Hi,

A little over one year ago, I posted to the Bankers Online forum, and viciously attacked & insulted. If I say something wrong or don't "articulate" my problem properly, please ask me questions because I am not a banker. I don't think like a banker, and I may ask questions based on something that's currently happening and not realize I need to explain the full history. I appreciate anyone's help. I am truly desperate at this point. My problem is very complex, and yet it's so simple. If the bank had fixed the initial problem in 2004, I would not be here today.

Sigh, where do I start...
I have been a customer of this bank since 1991, and loved this bank. Never had a problem between 1991 and 2004. However, my account fell into some kind of computer glitch in 2004, and in the end, I'm left without a business account, a lot less money, and a lot of embarrassment, plus anger.

In 2004, I decided to open a personal checking account at BofA. I had a personal checking in the past, and had a business account since 1999. I've been a good customer. I mainly transact internationally which results in $100s worth of fees for the bank each month. I realize that's not much in the big picture but I never complained and always paid. If I made a mistake, I would own. If only the bank would do the same...

Again, I opened a personal checking account in June 2004. I also live in Japan. I moved here in 1999 and have always used this bank for my needs. My new account was a basic account intended for personal purchases and a newly created PayPal account. I had hoped to keep my personal bills, as well as PayPal transactions, separate from my business account. Obviously, this is a good idea for anyone who has a business, and the concept is pretty simple.

In June 2004, the moment my new account's Check Card went live, the account went negative. I didn't notice immediately but as soon as I realized it was negative, I checked online. My business Check Card was posting to my personal checking, and my personal Check Card was posting to my business account. I also noticed some strange fees that I have never been charged on my business account. I called the bank, and they assured me that the issue would be fixed immediately and they apologized. However, they also informed me that they could not "move" the transactions to the proper account. So, my intention with this new account was already not going to plan.

After I confirmed that the cards were now pointing to the right accounts, I went to the ATM and I was denied. I was charged a fee for this too. I then attempted the withdrawal with the other card, and it was approved. It should have been denied but it wasn't denied because the cards were still not pointing to the right accounts.

I called the bank again and again and again about this issue, and after a couple months, they finally figured out why this was happening. I was told that my business check card was platinum and my personal card was gold. Apparently, their system will not allow the platinum card's transactions to point to the business account, and that's the issue. I was pretty disappointed with this news because it meant I would be limited to the gold card's daily limits on my business account. To make it extremely confusing, the debit card attached to my personal account said Platinum Business Card with my company name and the card attached to my business account was a personal Gold card with my name. BofA could not fix this without canceling both cards and starting over. Even if both cards were reissued, it would not fix the Platinum and Gold card issue. At the time, I thought it would be easier to rearrange my recurring debits to the proper cards, even though it meant my web host's monthly bill would have to be split over 2 transactions over 2 days if I wanted it to post to my business account. At the time, I also didn't realize the Platinum Business Card had certain fee privileges that didn't apply to the personal account.

In Nov. 2004, I noticed BofA began charging a Foreign Transaction Fee on my purchases and withdrawals on my personal account. Having never seen these fees in the past, I was convinced it was a mistake. I was still in the process of pointing bills to the proper account. Changing my card on recurring bills turned out to be difficult, and I was busy with the holiday season and work. Unfortunately, in Dec 2004, I was still having problems. I called BofA, and was told an internal investigation and review would occur. I was told it would take 2 weeks. I waited a month, and called back. I was told that there was no investigation and nothing in their system about it. I had the representative create another internal request, and was told it would take about 2 weeks. Again, I waited. This happened several times when I was finally connected to someone competent. She filed the claim, and told me that it would take 3 days. She also helped with other issues, like canceling my cards to resolve ongoing confusion. Approximately, 2 days later, I checked online, and the bank had refunded all the fees on my personal account going back to December 2004. I took this as an admission of fault. I called the bank, and asked about the refund and was told that the bank doesn't refund fees of this amount and they were at fault. I asked if I would receive an explanation, and I was told that I would receive a letter explaining the refund. I never received anything from the bank.

