matters worse, last year I was burdened with the care of a sick family member. I called Countrywide several times to explain in effort to be able to work something out, only to be treated with total disrespect! So, they tried to foreclose on me! Now, they said that “The Bank of New York” was the note holder of my mortgage? I never knew about that either. So were they also a victim of Countrywides illegal practices, or were they too, part of the scheme of things? On one occasion, I spoke to a representative named Brian Keller, who told me I would have to refinance at $150, 000.00? Now, if my home was only worth $85, 000 (at that time) and I was already up to the limit and having problems managing those payments, how would I ever do that? It didn’t make any sense?

I met with a local legal attorney, who agreed that my loan documents looked suspicious. She tried to contact Countrywide, but also found that she understands my frustration as there is no possibility of continuity and no specific person with whom to work with.

I was so distraught that I was going to lose our home., I went to a private attorney. Atty. Shawn Sullivan, of Altoona, PA. He agreed that I was definitely a victim of predatory lending and consumer fraud. He was able to get me into a “work-out” program to avoid foreclosure, but this ended costing me an additional $10, 886.82, plus attorney fees and a title search! Talk about kicking one when they are down! Mr. Sullivan and his colleagues advised me to seek help from the PA Atty.Generals Office. Since, I do not have the resources to pay a private attorney.

I did write to them. I was assigned a file #F-[protected]. my case was assigned to a office in State College, PA. I just found out this week that they cant help me? A girl named Lauren called me and said that “ why did I sign the papers? I had plenty of time to look them over prior to signing.(this is what Countrywide is using as a defense), “ Did she not even read my complaint? Yes, I did receive papers ahead of time, BUT, THEY WERE NOT THE DOCUMENTS I WAS FORCED TO SIGN AT CLOSING’ Again, bait and switch! I cant believe Countrywide is using as a defense that I had plenty of time to read the papers and ask questions! Sure, I had a whole 5 minutes to read and sign the ACTUAL PAPERS! And I DID ASK QUESTIONS! I JUST NEVER GOT ANSWERS!

But, being a trusting person, I felt sure this type of thing didn’t happen in our great country! I also didn’t really know that my HUD loan was considered a lein on my home. As again, I was not mortgage smart. If I knew then what I do now, I would have had a realitor or banker look it over. Again, I was completely under the assumption that the original loan papers sent too me ahead of time is what was going to take place. There was no other changed documents sent to me ahead of time to go over, or I would have NOT went thru with it. They knew what they were doing. This way, they caught me off guard, promised me one thing, then switching at the last minute! They should have sent me the “revised loan documents” explaining everything, ahead of time to look over (just like they did the preliminary documents) . THEY CHOSE NOT TO DO SO BECAUSE THEY KNEW ONCE I SAW THE OUTRAGEOUS FEES AND INTEREST RATES AND UNAPPROVED CHANGES, I WOULD HAVE CHANGED MY MIND.! They knew exactly what they were doing, and it was not the first time they did this to an honest consumer. How dare they use the excuse that I had plenty of time to go over the papers? Sure I did, THE FALSE ONES! And to respond by saying I had time to ask questions….what do you think I had tried to do for so long? Call after call, letter after letter, emails and faxes! I have copies! NOT ONCE DID THEY RESPOND! WHY? Because they knew they were involved in predatory lending practices! I will not accept this as a legitimate or legal reason. And if our government agrees that they did right by me, then will be very disappointed in what our country stands for. “We the people, For the people”? Which people, just the wealthy corp.giants? And the hardworking taxpayers are nothing?

After searching on the intranet, I have found hundreds of dissatisfied Countrywide customers. With more horror stories, very similar to mine, many exactly the same! There is actually a website :www.countrywidehomeloansucks.com. Read some of the stories of not only their predatory lending practices, but stories from employees who admit they were expected to do wrong by their customers. Even mortgage brokers with stories about how they (Countrywide) were dishonest, padded finance fees, have an “invincible” approach to business and they don’t care or are not concerned how they treat their customers with disrespect.

