Important ?

[ridinthestormout]

ok i need some help here. serious. ok, the situation is this, my bank has been screwin me around and i owe them 500$. now they say that if its not paid back int he time limit it will go as a bad debt, which i understand. what i dont get is they say that once that happenes, and its on my record, that the bank accts i have now, that the banks will freeze them, and that for 5 years i wont be able to get a bank acct. is this true? or are they tryin to scare me?

[crossdresser]

I'm not sure but I think they are trying to scare you.I had bank accounts in the past,but I will not get another one.

[ridinthestormout]

found out its true. lucky for me my new bank doesnt do the credit check thing so i wont have that problem as long as i stay with them

[StormRider]

If "screwing you" means that you ran into some overdraft problems and you don't feel that they were justified so you're not paying them, then yes, they can report you to a type of credit bureau by the name of Checksystems which, when asked to pull a report, will show that you owe another bank money and they will probably not open an account for you. It's not a bad debt as in a home foreclosure, judgement, collection account, etc. on a loan or line of credit, so they cannot report it to the standard reporting agencies, i.e., Equifax, TRW, etc. What's worse is because its not a true "debt", consumer protection laws cannot protect you in the same way as if it was a loan, and you would be hard pressed to file a lawsuit based upon the grounds of lender liability. So, in essence, you cannot dispute the claim, such as with other consumer debt. The huge amount of paperwork that they gave you when you opened the account spells this out pretty clearly, but nobody ever reads it.

Now, I never give out banking information without giving advice on how to best to rectify the situation. IF you truly have the evidence that suggests that you shouldn't have been charged overdraft fees, then I would call the bank and ask for the Retail Manager, or Regional Branch Manager and explain your case to him/her. Most banks will reimburse all fees if it is their error that caused it in the first place. If you know that it was your fault, but are mad because the fees are so high, you have no choice but to pay. But try to talk to the Retail Manager anyway because sometimes they split the costs with you if they are in a good mood.

Any other advice, just shoot me a personal message.

BTW, I'm not a banker, but I did stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night.