Unfortunately, in the meantime, I didn't notice that the canceled card that was pointing to the wrong account was now pointing to the proper account, but all my personal purchases made with the now canceled Platinum card were posting to my business account. Apparently, if a card is cancelled, BofA's claims department will pay it as a claim. Their system applies the claim to the first account number, the oldest account, and as a result, their system posted pending authorizations and new debits on the cancelled card to my business account. They continued to allow charges to the card, and paid them off my business account. I never expected any of this to happen, and didn't understand why "claim" transactions were posting to my business account. At the time, I recall there was a lot of confusion about what was posting to which accounts. At the advice of online banking, I put a stop payment on my business account. Unfortunately, I didn't know this would cause my merchant bank to close my account. My merchant, CSI, tried to fill, and American Express also tried to bill fees. Both were denied. American Express waited a few days and after a succesful deposit, they returned to billing. However, my merchant shut off my account. I now lost my main source of income and my daily deposits stopped. I called my merchant, and was told that I needed a letter from the bank that confirms the business account as "open". After a week of calling, I finally found someone at Online Banking who wrote the letter. They refused to admit fault in the letter, and only confirmed that the account was open. In response, my merchant reopened the account but they put a reserve on it. Having been without deposits for weeks, I billed some orders through my merchant, and waited for the funds to post. I called my merchant three times over this period and was assured the funds would post. I processed another batch, and issued some refunds. Normally, my merchant takes 2 days to post. Nothing posted, but debits from my merchant. Apparently, they lied to me, and had put a "small reserve" amount on the account. I called them and no one could tell me the reserve amount, but it was definitely well over $1000. I continued to try to contact my merchant when Katrina hit, and their office was closed. Although this merchant is very large, the only person who could assist me was this one employee in the office that was closed. I was now approaching one month of no deposits into BofA, and the wrong debits posting to the wrong accounts. In the meantime, I'm incurring fees on my personal account that I sincerely believed were a mistake and I felt the previous refund was a confirmation of this mistake. Sadly, being in Japan, I could not resolve my card processor issue, so I closed my web shop and moved to eBay to accept PayPal exclusively. My aveage deposits were $10000-$20000 a month, and it dropped to $0 pretty fast.

At the time, I had hoped the bank would resolve my debit card issues. I figured I would return to accepting credit cards once that account was fixed and in the meantime, I would have to use my personal account for business. Sadly, after one year of going in circles and a canceled card that the bank kept paying, their system drops the card number. Normally, this would mean the card doesn't exist but someone was still billing it and I was still incurring fees. Being that I had been struggling with this problem for so long and Customer Service could not find the card number in BofA's system, I was transferred to Fraud in Georgia. The manager in that office promised to stop the charges, and said someone would be in touch with me regarding the negative account. Fortunately, the transactions did stop but no one got in contact with me. I tried to follow-up with customer service and claims, but they refused to help me because the manager was handling our issue and they couldn’t find the card number or even grasp my problem. Nearly one month passes and after their system has transferred $100s out of my personal checking to pay fees incurred on transactions that posted due to an invalid card number, the account was closed. To make in worse, while they were pulling funds out of my personal checking, I was advised to stop making deposits and told not to leave funds in the account until my issue was resolved. I told the advice, so when I did receive a deposit, I went to the ATM and withdrew it. This caused $100s worth of NSF on my personal checking. I tried to be patient. I called the manager again because he promised to see my problem to the end. I have left numerous voice-mails, and began to panic when the account was closed without any means to getting help. Now, it's been over 3 months, and I still can't get this manager to reply. I'm out of $100s of dollars. I have no credit card processing. I have no business account. No one will help me, and I've lost so much when I simply wanted a personal checking account.

Also, in regard to the above, I am now being reported to a credit agency for money that I should not owe in the first place. I have been charged $100s in fees for personal bills that should not have posted to my business account. I have placed no less than one to three calls a month to this bank for nearly 2 years. At some point, shouldn't the bank fix it? There's so much that went wrong with my debits that's it's honestly mind boggling and very hard to explain. Although I'm very grateful to the Fraud Manager, Randy Willis, for actually canceling my canceled debit card, I am disappointed that I have been left in this state and only one aspect of my issue was fixed after nearly 2 years of international phone calls. Although no one else at the bank could stop the invalid card number from being billed, the company that was billing the invalid card showed up at my door within 2 days to fix the issue. That's great but now I have no account and am out of $100s in fees. The final step of closure can't occur because no one at the bank can find the canceled card in the system. In addition, I had to file chargebacks in the past to get the NSF refunded on both accounts. The first time I filed, the bank claimed not to receive my disclosure statement. By the time I found out and wanted to send it again, I was told that I was too late (past 60 days). The next time, I didn't send it in because I just wanted the invalid fees back and was told the transactions would post to the right account if the claim reversed. Unfortunately, the transactions posted back to my business account and the insanity continued until I was connected to Randy Willis. However, I waited for Randy Willis, and ended up without an account because I waited too long. No one in claims or customer service will help me now because Randy Willis was handling our problem, and even though he's not really handling the entire issue, no one will help without his consent.