Even Barack Obama has a poor opinion of Countrywide. Stating” All across this country, we’ve seen how its becoming harder and harder for working families to make ends meet..For too long, the rules in our ecomony have been written to benefit Wall Street at the expense of Main Street. We saw this again today when we learned that two executives at Countrywide, are set to walk away with $2 million in payouts. This is an outrage. Top mortgage lenders spend $185 million in recent years lobbying Washington to look the other way, while they tricked American families forcing millions of Americans to face foreclosure and pushing our economy into a recession. We should be reprimanding them, not rewarding them. “ (March 30, 2008)

I was under the impression that our governing bodies were here to protect us as consumers. Apparently, I was wrong. They keep a blind eye on these illegal actions, while hard working American taxpayers cant make ends meet. Like myself, most people cant afford to hire a private attorney. This large corporate giant is tearing down American families and The American Dream one at a time. I cant believe our judicial system would allow this to continue. Countrywide is the ENRON of the real-estate industry!

“We clearly are concerned about predatory lending” said Heather Tyler, spokeswoman for the PA Dept. Of Banking. A study released last year commissioned by the banking dept, concluded that predatory lending practices were the major reason that Pennsylvania had one of the highest rates of home foreclosures in the country. According to PA Banking Sec., Bill Schenck, PA ranks 4th in the nation for sub-prime mortgage foreclosures .

I cannot tell you how disappointed I am that The PA Attorney Generals Office, with whom I had the upmost respect in the wonderful job they are doing in dealing with the drug problem in our communities, can do nothing to help me? Laura said I could file a law suit on my own, but unfortunately, I cant afford one! I expected the same laws that would prevent and prosecute “ME” from stealing, would also use my tax dollars to pursue the companies stealing from the consumers. I know had I stolen, I would expect to make restitution to my victim, as well as pay the penalty of the crime. Not only by the law that was created to protect me, but also my God, who is the final judge.

I do not feel what Countrywide did was right. They misled me with false advertising and false promises. THEY pursued ME. They should be held accountable! I cant believe their defense is that I signed the papers, yes, I did, but under duress! And again, as included in all of the 55 pages I originally sent the Atty. Generals Office, I was given a different set of papers to preview, and the first time I saw the papers I signed was at the closing, being rushed by their dishonest courier, at my place of employment! This too, is common practice for Countrywide. Many states have class action suits against them.

I feel I was not given the proper attention in dealing with this matter by our Atty.Generals Office branch in State College, PA. I would ask them to assign my case to another branch office. I do not know where to turn!

Not only am I having a hard time making ends meet, but all of this stress and worrying has also affected my health. I am now under a doctors care for depression and nerves, taking medication and also weekly see a therapist. This also hurts my income.

I do not intend to let this drop. I am VERY disappointed that our states top attorney isn’t interested enough to have someone more qualified to look into this. I have had several local attorneys and bankers tell me that I was definitely a victim of predatory lending! I just cant afford to hire a private attorney !

I intend to forward this letter to our states representatives, The Hud office of Inspector General in Washington DC, the Bureau of consumer affairs, The US Attorneys Office, The Center for Responsible Lending, Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, PA statewide task force on predatory lending, The National Consumer Law Center, National Consumer Advocates, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, National Assoc.of Mtg.Brokers, The American Bar Assoc., PA Dept. of Banking, National Home Equity Mtg.Assoc. PCCA, National Conference of State legislatures….Everyone I can find who will take the time and interest in just one honest persons right to The American Dream being taken away from her. Coutrywide should receive cease and desist orders and pay back monies owed to each and every individual they cheated. Is it true they pay lawmakers to take a back seat and turn the other way? I, myself, being a proud hardworking American citizen, cant believe that. I refuse to believe that all of our lawmakers and departments will sit back and allow this to continue. Do they realize how hard it is to be a single working parent, living from paycheck to paycheck, paid taxes for over 36 years, never took a cent from welfare, and now cant afford to send her graduating son to college due to her only savings and equity being stolen by a corrupt corp.giant? My son, who is a good, honest,

Christian boy, has been accepted to Penn State, where he dreams of becoming an elementary school teacher, and I cant get the funds to send him! My credit is ruined, my money is gone. What would you do? As a Christian, I always was taught to “turn the other cheek”, but not in a case like this. I also believe in the Constitution and The American Dream of hard work, paying taxes, and be a law abiding citizen. All of these values I have installed in my son.

