Bank refuses to take me off account. What can I do?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Some time ago I opened a joint business checking account with a business associate. The reason I opened it with him is because he is not a citizen (on a visa from India), and apparently couldn’t open it on his own.

I worked for him for about 6 months and now I am no longer working with him. I want to be taken off the account for a couple of reasons:

A: My SS# is tied to the account and if the IRS audits me, I won’t be able to answer for any of the deposits to the account, as it is not my money. All of the money in the account belongs to him.

B: If the account becomes overdrawn or otherwise racks up a bunch of fees and he disappears, presumably the bank will come after me for what is owed to them. I actually had the foresight to get him to sign a letter exonerating me from liability in the case of this happening when I first opened the account with him, but as someone pointed out in another thread where I mentioned this the bank probably wouldn’t honor such a letter, it was more of a protection should I ever have to go to court over this. (not that I would be able to sue him if he fled back to India)

C: He is doing business with companies in India I know nothing about. For all I know, he could be funding terrorism, and I could be implicated simply by being associated with the account. (I don’t have reason to suspect that he is but still, it’s a concern)

I went to the bank today, spoke to an assistant manager who told me it is the bank’s policy not to take individuals off of joint accounts, and the only way to do it is to close to the account and re-open a new one in his name only. He would have to be present/consenting for this. The problem is that I have tried to contact him multiple times asking him to close the account and he doesn’t respond, even though I know he is still using the e-mail/phone # I have for him. This is basically a refusal on his part to cooperate, and I am effectively being held hostage on the account against my will. This is the second time the bank has told me the same thing.

True, nothing malicious may ever transpire with this. But I hate having this looming potential threat over my head and just want to be rid of it. If I do nothing, and he never closes the account, that nagging threat will be there for life, which is really unacceptable to me. So what the hell can I do at this point?

EDIT: On second thought, this may have been acceptable for GQ. Mods, if you deem it worthy could you move it for me please?

2

Withdraw all the money from the account. Something tells me he’ll be calling you in no time.

3

Heh, that should be possible since it shows up under my online banking list of accounts as one of my own. I didn’t really think about it since I would never take his (or anyone’s) money, but I suppose I could use that as a last resort.

I would rather escalate it with the bank first, and get them to understand that their “policy” is posing a security threat for me. They literally told me they can’t do it, and the lady I was speaking with said “even if the manager was here, she couldn’t do it”, but something tells me that if I make enough of a fuss that they really could. But I’m open to any and all advice.

4

I have no clue about your particular jurisdiction, or banking terms and conditions, but the following might (after considering all your particular facts and circumstances and the law applicable) be of some general help.

You could write a letter to the bank, hand delivered. On the day you deliver it, check the balance and get a written record of it. In the letter, note that as at the day of the letter the account is in credit and there are no fees oustanding. Demand that the account be closed. State that you have attempted to get the other guy to co-operate but have not been able to obtain his co-operation. Suggest that the balance be remitted to the other guy. State that the bank is to extend no credit under the account in any circumstances. Copy in the other guy.

I’m not saying this will be a complete solution by any means, but at least you’ve placed on record that you want nothing to do with the account, which could help if the other guy is doing something shady. And possibly you have removed the bank’s authority to grant credit that you could be responsible for.

I think you’d want to be very wary of removing the money from the account. Even if you do it with the best of intentions, it could be viewed as an attempt to rip the other guy off. If you just threaten to do it if the other guy doesn’t co-operate, he may take that as a cue to take all the money out plus rack up credit before you can stop him.

5

That sounds like a scummy thing to…oh wait, wrong thread. :smiley:

It really does sound like he is not going to respond until you force him. You said you have to be together to close and re-open an account, but what about just closing it. Can you do that without him? According to the bank, I mean.

Also, while the bank employee may be bound by “bank policy”, the bank itself is bound by the relevant laws, not their own (made-up) policy. And you are bound by the agreement (contract) you signed, not by the employee’s “policy du jour”. (Yeah, I may be projecting a little bit. I’ve had some run-ins with officious bank employees in the past.)

I know that it’s not unheard of for one party in a divorce to cut off access to funds to the other party in the divorce. If the bank has a mechanism for that, I don’t see why they couldn’t help you with this. (Maybe even without a lawyer?)

I don’t know what your exposure in this situation is, but I think if I were in the same situation I would be as concerned as you are. I don’t know your friend, but it seems reasonable to assume it would be better to cover your ass before giving him the opportunity to take off, leaving you “holding the bag” as it were.