I'm truly grateful for any advice. I'm so tired of this problem. I posted last year about some NSF that was being double charged on international transactions that were posting to the wrong account and I was literally attacked and belittled. Please don't attack me. I feel dumb enough at this point. I feel really stupid for trusting the bank, and not following up on every call and issue. In the end, I just want closure that doesn't result in my account being closed and my name being labeled as a deadbeat. I can't feel more helpless than I do at this point, and am sincerely desperate for any advice, at all.

I truly believe you need to contact an attorney, maybe the one you use for your business, and get him involved in this. It may cost you some money but if he can get the fee mess straightened out, it could be a lot less money than the fees accumulated to this point in time.

Why is a bank able to harrass you from 8 in the morning till 10 at night bercause you missed a payment. In my case I went online to make a payment and the payment was blocked the bank wouldn't accept a payment before a certain date. I always paid ahead of time so I wouldn't have a problem-now I am in the process of changing banks so I am not going to make a payment to th bank that I owe money to but does that allow them to harrass me until I get things changed over?

Dear Stuck,
For starters you need to get every piece of documentation with names, dates and times in one spot with any correspondence you have received from the bank. Then you need to contact the Banking Commissioner in the State that you either live or if you are now overseas where you resided and the bank account was opened. This is a starting place to getting things sorted out. Whether or not you believe the bank is at fault or not is irrelevant. Let an unbiased party (the banking commissioner) sort it all out. In the meantime you need to consider that some of the responsibility lies on you because you let it go on and on and on. I don't care if a business promises the moon, after a reasonable length of time (in my opinion certainly no more than 30 days tops!) that personal account should have been closed by you with the that card pointed to that account, you could have just worked on those few fees and issues and opened your personal account elsewhere, rather than throwing your whole web business down the drain and blaming it on the businesses incompetence. I appreciate that you were frustrated, I appreciate the fact that you were trying to work with them and remain a faithful customer, I appreciate that you were happy with the bank all that time, and that you wanted to believe that someone was working on your side there and maybe there was. There are so many regulations governing banks with severe consequences that tell me, not that you are wrong, but that there is more going on here than meets the eye. Get your statements, letters and any proof together and get it into the easiest chronological order possible and sent it certified mail. Wait for a response, be sure to include ways to reach you, and be HONEST! I would be curious to know how things turn out.

Hi sunshinekb17,

Thanks for your reply.

Firstly, if I had an option to close the account with BofA, I would have done it after the second or third incident. I have banked with BofA since I was 16 years old, and have never used another U.S. bank in my life. I'm a creature of habit, and I was comfortable. Probably too comfortable. I still can't believe what happened.

I live and work in Tokyo, Japan. I haven't been to the USA since 1998. I don't know which agency can help me, at this point. Prior to this experience, I never imagined a problem like this could even occur, nor did I know web sites, like this one, existed. I last walked into a BofA branch in 1998, and unfortunately, their service is not as personalized as it was back then. My banker also left in 2001. Unfortuantely, resulting from the Patriot Act, I can't open an account with any other bank while I'm physically in Japan as I no longer have a US ID or Driver's license.