I hope and pray, that someone that I contact will find it in good conscience to do what is right and look into this. If I need to file suit, to whom do I turn? Please, someone, put yourselves in my position, what would you do?

As of now, I can only continue to forward this letter to anyone and everyone who will listen. As I stated earlier, I have ALL of the documentation to support my claim.I have copies of letters Countrywide pursued me to refinance stating the amount of equity I had at the time. Copies of many letters I wrote to Countrywide in effort to resolve on my own, and ofocurse, several copies of unmatching legal documents!

It is with sincere thanks and respect that someone will respond to my plea for help.

Not losing trust in MY government,

Vicki M. Miller

If you think that you can combine points from various credit card accounts in order to build up your total points... BEWARE! Like many others, I thought I had enough points to book two round trip tickets last summer for my wife and I. I was shocked to find that it was somehow going to take 120, 000 points and $328 cash. How is this possible, I wondered? Well I gave that idea up and just purchased the tickets. A few months later I noticed the "Transfer Points" link on the rewards home page. " Great, here is a way to get enough points if we decide to go somewhere" I thought.

This is what it says: "More points equal greater rewards. If you have more than one rewards account, you may be able to combine your points for better rewards or even share your points with friends and family. Now, the flexibility of transferring points makes rewards even better."

What it doesn't say is that is a scam to make your points expire in 90 days instead five years. There is a disclaimer not at the beginning of the process or in the middle of the process, but at the very end, as you are clicking to transfer the points. It says "these points will expire on... and a date (which is 90 days from that moment -- if you're paying close enough attention)"

I guess I'm just stupid, because I didn't do the math or pay that much attention to the actual date, because after all in the "FAQ" and Rules sections it says that points expire five years from date earned, with no disclaimer that says "Unless you transfer them, then it's 90 days".

Here's the bottom line: You have 90 days to use these points, and if you do not, they are gone forever. I have been trying to get them back for five months and was told today that nobody on the face of the earth can restore them, because I requested the transfer. I've cashed out all my points on three my cards on some junky merchandise and closed them out. I have also closed my business, personal, and merchant accounts with BOA. It is a first class pain in the neck, and I never got my 30, 000 points back, but I somehow feel slightly better. I hope BOA misses me, but I doubt it.

First of all, Customer service including the Branch staffs members are extremely RUDE! Banks has fair statement on "Same Day Transaction" except Bank Of America (BOA). Bank Of America do operate on "how much can we get ripe off because we are a big bank". So, if you have to deposit and withdraw money and say: withdraw first and then deposit second even within a couple minute away, BE SURE that BOA will charge you NSF (or) Overdraft FEE. By asking that it is the same day transaction will surely be treated with insult and humiliation. EVEN THE BRANCH STAFFS RUDELY HANG UP THE CALLS WHEN HE WAS BEING ASKED FOR THE QUESTION ABOUT "SAME DAY TRANSACTION". Customer service (All most all of them) LIED to me by saying that "I am going to transfer you to the manager" when you asked for it and then HANG UP ON YOU! When you called them again, they just make you look like an idiot and don't even say that there is no one such that person with the name that you spoke to.

As someone earlier mentioned that he/she was ripped off in Balance Transfer. There is a Balance Transfer Fees even they said it is 0% interest and HEY I am way too okay with any fees they mentioned at front and what kind of fees, what are the monthly expectation, what are the condition to meet and etc. which you sign and agreed, I believe it is fair. What I am going to say is RIPPING PEOPLE OFF WITH HIDDEN WHICH NORMALLY TARGETED TO TRICKING PEOPLE. THAT IS "SCAMMING". Make sure to read every single fine fine print and be extremely careful. So, I have this Balance Transfer from BOA and found out that I have been CHEATED ("the feeling": meaning: "exactly what happened"). So, it is okay and I just have to learn my lesson and I closed the account. I paid every single penny in the account and ask to close the account. The next month, the account is still open and I have been charged for "A Penny", one cents. For that one cent, my account is still open. What that penny charge is for, don't ask me (I have no clue). So, account can't be closed since there is a balance! What the hell is that?

