bank-of-america

Bank of America Screws Even Ex-Employees Of 21 Years On Mortgages

By Ben Popken on February 8, 2010 1:18 PM 0 views

(World Economic Forum)

How many different ways can you screw a man? Vince couldn't make his Bank of America mortgage, because they fired him after 21 years of service in the due diligence department. Even after he did a short sale 5 months ago, Bank of America still hasn't cleared it off their books. Now the illegal debt collection calls start. Is new CEO Brian Moynihan powerless to stop his own company from shaking down its own employees? Let's find out! More Â»

40 Comments

Ex-Merrill Lynch Boss John Thain Is A CEO Again

By Meg Marco on February 8, 2010 11:59 AM 0 views

(Department of State)

After successfully redecorating his office, merging Merrill Lynch with Bank of America, and then getting fired -- John Thain is once again a CEO. This time he'll be heading up a recently-bankrupt commercial and consumer finance company, CIT. More Â»

32 Comments

Will A Human At BofA Finally Please Modify My $160,000 Underwater Mortgage

By Ben Popken on February 5, 2010 11:00 AM 0 views

(Marko Milošević)

Jim and Susan's mortgage is underwater by $160,000. They want to live up to their obligations, they want to keep their home, but they can't do it with a $370,000 mortgage on a house that's only worth $210,000. An attorney told them to send some "jingle mail," just pop the house keys in an envelope, mail it to the bank, and move away. What they really want is a modification so they can stay in their house, but Bank of America has been jerking them around and they don't have faith that this last hurdle will actually get them a mod. Isn't there a decision-making human at BofA that can finalize this deal for them?
130 Comments

Man Jailed For Threatening To Rob BofA After They Robbed Him

By Ben Popken on February 1, 2010 10:40 AM 0 views

(mscaprikell)

An unemployed 40-year old mechanic is in the clink after he threatened to rob Bank of America as revenge for an erroneous service fee. He's in jail on $75,000 bond, which neither he or his 72-year old frequent surgery recipient mother can afford. The man he was arrested after he called a local news channel and told them to show up tomorrow as he was going to rob the bank. It was unclear how he planned on pulling off the heist. Maybe he was going to raise their APR without notice?

Man Infuriated By Overdraft Fee Jailed After Threatening To Rob Bank [Huffington Post] More Â»

36 Comments

New BofA CEO Makes Less Than Ken Lewis, More Than You

By Marc Perton on January 28, 2010 2:22 PM 0 views
Bank of America's new CEO, Brian Moynihan, didn't bother to ask what his salary would be when he accepted the job late last year. In fact, he's been working for almost a month without knowing how much he's getting paid. Maybe he assumed he'd get a deal like predecessor Ken Lewis, who earned an annual salary of $1.5 million (plus bonus), and pocketed over $50 million to walk out the door at the end of last year. Well, Brian, here's why job coaches always tell you to ask about money upfront: Instead of $1.5 million, you're stuck with a meager $900,000 this year. And your bonus? Yeah, we'll get back to you on that. More Â»

37 Comments

Not Having A Mortgage Doesn't Stop Bank Of America From Foreclosing

By Marc Perton on January 21, 2010 1:30 PM 26300 views

(Photo: jetsetpress)

Charlie and Maria Cardoso managed to do something few homeowners can: They own their vacation home in Florida outright, with no mortgage. But that didn't stop Bank of America from kicking out a tenant who was renting the house, tossing out the Cardosos' possessions, and, yes, foreclosing on the debt-free home. More Â»

170 Comments

Secret Credit Card Backdoor Numbers To Get Your Credit Increased, APR Changed, Etc!

By Ben Popken on January 14, 2010 12:00 PM 18718 views

(Photo: bubble dumpster)

Want your credit line increased, APR lowered, or your declined credit card application approved? Begging and pleading with customer service not getting you anywhere except front row seats to your personal puddle of shame? Then give some of the "backdoor numbers" a shot.
27 Comments

BoA Explains Fees With Pretty Lady On Talking Website

By Ben Popken on January 4, 2010 12:55 PM 6351 views
Bank of America launched a new sub-site to help explain their banking penalties to fee-curious customers. I always feel safer when my website talks to me and pretends to be alive so Bank of America has also included "Janet," a walking talking video actor to help guide me through the process. I appreciate that she is wearing no belt. It sends the signal, "hey, we're keeping it cas." More Â»

20 Comments

BofA Locked Our Account Down While We Went Away

By Phil Villarreal on December 28, 2009 10:00 AM 7956 views

(Photo: Maulleigh)

Alex says Bank of America's efforts to protect him and his wife from fraud have stranded them in Salt Lake City without access to their accounts. He says the bank mixed up his and his wife's security info, leaving neither of them able to break down the security walls. He writes: More Â»