Over the last 2 years, I have had at least 6 debit cards issued with BofA. Each time, BofA fixed my issue, I would receive a new card, and the problem would get worse. It's hard to explain but I think I got caught in a very strange glitch because of my unique situation. For example:
(1) 90% of my transactions are international;
(2) International debits/purchases can take days to months to post.
(3) Resulting from currency fluctuations, there is no way for the bank to flag a merchant or recurring bill as each transaction has a unique value and inconsistent posting day.
(4) if a debit is presented to BofA *after* a check card is canceled, they are not allowed to reject it. As a result, they pay it off the first account found for the account holder;
(5) if a check card is canceled, boa's "claims" department handles the late posting as a formal claim from the merchant for payment. This means, the original detail is lost in the shuffle because it doesn't post as a check card debit/purchase. Instead, it posts with a claim/case number, and customer service can't see the detail on these transactions. This means that I can't contact customer service and verbally discuss the issue.
(6) BofA originally put a stop payment on my merchant account because they were not able to see the true merchant on the transaction. That's how my merchant got closed. I gave up on that account because it wasn't worth the hassle or cost to reestablish the account with my merchant. I also wasn't confident with BofA's ability to post my transactions properly, and until my original problem was fixed, I opted to take no action with my merchant. Sadly, BofA never resolved my original problem and instead caused many more problems.
(7) BofA's claims department posts late check card transactions in order of account number. My business account is older so the number is lower than the personal account. Every single time they cancelled and reissued my cards, the problem got worse because transaction from both (personal & business) cancelled cards would end up posting to my business account. I don't really know how a customer can predict these situations when the bank suggests a solution to end my debit card issues. Each time, they told me that once the card is stopped through Visa Int'l, it will be blocked. This was not true because Visa Japan has their own rules. I found this out from BofA's fraud department after 1.5 years of this problem;
(6) BofA's normal account system posts transactions according to a customer's primary account number, then card status, and then card number;
(7) Each time, my card was canceled, all the debits would post late through claims and it would start over with my latest canceled card posting to my business account.
(8) BofA's system drops a debit card number after 180 days, making it impossible for anyone to help me through customer service for ongoing issues.
(9) BofA's claims investigators do not speak with customers -- PERIOD. This made it impossible for me to discuss the full picture with an investigator, and as a result, the claims would get reversed as BofA can't reverse a debit that they post to the wrong account.

I last spoke with a manager in BofA's fraud department. I was sent to fraud because BofA determined (on that particular day) that the recurring debits to my canceled card (which didn't exist in any BofA system at that point) must be fraud. The fraud manager was extremely helpful but apparently, when he promised to see it to the end, he was only referring to his job. By the time he actually resolved my issue (Hurray!), the account was auto-cancelled & closed. Now, BofA has sent it to a collection agent who is offering me a deal on BofA's fees that they billed for transactions that posted to the wrong account.

Oddly enough, I have not used the business account in over one year. However, I have incurred debits through "claims" and despite my efforts to resolve the issue, it continued until the account closed for having a negative balance for more than 3 months. Although I hadn't used the account for any purchases, I managed to incur $100s in fees that no one at BofA wants to touch. The supervisors don't want to refund the account, and as a result, they keep passing me back to fraud. However, fraud doesn't deal with checking accounts, and also has no relationship to BofA in California. My account is in California.

Looking back, I should have done a lot of things, but you live and learn. At this point, I simply want the issue resolved and BofA's collection agency off my back. I have tried to put together documentation but I'm honestly going in circles. Looking back through my accounts, the problem started in October 2004. I didn't use the account in 2006 and only used it for part of 2005 because it was pointless to use. The entire situation is so complex and confusing with far too many debit card numbers, phone calls, fixes that didn't work, information that wasn't true, promises that weren't kept, and refunds that were never explained. There have been so many errors with transactions posting to the wrong account that I get frustrated trying to look at it. In the end, I don't know where to turn.

Since posting here last, I attempted to contact BofA again. Sadly, no one calls me back. Perhaps, they can't call Japan. At a minimum, I would have appreciated some kind of explanation for why my account remains closed and why I have a collection agent attempting to collect funds that I don't owe. BofA hasn't even had the decency to acknowledge my messages.

Sigh. I'll continue working on the documentation. I just hope I can keep it straight. Unfortunately, I didn't document phone calls very well because I truly believed every supervisor that promised to see my problem to the end.

Sigh.

Dear Anonymous,

Thank you for your reply.

First, are you a banker? I appreciate the advice, but does something this simple truly need a lawyer's assistance? Isn't there someone other entity or organization that can help me? At this point, I just wish to turn back time to the point, right before the first debit posted to the wrong account, and recalculate it with the proper transactions/fees posted to the right account.

I'm still going in circles, and now a collection agent is calling my parents in Hawaii. I'm in Japan, so I use their address as a permenant address. I do not know of any lawyer that deals with this type of issue from Japan.

This has got to be the most ridiculous situation that could possibly occur from a system glitch.

Thanks again for your time.

For your reference, I am posting the last 6 months of my business account. I don't have the final month because I never got a chance to download when BofA closed the account. If it were not for the collection agent, I likely would have ate the loss and chaulked this up to experience.