I recently made a deposit to my personal bank of america checking account only to find FIA services took out $9700 right out of my account without authorization!. My company about 2 years ago recieved a Bank of America Credit card and line of credit. Nobody including me ever applied for it or signed any such guarantee. I have called over and over and demanded to see my applictation and PG that I agreed to let them take money from my account to resolve the corporate accounts balance!. I have talked to customer service and the fraud department and all they can say is they show me as the gurantor but cant locate any documents to even show I applied for the card. I have hired a attorney and will be taking Bank Of AMerica to Court if my personal money is not returned. I have never heard of such a thing to just yank somebody's money from a checking account because I am a officer of the company. I never signed the card or even used it!

Pissed off as hell in Clearwater

In september of 2007 i had to apply for a loan modification, with countrywide because i lost my job was seperated from my husband since feb, 07 & because i had a an ajustable rate mortgage. They told me it would be 15-45 buisness days to get a response, and that i would be called by a "negotiator". when there was a response or if more information was needed. today is April, 15 2008 exactly 7 months since the whole process started i have not spoken to a negotiator, and according to the papers i received in the mail in march of 2008 i had been approved for the loan modification, i was told by several reps from countrywide that i would receive a call from a negotiator for better explanation of the paper work i was signing. (note: i received the paper work 10 days before the deadline.) no one ever called me. i have called countrywide several times where i am transfered to every dept., and left on hold for 1 hour and a half almost every time i call. (i have phone bills to prove it) what made me finally break down is last night i called, talk to 4 diffrent people and all of them had diffrent responses, the last person i spoke to told me "oh in february of 08 you were denied for the loan modification and have to pay 3, 181.00" . she was wrong and after explaining to her that i did receive the paperwork and that i sent it back, she did not have the courtesy to apologize on her mistake.COUNTRYWIDE is rude they have no respect, sympathy, and have no idea what goes on in their own company and i hope to be able to take this compalint to a higher up, so if anyone knows what i can do please let me know how. thank you

I have not never hear of these guys until I checked my balance tonight. A check was cashed in my name that has overdraw my account. Wow! Like it's not hard enough to keep money in the bank in the first place, but they have to go ahead and take what little is there. I just paid my monthly credit card bill too. WTF! Not only that but guess who gets charged? I'd rather get kicked in the @#%!

FIA cards services has made an unauthorized debit to my checking account for the amount of $150.00. Who can I contact to file a complaint? Plz advise smb!

As an attorney and a Countrywide customer, I am in complete agreement with all the comments posted, in particular those pertaining to refinancing -- which appears to be a huge scam. Our existing loan was (is) an adjustable rate mortgage that has increased from an initial monthly payment of $600.00 to now almost twice that amount, and at nearly 11% interest (with notification from Countrywide that it may go up further). When we received our most recent rate hike, we had been getting inundated for months by Countrywide with "URGENT" notices concerning our mortgage, inviting us to "refinance today!", get "cash out", lower your interest rate, get a fixed rate. Suffice to say, like everyone else in this boat, we responded to the offer, beginning nearly 2 months ago (the date now is April 9, 2008). I spent about 45 minutes on the phone with a Countrywide representative who advised me that had all pertinent information and would be "back in contact shortly" -- guess what, folks, no contact of any kind was forthcoming. I decided to try again. The next time, I spoke with a female representative who refused to identify herself as other than "Sims", and once again, I was led back through their series of questions about my current mortgage, my income, etc etc. At the end of the long conversation, Sims advised that she would contact me within a day with information on my request. Once again, no return call, nada. But I didn't give up, figuring that I already had invested a couple of hours of my time and it was worth an hour more to get the matter rolling. After waiting a week to hear from "Sims", I called again in response to one of the literally dozens of refinancing notices from Countrywide. I then talked first to a male named Brian, who took all the information that I had already provided twice before, then shuffled me to an Hispanic female, who apologetically told me that I would have to furnish all of the same information to her that I had just given to her colleague. We went through the process again of income, the rate we were hoping to achieve, the fact that we needed to cash out on existing equity in our home as well as hopefully reducing our monthly mortgage to a more manageable amount. She was very nice, polite, and assured me that I qualified for refinancing. She also advised me that once the loan had been refinanced, the new payment amount would be retroactive to the time when I started the refinancing effort. She also assured me that we would get somewhere between $2000 and $4000 in cash out in connection with the refinancing effort, depending on how the appraisal came out. All of that sounded pretty good. However, she said, we would need to pay a processing fee and an appraisal fee totaling $435.00 -- which we did.

