Defend Your Dollars

Bank of America is notoriously bad about holding checks & fails to notify us of insufficient funds checks until the middle of the month.

The check hold forced me to pay added interest to Wells Fargo while they utilized the readily accessible funds for 10 business days.

In October 2008 Justin’s credit card deducted $250 from his checking account as part of his monthly auto-pay – he was unaware that he had less than $250 in his account at the time.

Linda is an independent contractor from California who does not usually have problems with overdrafts.

Joyce runs a small business out of North Carolina, and has very recently run into trouble with overdraft fees.

Rachel is a married mother of three, who finds it difficult to manage her household when overdraft fees pile up.

This disabled single mother raising two disabled children recently went back to school for a nursing degree. She struggles to cover her family’s expenses, and sometimes there just isn’t enough.

On a limited income, Don checks his account balances regularly, but has recently been hit with a flurry of overdraft fees because of his bank’s overdraft policy.

Nancy is a divorced mother, raising two children without child-support. Sometimes she overdrafts her checking account because the bank will allow an ATM purchase to go through, even though the funds are not available.

Vickie relies on Social Security checks as her only source of income. Over the past eight years, she has paid her bank over $1,000 in overdraft fees alone.

This disabled police officer in Loganville, Georgia says he was sold a mortgage he couldn’t afford. He’s lived in his home for 19 years.

Debt collectors short on details

No Way José, Collectors hounding the wrong man

Creditors harassed parents of debtor son

Gas Card Holder Beaten Up over One Cent Mistake

Man says company failed to disclose risks

Couple charged thousands in up-front fees for unneeded service

Over the past seven years, by paying his creditors on time all of the time and monitoring his spending, Brian had successfully increased his credit score from the low 600’s to a recent 705.

In June 2008, Ronald lost his job and now relies on unemployment checks as his only source of income. At the end of 2008, he was late on a payment by one day and his Chase Mastercard interest rate went from 4.99% to 24.99%.

Faced with the difficult decision of continuing to pay for an “underwater” mortgage or to sell his home at a loss, Joe B. a 90-year-old retired British army veteran from Sacramento, California, is now facing foreclosure.

Eloise Grant, 67, was surprised to get a foreclosure notice on the house she was renting in Elk Grove, California. She was told to move.

I entered AAA looking to get Travelers Checks. They said that they were no longer available. They steered me into getting one of these Visa Travel Money Cards because of the fraud protections and ultimately, I was defrauded and now they are not behind me.

Prepaid gift cards are a rip-off! The balances start to decline after receiving the cards. You can’t cash them in.

I found that the AMEX gift card I misplaced for a few months had expired and it was worthless.

I received a $50 gift card for Christmas. After 6 months, I found that I had approximately $17.50 left and had lost $32.50 in fees or 65%.

Three malls in Central Massachusetts are selling their own prepaid cards at holiday time. If not used right away at any of the stores in the mall it automatically reduces in value!

We found a couple of cards marketed specifically for parents to use to help teach children about money management. The fees were ridiculous and ever-present.

I have received prepaid gift cards that were subject to a monthly fee because they weren’t used by a certain date.

The merchant was unable to tell me what balance remained on the card, or take the remaining balance as partial payment. Thus, the last 10% was almost impossible to spend!

There was a fee to activate it – and there was no way to tell how much was left – I still have it!

I purchased a $50 MasterCard, but it wasn’t scanned properly. So now I’m out the $50.

For Martha, a letter regarding her new credit card marked the beginning of three troublesome years dealing with the damage caused by identity theft. The letter surprised Martha – she had never applied for one.

John and his wife were both victims of identity theft. John has invested a significant amount of time and energy cleaning up his credit report and working to protect himself against further fraudulent activity.

Don is upset about the effect identity theft has had on his credit report, and his ability to obtain new credit. He is also seeking employment and notes that his poor credit has made it difficult to get a job.

When Margaret’s identity was stolen, it resulted in several thousand dollars of charges at an electronics store and more than a few headaches.

Naomi B. was notified that her personal information had been compromised. She canceled all but two of her credit cards, and spent hours on the phone with credit card companies.

Bette’s identity was stolen in 2003, but she didn’t find out about it until she received a bill from a collection agency in April 2006.

In 2005, Summer received an e-mail from the University of California at Berkeley informing her that their database had been hacked and that her personal information had been stolen.