Please note that of the cards posting to this account:
1) CARD #0729 was issue when I opened my personal account. It was supposed to be a personal gold card, but it says my business name on it and alos Platnum.
2) Card 4217XXXXXXXX8417 was issued/cancelled 1 year prior to Jan. 2006. It was a personal debit card. This is my business account.
3) Card 4217XXXXXXX70651 was my personal account. It was cancelled early on in April or May 2005.
==============
12/30/05 ATM/CHECK CARD TEMPORARY CR REVERSAL ON 09/13/05 CARD # 4217XXXXXXX70651 CLAIM #2688 $(164.77) $(164.67)
01/06/06 INSUFFICIENT FUNDS FEE $(34.00) $(198.67)
01/11/06 ATM/CHECK CARD TEMPORARY CR REVERSAL ON 12/13/05 CARD # 4217XXXXXXXX8417 CLAIM #1710 $(44.60) $(243.27)
01/13/06 RAIFUKOPORESHON 12/21 CARD #0729 PURCHASE TOKYO, JP ($27.02) ($270.29)
01/13/06 INTERNATIONAL TRANSACTION FEE ($0.81) ($271.10)
01/17/06 INSUFFICIENT FUNDS FEE ($68.00) ($339.10)
01/17/06 ATM/CHECK CARD PURCHASE DEBIT ON 01/01/06 CARD # 4217XXXXXXXX8417 CLAIM #2481 ($31.44) ($370.54)
01/17/06 ATM/CHECK CARD PURCHASE DEBIT ON 01/01/06 CARD # 4217XXXXXXXX8417 CLAIM #2481 ($26.64) ($397.18)
02/07/06 INSUFFICIENT FUNDS FEE ($34.00) ($431.18)
02/09/06 ACCOUNT FEES ($7.50) ($438.68)
02/13/06 INSUFFICIENT FUNDS FEE ($34.00) ($472.68)
02/14/06 ATM/CHECK CARD PURCHASE DEBIT ON 02/01/06 CARD # 4217XXXXXXXX8417 CLAIM #298 ($25.93) ($498.61)
02/14/06 ATM/CHECK CARD PURCHASE DEBIT ON 02/01/06 CARD # 4217XXXXXXXX8417 CLAIM #297 ($23.50) ($522.11)
03/07/06 INSUFFICIENT FUNDS FEE ($34.00) ($556.11)
03/14/06 INSUFFICIENT FUNDS FEE ($34.00) ($590.11)
03/14/06 ATM/CHECK CARD PURCHASE DEBIT ON 03/01/06 CARD # 4217XXXXXXXX8417 CLAIM #712 ($25.59) ($615.70)
03/14/06 ATM/CHECK CARD PURCHASE DEBIT ON 03/01/06 CARD # 4217XXXXXXXX8417 CLAIM #711 ($20.23) ($635.93)
03/15/06 ACCOUNT FEES ($7.50) ($643.43)
03/28/06 TRANSFER FROM RELATED ACCOUNT 0000023353 $15.00 ($628.43)
03/30/06 TRANSFER FROM RELATED ACCOUNT 0000023353 $105.10 ($523.33)
04/05/06 INSUFFICIENT FUNDS FEE ($34.00) ($557.33)
04/06/06 TRANSFER FROM RELATED ACCOUNT 0000023353 $123.94 ($433.39)
04/10/06 TRANSFER FROM RELATED ACCOUNT 0000023353 $11.57 ($421.82)
04/11/06 INSUFFICIENT FUNDS FEE ($34.00) ($455.82)
04/12/06 ATM/CHECK CARD PURCHASE DEBIT ON 04/01/06 CARD # 4217XXXXXXXX8417 CLAIM #3393 ($25.70) ($481.52)
04/12/06 ATM/CHECK CARD PURCHASE DEBIT ON 04/01/06 CARD # 4217XXXXXXXX8417 CLAIM #3392 ($19.75) ($501.27)
04/12/06 ACCOUNT FEES ($7.50) ($508.77)
04/13/06 TRANSFER FROM RELATED ACCOUNT 0000023353 $311.66 ($197.11)
04/13/06 NSF FEE REVERSAL $68.00 ($129.11)
04/13/06 NSF FEE REVERSAL $34.00 ($95.11)
04/13/06 NSF FEE REVERSAL $34.00 ($61.11)
04/13/06 NSF FEE REVERSAL $34.00 ($27.11)
04/13/06 NSF FEE REVERSAL $34.00 $6.89
04/13/06 NSF FEE REVERSAL $34.00 $40.89
04/13/06 NSF FEE REVERSAL $34.00 $74.89
04/13/06 NSF FEE REVERSAL $34.00 $108.89
04/13/06 Online Banking transfer to CHK 1356 Confirmation# 4959223630 ($103.00) $5.89
04/14/06 ATM/CHECK CARD TEMPORARY CR ADJ ON 02/14/06 CARD # 4217XXXXXXX88417 CLAIM #1101 $140.70 $146.59