This doesn’t seem very helpful, but at least you know someone, somewhere sympathises with you. :slight_smile: What is it they say about no good deed going unpunished?

On preview: Yeah, what Princhester said. (I gotta learn to type faster.) That sounds like a good idea, but instead of hand delivered, might it be better to send it “certified” or some-such so that there is a record that the bank received it?

6

Go over the assistant manager’s head. Go right to the bank headquarters and speak to someone in customer service.

or

Close the account and have the total amount put into the form of a certified check or money order. Keep a strict paper trail. Keep trying to contact your former partner and leave messages as to what action you’ve taken; via phone, email, etc. Keep record of dates and times when you’ve tried to reach him. When he finally contacts you (and he WILL when he learns the account is closed and you have all HIS money). Then exchange the money order for a signed receipt (with witnesses that you absolutely trust). Voila!

7

Most banks will close an account if the balance is zero for either 30 or 60 days. Check with them about their policy on that matter. Then get the cashiers check and put it in a safe somewhere.

8

A couple of folks have mentioned withdrawing all the money and I’d think that, if all else fails, that’s a perfect solution. HOWEVER - get that cashier’s check made out to the other account owner (wasn’t clear that was what you meant, but I’m assuming so).

Only do this after notifying the other accountholder first, of course. If he doesn’t respond, then too damn bad.

9

Don’t have any advice that’s better than what has been stated here, just wanted to say I’m sorry you are in this situation. I have been before as well, but it was my ex husband’s accout (a long series of “yes, you have been taken off” “no you have to come back in” “you can’t be removed even though we said you were taken off 6 months ago”).
I cannot stress this enough: close the account. Even if you get your name taken off, there is a computer somewhere, in a closed office - dusty, silent, and just waiting for him to overdraw the account after you have been “removed” and freeze any account you have.
And that’s how you end up 1000 miles from home with a bank card that doesn’t work.
Luckily I called the bank in my case and they helped me get home with the promise that I’d be there bright and early the next business morning. I ended up having to take my husband up to the bank and his mother paid all the overdrafts to bring the account to $0 and the account was closed. That was the only way to be sure nothing like that would ever happen again. Even if you have been removed from the account, you’re never really removed, no matter what lies they say when you sign something saying you understand you have been removed. Becasue that little signed piece of paper don’t mean shit when you are in the middle of Texas with a diet coke, a bag of cheetos and no gas.

10

Talk to a lawyer. It’s amazing how “policies” can be reviewed when a will-written letter arrives on a lawyer’s letterhead.

11

Just repeating this for the crowd, you supposedly can’t close it without associate’s consent.

Step one would be to talk to a Manager, not an Ass’t Manager.

If that doesn’t work, call associate again and tell him you will be removing all the money from the account if he doesn’t contact you back immediately and agree to a short timeframe in closing the account. I would not suggest taking the money first. Put the money directly into an account with the bank, so you don’t lose the money or have the check stolen.

12

Ask them for a printed statement of policy regarding joint accounts. It was always my understanding that joint accounts belong to each account holder, rather than both. Unless this one was set up to require both signatures, and it sure doesn’t sound like it. The information I’ve had from banks about my accounts has always said that a signature from either account holder was sufficient and has made it clear that either one of them could do anything with the account. Of course, I don’t live in California, so that might make a difference for you.

Definitely get them to show you the policy, rather than just telling you, so you know what you’re working with.

13

Onemore vote for talking to a lawyer. There may, indeed, be banking regulations that prohibit the bank from removing one party without the other party’s consent. (Suppose, for example, you had used the account to launder some money then gotten your name removed before the Feds closed in.)

The best way to know what may or may not be done–by you or by the bank–is to consult a lawyer familiar with banking procedures.

I do like the “deplete the account, writing a cashier’s check to the other party” approach. I would favor the check over a new account because it is self-documenting that no intent was made for you to take the cash. You could not open an account in his name and any account opened in your name could be construed as evidence that you wanted to put your hands on the cash, regardless of any spoken or written claims that you just wanted the account closed. If you are afraid that the check might be lost or stolen, put it in a safe deposit box in the same bank branch.

14

Step 1: Write the other account holder a letter. Tell him you will be closing the account in 10 days and sending him his share of the money in the account as a cashier’s check.

Step 2: Then do it.

Step 1 is optional.

15

Take care of it–NOW. Not tomorrow–go down right now and deal with this.
Trust me.