Not long after paying the appraisal fee, we received an overnight package from Countrywide with a not insubstantial number of loan documents, including a Loan Application and a "Certification and Authorization" form by which they asked that I certify the accuracy of the information that had been pre-printed for me on the Loan Application. In reviewing the Loan Application, I noted numerous significant errors -- my time at my job was misstated; there was a savings account noted that had $30, 000 in it, according to the application, when I had never mentioned a savings account, didn't have one, and sure didn't have $30, 000 in one; my monthly income was shown as being much more than I actually earn. In effect, Countrywide had asked me to certify a document that included numerous misrepresentations that Countrywide itself had made in completing the application on my behalf (supposedly). Oh, yes, and the closing costs were about $6000, with a final net amount due me (which I guess was the "cash out" amount) of $610. Completely wrong, completely contrary to the assurances that I had received from the lady who took my credit card information for the $435 appraisal fee. After reviewing the documentation, I emailed a new representative who had contacted me to see the matter through to its finish, and let her know (as she had demanded that we "wrap this up" and that I return the Certification and Authorization sheet) that I could not certify the accuracy of the Loan Application in its present form, with all the mistakes, which I carefully noted in a traditional letter to her. I finally faxed back the Certification form along with my letter asking that my letter be included as an addendum to the Loan Application so that it would be clear in the future to anyone looking at this transaction that I had not made the misrepresentations as to income, savings account, etc. I also mentioned that I believed Countrywide's touted "no cost" refinancing was itself a false representation, given that this process was going to cost me $6000 or so. No wonder your company is under federal investigation, I advised this newest representative on my case. I received a terse email from the lady, saying that she had forwarded my correspondence to her manager and someone would be back in touch with me shortly. You got it -- not a word from anyone since that time. Now over a week since someone would get in touch with me "shortly" and still not a word...

And lo and behold, in the mail with yet another offer to refinance my property, I soon received a notice of default from Countrywide, telling me that I had X number of days to pay them two months' payments at the old mortgage rate, plus penalties, somewhere in the neighborhood of $2500. You can well imagine my response. I let them know that I was going to take aggressive steps if someone didn't straighten out the misguided notice of default, and also let them know that they clearly had an internal problem at the company because the left hand sure does not know what the right hand is doing.

The matter is now continuing, and I expect it to get worse before it gets better. If you have a situation similar to mine, or complaints in general with the integrity and honesty of those at Countrywide involved in what appears to be a huge refinancing scam, please feel free to drop me a line at [protected]@aol.com Misery loves company and I am sure pretty miserable about this situation and nearing the point where I will take legal action on my own if something doesn't change -- and quick. Folks, does this sound like a scam? First get people bent over the barrel with payments they can't afford, then sucker them out of (at least) an appraisal fee of nearly $500 and probably much more often a refinancing fee / closing costs of many thousands of dollars. If you multiple those thousands of dollars and all those appraisal fees by thousands and thousands of customers in search of some help, you have a massive financial intake that probably nets Countrywide millions each year. I guess that's how their executives come out with $40 Million a year paychecks. What a world we live in...