04/17/06 ACCOUNT FEE REVERSAL $15.00 $161.59
04/17/06 Online Banking transfer to CHK 1356 Confirmation# 5249635695 ($140.00) $21.59
04/17/06 Online Banking transfer to CHK 1356 Confirmation# 5100438430 ($5.00) $16.59
04/19/06 Online Banking transfer to CHK 1356 Confirmation# 5433703579 ($16.25) $0.34
05/04/06 MERCHANT BANKCD DES:FEE ID:266518319881 INDN: ($44.95) ($44.61)
05/05/06 INSUFFICIENT FUNDS FEE ($34.00) ($78.61)
05/09/06 ATM/CHECK CARD TEMPORARY CR REVERSAL ON 02/14/06 CARD # 4217XXXXXXX88417 ($140.70) ($219.31)
05/12/06 ATM/CHECK CARD PURCHASE DEBIT ON 05/01/06 CARD # 4217XXXXXXXX8417 CLAIM #11099 ($27.55) ($246.86)
05/12/06 ATM/CHECK CARD PURCHASE DEBIT ON 05/01/06 CARD # 4217XXXXXXXX8417 CLAIM #11098 ($19.52) ($266.38)
06/06/06 INSUFFICIENT FUNDS FEE ($34.00) ($300.38)
06/12/06 NSF: RETURNED ITEM FEE ($35.00) ($335.38)
06/14/06 ATM/CHECK CARD PURCHASE DEBIT ON 06/01/06 CARD # 4217XXXXXXXX8417 CLAIM #121181 ($26.75) ($362.13)
06/14/06 ATM/CHECK CARD PURCHASE DEBIT ON 06/01/06 CARD # 4217XXXXXXXX8417 CLAIM #121151 ($19.24) ($381.37)
06/14/06 ACCOUNT FEES ($7.50) ($388.87)
06/27/06 PAYPAL *GODADDYSOFT 06/26 CARD #0729 PURCHASE AZ ($11.69) ($400.56)
06/28/06 OVERDRAFT ITEM FEE ($35.00) ($435.56)
07/06/06 NSF: RETURNED ITEM FEE ($35.00) ($470.56)
07/12/06 NSF: RETURNED ITEM FEE ($35.00) ($505.56)
07/12/06 ATM/CHECK CARD PURCHASE DEBIT ON 07/01/06 CARD # 4217XXXXXXXX8417 CLAIM #177011 ($26.69) ($532.25)
07/12/06 ATM/CHECK CARD PURCHASE DEBIT ON 07/01/06 CARD # 4217XXXXXXXX8417 CLAIM #176991 ($17.04) ($549.29)

============

The customer can't always be at fault. This account went from 100s of transaction per month, and a monthly average of $10000-$20000 in deposits per month. It turned into the above situation for nearly 2 years. I don't know how closing the account would fix it because BofA was paying bogus charges on a cancelled debit card that would post to whatever account was open. I would rather have one account with problems and one account without problems then everything on one account.

Looking at the above, if that's not confusing, then I don't know what you call it. I have no idea what they're paying or what's bouncing. Every 3 months or so, they'd auto-debit funds out of my personal account, and then apply a bunch of credits. Right before the account closed, they swiped at least $500 out of my personal checking, and then closed the account while I was waiting for their fraud department to resolve the problem.

Now, BofA claims that I owe them more money. I didn't even use the account for a year or longer. A collection agent is offering me an 80% settlement. I don't even know what to say to the agent, but I wish he would leave my parents alone.

There has to be someone who can help me. I don't mean a lawyer. I just want them to fix it.

You don't want a lawyer, but that may be your best option at this point. You apparently feel that the bank and colection agency aren't playing straight with you. They are not going to try to snow a lawyer - and if they do, he is likely to detect it.