Suddenly, bank account was gone

[Texacon]

Borrow all the money you want!  There's no need to pay it back ... you getting a big screen TV is way more important.

Liberal_in_LA  (1000+ posts)     

Wed May-05-10 03:29 PM
Original message

Suddenly, bank account was gone
 Edited on Wed May-05-10 03:31 PM by Liberal_in_LA

Suddenly, bank account was gone
Couple learns the hard way of bank’s ‘right of setoff’
By Lucy Soto


When Hope and Matt Hughes stopped for supplies at a pet store last month, they thought the trouble with their debit card was just a glitch. But it turned into a financial crisis.

Hope, left, and her husband Matt Hughes had their checking account at Wachovia-turned-Wells Fargo wiped out when a student loan with the same bank was called in.

They quickly discovered that their bank, Wachovia-turned-Wells Fargo, had deducted $4,059.82 from their checking account, wiping it out.

It was no glitch. It is called the right of setoff or offset, a long-accepted practice dating to early English common law.

When the right of setoff is applied to bank accounts, it works like this: When consumers place money in bank accounts, they are basically agreeing to let the bank borrow the money, with a promise to repay, usually backed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. If the consumer then takes out a loan with that same bank and falls behind, the bank can use the money in that account to offset the loan.

The trouble stemmed from Hope Hughes’ $10,000 student loan, which the bank called in.

Now, the couple, who rely on Matt Hughes’ once-a-month paycheck from Kimberly-Clark, have had to sell possessions on Craigslist, tap into his 401K and negotiate with creditors so they don’t put their house and car loans in danger. And they were charged $385 in overdraft fees for purchases that would have cleared their account the day it was cleaned out.

“We are so far behind,” said Hope, 36. “I don’t want anybody else to go through what we’ve been through. ... I was blind-sided.”

According to the Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Greater Atlanta, more people are finding themselves in this situation. CCCS is a nonprofit financial counseling agency

http://www.ajc.com/news/suddenly-bank-account-was-50847...

 

Many posts about how evil the bank is for wanting its money back but then some lucidity from an odd place;

Lance_Boyle (1000+ posts)     

Wed May-05-10 03:39 PM
Response to Original message

4. Instead of buying stuff at a pet store they should have been
 paying off the loan as contracted. Had they been making the contracted payments, there would have been no right of offset. Why do people seem to think they can renege on their contracts (mortgages and other loans) willy nilly with no consequences?
 

Which is immediately pounced upon;

Matariki  (1000+ posts)       

Wed May-05-10 03:44 PM
Response to Reply #4

9. Are you paid to post flame bait?
 Edited on Wed May-05-10 03:44 PM by Matariki
or it is just a hobby for you?

Fun thread.

KC

[AllosaursRus]

Borrow all the money you want!  There's no need to pay it back ... you getting a big screen TV is way more important.

Many posts about how evil the bank is for wanting its money back but then some lucidity from an odd place;

Which is immediately pounced upon;

Fun thread.

KC

Hahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!! Damn! Ya mean we were supposed to make payments on gubmint handouts??????? Whoda thought!

[DumbAss Tanker]

Yes, on DU, they call "Flame bait" what anyone else would call "Fact" or "Truth."

 

[Texacon]

It's funny that some are calling out ol' Lance saying he didn't read the article.  They are saying this woman was still in a 'grace' period.  Here is the last paragraph of the story;

"They may have had a right legally,” Hope Hughes said. “Ethically, should they have done it? No. Should they have wiped out my entire bank account? Absolutely not.”

Methinks some of them need to go back to reading class.

KC

[AllosaursRus]

Heh, my daughter ended up with a student loan for around 2 grand after she had tapped PaPa out. She, just like this idiot, thought the gubmint would never call her on it. She's a Pharma Tech, so there was absolutely no excuse! She shoulda paid it back within 6 months, but shined it on.

When the bank that handled the transaction started threatening to garnishee her paycheck, wala!

Here's your sign!

[IassaFTots]

And, if you want to be a crook, be a smart one.  Don't keep money in the same institution that you owe.  Sheesh.  





Edited to add:  I forgot the The sense of entitlement in this country makes me sick sometimes. 

[Texacon]

And, if you want to be a crook, be a smart one.  Don't keep money in the same institution that you owe.  Sheesh.   

That's exactly what a lot of the DU'ers are saying.  "Don't keep your money where you borrow from so they can't "Steal" it from you!"

Damn those people.  No wonder contracts are 1 Million pages thick.

KC

[IassaFTots]

That's exactly what a lot of the DU'ers are saying.  "Don't keep your money where you borrow from so they can't "Steal" it from you!"

Damn those people.  No wonder contracts are 1 Million pages thick.

KC

Oh now, I agree with you wholeheartedly.  I forgot the  I am going to edit, to make sure there isn't any confusion. 

[jinxmchue]

Goshdamn, they are stupid!   

[Attero Dominatus]

Angry Dragon  Donating Member  (1000+ posts)  Journal  Click to send private message to this author  Click to view this author's profile  Click to add this author to your buddy list  Click to add this author to your Ignore list      Wed May-05-10 03:52 PM
Response to Original message
15. Robber barons
   
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What does DUmmy stupidity have in common with a singularity? Both have infinite depths.