I got divorced–good terms with the ex, etc. I kept the joint account as I had direct deposit, and had several automatic payments, etc out of it. I changed the password and everything was fine. Kept all the old checks–she has zero access to that account.

Fast forward a couple of years. My ex is now with some loser guy in another state and they jointly open an account at the same bank but in another state. Keep in mind she has changed her name back to her maiden name, so our last names aren’t the same at all.

Of course the guy is a loser and checks start bouncing, big issues with the account, etc.

Suddenly I go to get money out of my account here in Seattle–and I find there is a hold on MY account. Go in and find out that they have put a fraud alert on the ex’s account and one of the steps is to identify any other accounts tied to that account. Now there is NO tie in to that account–except for the ex’s SSN.

Sure as shit–they take out of my account $1500. Ya think that pissed me off to no end. Come to find out that it is all fine and legal and all there in the teeny tiny print on the bottom of the sheets when you open an account.

This isn’t the old days when the banker knew you–you are a number to the bank. They lost money, and they will collect it any way they can. Luckily for me I was able to find the branch manager and was a long standing good customer and they went to bat for me with their fraud division–but it was a long haul to get to a solution.

Long story short–I ended up getting my money back. Took a couple of months (dont’ worry I wasn’t out any money–I just kept that amount out of her alimony payments!). Once I got paid, I paid her the same amount. Turns out she didn’t have to pay either–they went after the loser boyfriend who started the whole damn thing anyway. And I am still on good terms with the ex as she was surprised as I was by this and didn’t give me any guff when I witheld it from her alimony.

But the point of my long and sad story is that if your name is on that account and he bounces a check or does any money related thing–don’t be surprised if they come after you as long as you are still tied to that account.

As an aside for any grandparents out there–my sister who works at a credit union says this is pretty standard approach on these issues. She told me about many grandparents who help their teen grandkids out with a new checking account by cosigning on the account (which then ties that account to theirs)–grandkid bounces a few checks and guess who gets to fork over the money to make up the deficit? You guessed it–Grandma and Grandpa since their accounts are all tied together.

Good luck

16

And from what we’ve read in this thread, you’ll ALWAYS be tied to thier account(s). So if I where you, I’d make sure your own personal account is at another bank, if it’s not, I’d move it.

17

Excellent point. I hadn’t considered that angle at all.

18

**Rigamarole ** - I don’t have the time to wade through the whole Uniform Commercial Code right now, but generally, one signer on a joint account can not remove themselves or another user from the account. In order to “re-title” the account from joint to individual ownership, it will need to be closed and a new account opened. This is a Federal thing, rather than an individual bank’s policy.

Fortunately, Section 4-403(a) of the UCC does allow any signer of a joint account to close it:

*A customer or any person authorized to draw on the account if there is more than one person may stop payment of any item drawn on the customer’s account or close the account by an order to the bank describing the item or account with reasonable certainty received at a time and in a manner that affords the bank a reasonable opportunity to act on it before any action by the bank with respect to the item described in Section 4-303. If the signature of more than one person is required to draw on an account, any of these persons may stop payment or close the account. *

19

As a former bank employee, I can say that this sounds a little fishy… Unless the terms of an account specifically stated that multiple signatures were required for transactions, etc., why wouldn’t they remove your name or close your account? We added and removed people to business accounts constantly. I was in a pretty lowly position, so I didn’t get into a lot of the mechanics of how business accounts work, so I don’t know if there is a difference between someone being the owner of the account and being a signer on the account. But most businesses were changing signers all the time, just because of changes in the staff at the company. It was never any kind of a problem. What kind of business is it? I know there are sometimes different rules for different types of businesses. For example, you can’t cash a check that is made out to a business. If Rigamarole and Rigamarole’s Ex-Business Partner have a check made out to their business Joe’s Pizza Shack, which is maybe an LLC or something, it can not be cashed by anyone, ever. Not even one or both of them. The only time I think you can do this is if you have a business account for a sole proprietorship and someone make a check out to your business.

Also, on the side… why exactly couldn’t he open an account without you? Legal aliens open bank accounts all the time.

20

Well if the joint account is closed–then there is no tie in.

The reason they tied up my account was that her SSN was still tied to my account, since it was a joint account and I hadn’t closed it. That was the dumb move on my part. See if I had closed that joint account, then they never would have accessed my account since there wouldn’t be a tie. I can’t fault the bank on this one, it was my being lazy that caused it. I was no longer married to her and I should have closed the joint account. End of story.

Now that we have two single person accounts and there isn’t any issue.