Can a bank re-open an account that was closed about four years, and reported to a collection agency? My employer sent my direct deposit to an old account instead of my new account. The bank claims that they re-opened the account to collect the debt then re-closed it. The remaining balance will not be released to me until I go in into a branch, nor will they return the funds to my employer either. Is this legal?
We've heard of this before. The bank closed the account in the past because there was no activity. Because there was an amount owed, the bank never purged the account. When a deposit was made to the account they opened it. Those are essentially housekeeping issues, as you never requested the account be closed. We know of nothing that says it is wrong, even if it is not what you intended.
We don't know why, if the account is now at a positive balance, you can't request by mail or telephone that the account be closed and a cashier's check mailed to you. We can see why they would not send the balance to your employer as they won't reverse the entire deposit as account closed. If you contact them and ask to close the account, if they refuse ask for a supervisor and ask why they can't meet this request. If you are not local to the bank their refusal makes no sense, and they should not be charging you fees while refusing to close the account.
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We've heard of this before. The bank closed the account in the past because there was no activity. Because there was an amount owed, the bank never purged the account. When a deposit was made to the account they opened it. Those are essentially housekeeping issues, as you never requested the account be closed. We know of nothing that says it is wrong, even if it is not what you intended.