[crockspot]

I once tried to get smart on my student loans. I borrowed from the now defunct Crocker Bank, which ended up being owned by Wells Fargo. After a few go arounds with Wells Fargo, I tried a legal trick that I was sure would send them packing. I demanded that they prove I owed them the money. Didn't hear from them again for about three months, when I received a two inch thick packet in the mail, with photocopies of every document i had signed a dozen years before, and a complete paper trail leading from Crocker bank to Wells Fargo. Damn! I paid it off eventually. 

[The Village Idiot]

He is an angry stupid dragon because he keeps hurting him on objects he does not see, like reality and logic.

[littlelamb]

That DUmmy sounds strangly like my ex 

[diesel driver]

It's funny that some are calling out ol' Lance saying he didn't read the article.  They are saying this woman was still in a 'grace' period.  Here is the last paragraph of the story;

Methinks some of them need to go back to reading class.

KC

 

"Reading for comprehension" isn't a DUmmie's or a liberal's strong trait....

[IassaFTots]

I once tried to get smart on my student loans. I borrowed from the now defunct Crocker Bank, which ended up being owned by Wells Fargo. After a few go arounds with Wells Fargo, I tried a legal trick that I was sure would send them packing. I demanded that they prove I owed them the money. Didn't hear from them again for about three months, when I received a two inch thick packet in the mail, with photocopies of every document i had signed a dozen years before, and a complete paper trail leading from Crocker bank to Wells Fargo. Damn! I paid it off eventually. 

HAHAHA!  You sound like some of my buddies.  Good try!

[Texacon]

I, like everyone else, try to save money too BUT when I take out a loan I figure someone got me what I wanted/needed when I wanted/needed it.  When I sign the paperwork it is a done deal.  I will sell off stuff to pay a loan if the need arises.

I don't buy the; I have paid them more than they loaned me - story.  You pay what you agreed to.

Threads like that irritate me because they are admitting they have the money to pay their loan but they would rather go through gyrations to get out of it because the EVIL bank took advantage of them.  They didn't feel like that when they were signing the paperwork for the big screen TV or the fishing boat!

KC

[IassaFTots]

I, like everyone else, try to save money too BUT when I take out a loan I figure someone got me what I wanted/needed when I wanted/needed it.  When I sign the paperwork it is a done deal.  I will sell off stuff to pay a loan if the need arises.

I don't buy the; I have paid them more than they loaned me - story.  You pay what you agreed to.

Threads like that irritate me because they are admitting they have the money to pay their loan but they would rather go through gyrations to get out of it because the EVIL bank took advantage of them.  They didn't feel like that when they were signing the paperwork for the big screen TV or the fishing boat!

KC

Or even worse, they rack up all the charges and get all the ponies and skittles, and THEN they file bankruptcy.  Don't get me started on that!

[Celtic Rose]

So, they had $4,000 plus in their checking account, but they couldn't manage to even pay the minimum on their loan 

[DumbAss Tanker]

So, they had $4,000 plus in their checking account, but they couldn't manage to even pay the minimum on their loan 

The depth and breadth of presumption, stupidity, and avarice summed up in that small observation on these weasels and their lifestyle is amazing, is it not?

[NHSparky]

So, they had $4,000 plus in their checking account, but they couldn't manage to even pay the minimum on their loan 

How much ya wanna bet there was at least ONE phone call from collections regarding that account balance?  So the, "I just forgot about it" crap ain't gonna fly either.

[Karin]

Off Topic:  Paulsby had pizza for dinner.  DUmp Link

[thundley4]

Off Topic:  Paulsby had pizza for dinner.  DUmp Link

tavalon   (1000+ posts)           Thu May-06-10 06:58 AM
Response to Reply #8
16. I'm not sure he was, actually
   
I think he's pretty stuck in the cop mentality.
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MrScorpio   (1000+ posts)             Thu May-06-10 07:08 AM
Response to Reply #16
18. It was not just a cop mentality, it was a cop can do no wrong mentality
   
Which really does a disservice to all the good cops out there

That's BS.  I seen many times where Paulsby admitted some cops were bad, but he usually advocated getting the whole story before jumping to the conclusion that the cops were wrong.

[Texacon]

That's BS.  I seen many times where Paulsby admitted some cops were bad, but he usually advocated getting the whole story before jumping to the conclusion that the cops were wrong.

And therein lies the problem.  You are spot on.  The DUmmies don't want the facts to get in the way of a good story or their hate.

KC

[delilahmused]

Given that they're paid monthly, I'll stipulate this might have been one paycheck and they had other bills to pay but why not negotiate for a lower payment if it was too high?

Cindie

[Texacon]

Given that they're paid monthly, I'll stipulate this might have been one paycheck and they had other bills to pay but why not negotiate for a lower payment if it was too high?

Cindie

Why not talk to the creditor before all this happened.  Most creditors have no problem working with you if you will simply communicate.  These people who just 'let it ride' leave most lending institutions with no choice.  They get to a point where they must file or lose their claim.

KC