Ever hear of IndyMac Bancorp? Well, it’s gone! Federal regulators seized the California bank spawned by Countrywide founder Angelo Mozilowhich, which had giddily doled out mortgages to lenders without requiring proof of income. Rather than blame the second largest bank failure in U.S. history on the subprime meltdown, the charmingly politicized regulators at the FDIC blamed the bank’s demise on Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY). Huh?
banking
Both Dell And AT&T Cash Checks Not Made Out To Them, Cause Much Sadness
By 7.10.08
It’s sure to be a pain in the butt if you accidentally switch two of your payments — but we’d always assumed that companies like AT&T and Dell wouldn’t cash checks that were not even made out to them. We we wrong!
Bank Of America Gives You A Sales Pitch When You Call To Ask Them To Stop Giving You Sales Pitches
By 7.9.08
Jasper got a notice in the mail about marketing from Bank of America, so he called them up to opt-out. After agreeing to stop spamming him, the Bank of America CSR launched into a sales pitch for their “credit protection” services…
By 7.3.08
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Google now helps catch criminals. The FBI identified a Citibank PIN thief by cross-referencing security camera footage with an ICQ handle and personal photos on ham radio enthusiasts sites. [Information Week]
Worst Company In America "Elite 8": Countrywide VS Bank of America
By 6.26.08
ATTENTION: Bank of America is currently in the process of purchasing Countrywide, but the transaction is not yet complete. For the purposes of this contest we ask that you evaluate their track record with consumers separately. Thank you.
Would You Like To "Opt-In" To Your Bank's Overdraft Fees? Tell The Federal Reserve!
By 6.26.08
The Federal Reserve has proposed some new regulations that would, among other things, require banks to let you opt-out of the “overdraft protection” services that often result in consumers being charged large fees for buying one too many (or 6 too many) packs of gum with their debit cards. The Center for Responsible Lending thinks the programs should be “opt-in”. Either way, without the overdraft program, your debit or atm transaction would be denied for non-sufficient funds and you would not be charged a overdraft fee.
Chase Bank Teller Allegedly Fleeces 86-Year-Old Out Of More Than $300,000 In Savings
By 6.24.08
A Chase Bank teller who befriended an 86-year-old senior allegedly fleeced the women out of most of her $400,000 in savings, says the Chicago Sun-Times, and even though the bank caught the teller and fired her… they’re taking a long time to repay the stolen money.
Overdraft Fees Are Trapping Consumers On Social Security In A Cycle Of Debt
By 6.24.08
The Center For Responsible Lending has put together a report that examines the disastrous effect of overdraft fees on Americans who depend on Social Security for all or part of their income. Despite the fact that they’ve had checking accounts all their lives (and presumably know what they’re doing), each year older Americans pay 4.5 billion dollars in overdraft fees– and on average they actually pay more in fees than they receive in credit when the overdraft is triggered by a debit card transaction.
Bank of America: "Free" Checking Means You Have To Call And Have The Fee Waived Every Month
By 6.17.08
Reader Tara has a checking account with Bank of America that’s supposed to be “free” if she meets 1 of 3 balance requirements. She meets one of them, but Bank of America keeps charging her $20 — and they don’t intend to stop.
Shaq Wants To Save Orlando From The Mortgage Meltdown
By 6.17.08
Shaq has a plan to save Orlando from the mortgage meltdown. Sort of. The Orlando Sentinel says that word leaked out that Shaq was working on a plan to buy the troubled mortgages of Orlando homeowners and refinance them so that families could stay in their homes — and hopefully turn a small profit by doing so. The trouble is, the demand is overwhelming and Shaq doesn’t have anything set up yet. That’s not stopping him, though.
More Than 1 Million Homes Are Now In Foreclosure
By 6.5.08
Grim numbers today from the Mortgage Bankers Association. 2.5% of all mortgages serviced by the association’s members are now in foreclosure — 1.1 million homes. The rest of the numbers aren’t any more cheerful. Both the rate of new foreclosures and late payments were the highest on record going back to 1979, says the AP.
Bank Of America Tries To Ruin Your Vacation For Your Own Protection
By 6.2.08
Reader Drew went out of his way to ensure that he’d be able to get money from ATMs (using his Bank of America card), while on vacation. Despite his best efforts, he learned that a) putting a note on your account saying that you’ll be in England and b) drawing less than the maximum daily amount from your account is still not enough to keep BoA from putting a hold on your account. He’s written in with some advice for other Bank of America customers who are planning on traveling soon…
Bank Of America: Let's Charge Three Overdraft Fees To The Account Flush With Cash!
By 5.31.08
Bank of America charged Jason three overdraft fees for the hell of it, even though his account balance never approached $0. Jason called the bank for an explanation, and was told that due to some mathematical wormhole controlled exclusively by Bank of America, he now owed $105. Tired of the bank’s nonsensical jibber-jabber, Jason printed out his statement and headed to the local branch…
Is This Woman The Smoking Gun Of The Mortgage Meltdown?
By 5.27.08
Meet Tracy Warren. NPR says she’s not surprised by the mortgage meltdown because she was supposed to be in charge of preventing it. Tracy worked for a quality control contractor that reviewed subprime loans for investment banks before they were sold on Wall Street, and her company’s biggest client was none other than Bear Stearns. Tracy says she found plenty of loans to reject. The trouble is, according to Tracy, after she rejected them… her bosses unrejected them.
Chase: Thanks For Depositing $3,193, Here's $200 In Non-Sufficient Funds Fees
By 5.27.08
Johanna deposited a financial aid check from her university into her Chase checking account. She’d done this before without incident, but this time something went wrong.
Bank of America Calls Your Dad, Asks If He'd Like To Pay Your Bill For You
By 5.23.08
Reader Dan says Bank of America called his old address and gave out his account details to the person who answered the phone. Luckily, that person turned out to be his father, though Bank of America didn’t know that. Once they did know they were speaking to a relative, they asked Dan’s dad to pay his bill for him.
L.L. Bean Is Breaking Up With Bank Of America, Effective July 1, 2008
By 5.20.08
Reader Tim scanned a letter he got from Bank of America announcing that the bank and retailer L.L. Bean were breaking up.