I have been with Countrywide for several years with no complaints, until this month when I received my billing statement. It stated my escrow amount was going to increase $25 per month due to increases in taxes and insurance. No problem. Then I noticed the actual payment was increasing almost $70 per month and I couldn't figure out why. After going over and over the paperwork, I realized they were tacking on an additional "reserve requirement" of over $40 to each payment. Looking at the projections of charges for the next year it was only showing the $25 to my escrow and no explaination of how the the remainder was being used. I called Countrywide and the CSR explained to me that the "reserve" was an "insurance policy/cushion" for any unexpected increases in taxes and insurance. When I questioned why I would be charged this amount when I was already being charged an additional $25 for those increases, she had no comment. I asked how the $40 was going to be applied and she told me it was not being applied to anything...they were just going to take my money and hold it in an account! I told her that I would pay the $25 but that I refused to pay the $40 and she needed to forward me to someone that had the authority to remove the charge. She said that wasn't a problem and if I would "hold" she would have the amount taken off my bill. That really raised a red flag to me. If this was a legitimate charge, they would not be so willing to remove it. Within a few minutes, she had the charge removed and my payment would only include the $25 increase. Even though the problem was rectified, I have to wonder if they are doing this to everyone, and how many people wouldn't question it. This charge is not being used for anything other than to draw interest for Countrywide and I can't believe it is a legal practice.

I was to ld to by FIA card services to make a payment of $110 to keep my account from being charged off and that they would settle my debt for $900. I told them to send me this in writing and they did. I made th e$110 payment in Feb 2008 and the settlement papers said that they would break up the $900 in 3 payments of $300. My first $300 payment was due on March 29, 2008. I called on March 28, 2008 to make the payment only to be told that the account was charged off ANYWAY. After speaking with a manager, I was told that B of A wasn't under any "obligation" to honor the agreement even though it is in writing. Needless to say, I am in the process of taking appropriate action to get this resolved.

Bank of America has just put a hold on my home equity line of credit account without notifying me. My credit score remains a solid 700-plus with no recent changes. My payment history is absolutely perfect. I have never had a late or missed payment on anything my entire life. I have been doing business with BofA since 1993. They have my first mortgage, my home equity line, 2 personnel checking accounts, my corporate checking, corporate savings, and a corporate SBA express line of credit. They say they canceled my home equity line simply because the recession and mortgage crisis have lowered my property value and the loan to value is now to high. I asked why they didn't notify me and they said that a letter was just put in the mail yesterday. Yesterday doesn't cut it! Why not just pick up the phone? It just so happened that I was in the bank trying make a transfer from equity to cover a business improvement that I already made, and I thought I was using money that I could count on. It also happened to be payday for my employees and the business account was not OK. Not a nice feeling when the teller says your account is frozen in front of other tellers and customers. I also had to race to stop my contractor from continuing a structural change on my home add-on that we were financing through this line.I lost a half of a day during business hours trying to shake down accounts receivables and basically embarrassing myself in front of my customers. I had to tell them that they were not late but I needed the money. All the while my business was running at half rate with the boss gone. The amount of financial stress I went through was indescribable. I have plenty of financial resources but everything takes planning. I should not have been put on the spot like that. The last point I need to make is that my home value has not dropped as much as they think. They never gave me a chance to re-appraise. Since the last time they appraised me I have completely landscaped, redwood fenced, planted 5 large trees and 20 shrubs, installed auto sprinklers, completely remodeled the mother in-law suite (top of the line), and added on a cathedral ceiling/ glassed in patio room. My home value has not dropped nearly as much as they think. They just never asked.

I was a victim of an internet check fraud scheme and Bank of America refuses to take any responsibility on this issue. I lost over $2, 000.00 in savings and now my account with B of A is negative $4, 200.00, which they are requiring that I pay back to them. They know this was not my fault but they refuse to live up to the fraud protection promise to their customers. In essence, the bank feels that I should have to pay over $6, 000.00 for something I couldn't control! They do not care about my well-being or the fact that my life is ruined because of this. I have no money to eat, pay my bills, or even pay for gas...

EVERYTHING IS GONE, including the money that I had saved for college! Their behavior is outrageous and something needs to be done to persuade them to do the right thing.

A new policy. A manipulation of your funds.

Bank of America, apparently developed a new policy that will basically steal your money whenever they are short of funds. Complete bogus. Ive had other banking institutions and have friends who are Managers of banks, and have never heard of charging you overdrafts on funds that are pending, only when it is posted.

Heres what was explained to me and my situation.

