Hi all,
New to the forums and I'm liking what I see from the community here. I have a serious problem and have been racking my brain searching online and haven't had much luck. I did a search here on the forums and only found a couple of references to bank setoffs and they didn't answer my question.
I have been banking with Bank of America for years. I've had several checking accounts with them as well as a couple of credit cards (one personal and one business). I'm in California and am a home loan officer by trade. Needless to say, the real estate market here has been in the dumps for the last few years and I haven't made very much money in the last 3 years. When all my income dried up, I managed to keep paying all my bills and maintaining excellent credit for 2 years. Finally in July of last year (2009), I just couldn't keep it up. I had to stop paying my credit cards. This resulted in Bank of America charging off the account back around April of this year.
I have been squeaking by right now on about $700-1100/month. I'm even collecting food stamps and my daughter and I are currently on Medi-Cal. So my checking account rarely had more than a few hundred dollars in it at any one time. I managed to put together a deal that netted me about $2,900 and I deposited it into my checking account and immediately used it to start paying some bills, including my rent for July (I'm behind right now). I deposited the check on Friday and on Monday there was an $1,144 debit in my account. They had cleared the checks that had come in over the weekend and took everything else except they left me with a measly $100 in my account. I understand they have a right to setoff against my credit card debt, but this has caused me an extreme financial hardship. My rent check was also written against this account for $860. Now my rent check won't clear and my daughter and I potentially could be living on the streets.
Is there any type of exemption for financial hardship in this case? I know in England, where our law of setoff descends from, they are not allowed to take the money to satisfy a "non-priority" unsecured debt if it causes hardship to the consumer in paying their "priority" bills such as utilities, mortgage, rent, etc. - basic necessities to live kind of stuff. Unfortunately, I can't find anyone here in the United States that has any idea of how this works. I even spoke with a "consumer" lawyer and he said if it was a levy because the bank had obtained a judgment, I could file an exemption with the court. But to do that, I need a case number to file it against. Since there was no judgment obtained and no court case, I can't file anything in court. He said I'd have to file a case against Bank of America then I could file an exemption. By that time, the money will be eaten up in legal fees anyway.
I've tried checking out Banking Regulation E and Banking Regulation Z, but I don't have the brainpower to make sense of all the legal terminology. I'm looking at the possibility of my daughter and I having no place to live and I'm at my wit's end here. Anyone that can help me figure out how to get Bank of America to pay that rent check would be a true lifesaver!
Thank you in advance for any and all help,
James
New to the forums and I'm liking what I see from the community here. I have a serious problem and have been racking my brain searching online and haven't had much luck. I did a search here on the forums and only found a couple of references to bank setoffs and they didn't answer my question.
I have been banking with Bank of America for years. I've had several checking accounts with them as well as a couple of credit cards (one personal and one business). I'm in California and am a home loan officer by trade. Needless to say, the real estate market here has been in the dumps for the last few years and I haven't made very much money in the last 3 years. When all my income dried up, I managed to keep paying all my bills and maintaining excellent credit for 2 years. Finally in July of last year (2009), I just couldn't keep it up. I had to stop paying my credit cards. This resulted in Bank of America charging off the account back around April of this year.
I have been squeaking by right now on about $700-1100/month. I'm even collecting food stamps and my daughter and I are currently on Medi-Cal. So my checking account rarely had more than a few hundred dollars in it at any one time. I managed to put together a deal that netted me about $2,900 and I deposited it into my checking account and immediately used it to start paying some bills, including my rent for July (I'm behind right now). I deposited the check on Friday and on Monday there was an $1,144 debit in my account. They had cleared the checks that had come in over the weekend and took everything else except they left me with a measly $100 in my account. I understand they have a right to setoff against my credit card debt, but this has caused me an extreme financial hardship. My rent check was also written against this account for $860. Now my rent check won't clear and my daughter and I potentially could be living on the streets.
Is there any type of exemption for financial hardship in this case? I know in England, where our law of setoff descends from, they are not allowed to take the money to satisfy a "non-priority" unsecured debt if it causes hardship to the consumer in paying their "priority" bills such as utilities, mortgage, rent, etc. - basic necessities to live kind of stuff. Unfortunately, I can't find anyone here in the United States that has any idea of how this works. I even spoke with a "consumer" lawyer and he said if it was a levy because the bank had obtained a judgment, I could file an exemption with the court. But to do that, I need a case number to file it against. Since there was no judgment obtained and no court case, I can't file anything in court. He said I'd have to file a case against Bank of America then I could file an exemption. By that time, the money will be eaten up in legal fees anyway.
I've tried checking out Banking Regulation E and Banking Regulation Z, but I don't have the brainpower to make sense of all the legal terminology. I'm looking at the possibility of my daughter and I having no place to live and I'm at my wit's end here. Anyone that can help me figure out how to get Bank of America to pay that rent check would be a true lifesaver!
Thank you in advance for any and all help,
James