67 Comments

BofA Undoubles Doubled Interest Rate

By Phil Villarreal on December 24, 2009 8:30 AM 2017 views

(Photo: The Cornballer)

Responding quickly to Wednesday's post of Julia's complaint that Bank of America doubled her credit card interest rate, then refused to reset it despite promising it would, the bank has promised that it will indeed undouble the rate for good. Got all that? More Â»

5 Comments

UPDATED: BofA Doubled My Interest Rate, Said They'd Undouble It, Kept It Doubled

By Phil Villarreal on December 23, 2009 9:30 AM 4050 views

(Photo: Maulleigh)

Julia said Bank of America hiked her interest rate then placated her for months, promising it would eventually lower it to its previous level, only to turn around and say she was misinformed and would be stuck with the higher interest rate. More Â»

34 Comments

Why Bank of America's TARP Payback Is Bad News

By Marc Perton on December 10, 2009 11:05 AM 9640 views

(Photo: roemerman

So, Bank of America is writing a big, fat, $45 billion check to the U.S. to pay back the money we handed the bank under the TARP program. Great news, right? Not so fast. Wall Street bad boy Henry Blodget points out that BofA is paying the money back while taking out ultra-low-interest loans from the government -- loans that don't come with any of the restrictions bundled with TARP funds. More Â»

69 Comments

Daddy, Can I Borrow $7 Billion To Buy Cadbury?

By Phil Villarreal on December 1, 2009 10:30 AM 5610 views

(Photo:Morton Fox)

"Sure you can, junior," B of A and JP Morgan said to Hershey. "Just remember we're not made of money." More Â»

39 Comments

'I Stopped Denying People': Ex-Bank Of America CSR Tells All

By Chris Walters on November 27, 2009 11:58 AM 0 views
Here's a testimonial from a former Bank of America customer assistance employee. She was fired on Monday for offering repayment plans to too many customers, even those who "deserved" the 29.99% APR for making late payments. After hearing her story, you might conclude that this job was never a good fit for her skills. The next time you run up against a dead-sounding CSR, though, remember that people like Jackie don't make for profitable collections department employees, which is why they don't stick around for long.
123 Comments

Don't Let Maintenance Fees Ruin Your Automatic Savings Program

By Chris Walters on November 11, 2009 10:57 PM 2577 views

If you participate in an automatic savings program like Bank of America's Keep the Change service, where debit card purchases are rounded up and the difference is deposited into your savings account, keep an eye on maintenance fees. James says he was hit with a $5 charge last month because he hadn't met the minimum monthly deposit requirement of $25: "It turns out that I wasn't even accruing $5 worth of change per month, so I was losing more money due to the maintenance fee than I was saving via Keep the Change!"  More Â»

25 Comments

Bank of America Cancels Solo India Traveler's Debit Card, Shrugs

By Laura Northrup on November 11, 2009 7:12 PM 8833 views

Does "Bank of America" actually mean "Bank of America Only"? After pulling another reader's debit card access back in August even though she had explicitly notified the überbank about her travels, BoA has apparently done it again. Reader Bristol tells us that she has been penniless in India for the last week after the bank's mysterious computers canceled her debit card.  More Â»

124 Comments

Is Bank Of America Of Trying To Skirt The CARD Act With New Annual Fees?

By Chris Walters on November 10, 2009 4:35 PM 11633 views

In a series of recent posts, WalletBlog has accused Bank of America of breaking the spirit of its "no new fees" promise and of potentially breaking the law next year, after it announced it will introduce annual fees on some existing credit card accounts in 2010.  More Â»

67 Comments

Bank Of America Uses Temporary Hold To Trigger Overdraft Fee?

By Chris Walters on October 26, 2009 8:03 PM 18716 views

Bank of America got so fee crazy last week that it applied a $10 overdraft fee to Christopher's account even though it wasn't overdrafted. I went back and forth with Christopher to try to figure out what BoA could have done to trigger this, but as you can see from the screen cap below, he only had two debits on the day of the event.  More Â»

122 Comments

Government Orders Pay Cuts For Bailed-Out Firms

By Laura Northrup on October 22, 2009 11:00 PM 2648 views

The huge salaries and bonuses paid to executives of banks and other firms that received government bailout funds have been the subject of a lot of taxpayer rage. The Obama administration listened, and will order pay cuts.  More Â»

69 Comments

Bank Of America Will Introduce Annual Fees Next Year On Some Cards

By Chris Walters on October 20, 2009 6:00 PM 4959 views

Bank of America has announced that it plans on "testing" annual fees on some of its reward cards starting next year. The odds are good you won't see this—a BoA spokeswoman says it will only be tested on 1 percent of accounts globally—but who knows? Maybe the BoA Fairy will smack you down.  More Â»

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