They are still able to charge you overdraft charges when you swipe your card and you were short of xx amount, before anything was posted.

As to my understanding, when making a deposit $100.00 is available to you right away, even if it was going to take the next day to post. What was I suppose to understand, this was the system that I was used to. Never had an issue with it till now.

March 7th - -

I made a deposit through the ATM at 6:30pm. Yes, I missed the cut off time; but at least I knew I had $100 available to me through my debit card. I believe that those funds are available because it did show on my online banking that I had xx amount plus the $100.00 that was available to me through my deposit. I understand that my deposit wont post till the following Monday night.

Around 9:30pm I checked to see if my funds are available; and my online postings says that I had available funds. I made a purchase through paypal. Small funds, but a fund non the less.

At 10:30pm I went to buy food which costs $4.00 at Mcdonalds.

At 11:45pm I made a transaction for a drink for $13.00.

March 10th - - MEGA OVERCHARGE

Although those 3 charges above are at pending status; at the time of purchase I had the money available. Even on my online postings; there were no such negatives that had ever posted, but in the middle of the charges I was charged $35.00 for 3 transactions.

Theyve explained that the $100/ was only available for cash and not debit card transactions. Because when I had made the transactions, the funds were still pending. However, the charges that I made initially shows that it was in pendingstatus and not a posted status. I was being charge for the pending amounts; yet they were available to hold MY FUNDS AND DEPOSIT during pending, BUT COULD STILL CHARGE OVERDRAFTS FOR THEIR PENDING TRANSACTIONS.

So if you go to a restaurant an you were charged $34 on your debit card, and it was pending for $40.00 that have caused you for overdraft, even though that is not the actual amount that you authorized, you were overdrawn by 3 dollars for the pending; you WILL STILL BE CHARGED.. even if you did your calculations correct. SORRY NEW POLICY'¦ but when it posted, you were actually not overdraft. Oops, banks mistake but you'll be charged anyway because during the "pending" not posting amount was overdrawn. YOU WILL STILL BE CHARGED BECAUSE OF THE PENDING was over the amount.

Usually, in all banking institutions; you are not being charged until the amount is posted to your account without the available funds. However, this was not the case. Pending amounts are at times different when it is being posted. For instances, when buying gas, or at a restaurant; it will always shows as pending because the correct amount will post when they do their nightly postings. Reason for it being under pending.

However during the March 10th postings:

They posted my deposit, and then POSTED my transaction on the same day. Even if my posted deposit went through BEFORE the posted charges; therefore I had my funds there before any of my charges were being posted. Apparently the new policy is that they calculate the time that you made the transactions and then charge you.

For instance. We are use to seeing everything the next morning all together added the deposits and the charges. Now this is how they calculated.

Charges made at 5:24pm.. and you are negative of $3.00'¦ You made a deposit at 5:54pm of $600.00. THAT IS NORMALLY OK, BECAUSE EVERYTHING GETS PROCESSED AT THE SAME TIME, AND USUALLY YOUR DEPOSIT IS THE FIRST TO BE CREDITED. THIS IS NOT THE CASE HOWEVER.

Usually on normal circumstances and normal bankings; all of those we would see it as follows:

Current amount $1.25

Deposit credit: $ 600.00 = total: $601.25

Credit debit amount: $3.00 = total: $ 598.25

Above is normally what I see every night.

Now the new system.. you'll see the above on the same statement plus an overdraft charge of $35.. because you made a transaction 20 mins prior to your deposit.

How ridiculous is that?

Also my situation. Why even bother to let me see my $100.00 credit; when that isn't the case.. when in my 5 years of banking with them.. I had $100.00 available immediately AFTER WHATEVER TIME I MADE THE DEPOSIT. Why are they charging me for money I had in my account?

Does this makes sense to anyone?

Now I would understand that when it was actually posted to the account and my account was in negative status, I would understand my overdraft charges. But because I was actually NEVER overdrawn; how are you going to charge me the XX amounts?

A lot of people are going to close their accounts with them.. and probably open up with their competitors. I am one of them. I would rather invest on something that has the same system as all other bankings. Good going bank of America!