Your Verdict? Bank Error

This is what happened to my friend today:

She got a letter today from a bank, stating that she overdrafted over $5,000. She was shocked, knowing that she didn't have that kind of money before. She visited the bank and had a meeting with the bank manager.

Six months ago, when she opened her new account with that bank, the bank informed her that she got $5,000 in the money market account, according to their computer record. She didn't know where it was coming from, so the bank asked her for her ids (ssn and driver's lic) and indeed, it matched. She told the bank it's impossible and the bank told her that probably somebody died and gave her money, so my friend went ahead and put that money in her checking account.

Half a year later, she got an overdraft notice letter and the bank said it's not her money. It's someone else's money from out of state with the same name! The bank want her to pay back. My friend left the bank and went home to call the attorney. She told me what happened and asked me what do I think of. I'm at loss not knowing what's going to happen to her (pay back, jail time, etc??)

I'm curious on what you think what's going to happen to her? I know it wasn't her fault, but........

 

no clue... but I did have a similar experience -after all was said and done, the teller was fired. :twisted:

 

I would bet you dollars to donuts she'll have to pay it back. It wasn't her money to start with and without better documentation than the bank saying "someone" must have died and left it, I would NEVER have spent it. That stuff always comes back to bite you in the butt.

When DH was in the Air Force, several people we knew and us were overpaid one pay period. Some went out and went crazy figuring they would never discover the error. Of course they did and it all came out in one pay period some time later. We never spent it so we were fine, but there were some broke airmen running around!

 

She kept/spent the money. She knew it wasn't hers. There's fault for her too.

 

She should be entitled to any interest earned on said $5000, but should have kept it where it was until the bank eventually got it right. If she wrote down names of who she talked to about it when it first happened, her lawyer may be able to get the bank to write it off as a loss.

 

I have to agree. $5k doesn't just become yours overnight. Especially into your bank account.

 

she owes the money back. nobody with any brains at all takes "somebody musta died and left it to you" as a valid reason for why 5 thousand bucks mysteriously shows up their checking account.

 

I have to disagree. I don't think she should be entitled to the interest because it wasn't her money in the first place. I think the interest belongs to the rightful owners that had placed it in the money market in the first place. It's not their fault the bank messed up and I don't think the bank will give interest to both parties. What a mess!

 

I completely agree with brea. That person made a deposit into a savings account and he/she is entitled to all of their money even though the bank screwed up.

As for your friend, the lesson learned is... if it's too good to be true, it's too good to be true. :neutral:

 

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I sort of agree with you guys, but the bank created this mess. How long should someone have to wait for the bank to get its stuff together?

 

I agree. The bank's reputation to me is not good. I know mistakes are made, but if someone calls and tells the bank, "It's not my money.", that would be a CLEAR indication to me the bank needs to research it until it's fixed. Not some remark, "Maybe someone died and left you money." While this may be this woman's fault to a degree, the BANK is the one who the majority of the fault lays upon. And the person who told her, "someone may have dieds and left money" needs to be reprimanded. The true owners need to get the money back, the woman should pay 1/2 back and the bank the other 1/2. While I know that is not going to happen, it STILL is the right thing to do. And if she got the right attorney, it probably could happen. If a woman can sue McDonald's for hot coffee, why can't something happen here?

 

i'd say she was honest with them upfront and told them
if they told her someone must has died and givin it to her i would have been okay with also --- who wouldn't

i had a similar situation i received my statement and my account had extra money that i didn't deposit

it's the banks fault someone keyed in the account info wrong or something
i don't think she should eat it but the bank will fight it tooyh and nail they don't want and will not be held liable

keep tough, it's their fault, she didn't do anything wrong and i don't beleive they can do anything about it

 

reality check....there is no such thing as 'extra money' that just appears...period.:mrgreen:

 

Isn't it sad that the majority sees the big, ugly corporation as the one who did wrong?

Simple question the customer should have asked...

Who, exactly, deposited the money?

I suppose it's just a sign of the times that one receives money they have no real claim to, and then, rather than attempt to find the true owner, just takes the money because someone said it might be theirs. Then, when the true owner is found, it's someone else's fault that they have to return the money.

I remember a few years back a news show tested people by leaving a wallet with money and ID in a public place to be found. It was heartening to see that 9 of 10 people who "found" the wallet returned it with the money still in it.

I'm afraid to find out what the number would be today.

 

I found a wallet two weeks ago, at the grocery store parking lot down at the beach...it had $500 cash, a signed 'money market' account blank check, and three credit cards with the PIN #'s on the back.....I returned to the old guy who lost it, who was a resident down there. His wife hung up on me 3 times before I got to him ( I think she thought I was a salesperson). He was very happy that I was honest. :mrgreen:

 

Original post

Ids matched,You think maybe someone at tha bank screwed up big time
I wouldn't have spent any of it but it would have been put in a seperate
account and the interest would have been mine:lol: :lol:

 

The interest of 5k over six months not even worth the time of opening another account. In fact she may want to ask the bank about its polices she may have to payback interest on the money that did not belong to her that she had for all this time.If there is ever any money deposited in your account thats not yours you need to make it clear its not mine take it out of my account until you can prove its mine and if they prove its yours get a reciept of some kind signed by the person from your bank handleing the matter. I know for a fact some banks will make you pay it back with interest . Depending on her credit they may let her borrow the money to pay back. I have never heard of a bank that did not take it seriously that money was deposited into your account without you knowing where it came from and not getting to the bottom of it asap. Is it possible (I don't know your friend) that she didn't report it and the bank found the error and contacted her? I have seen this happen alot. If thats not the case she needs to document the time she contacted the bank and who she spoke too at the time to if nothing else maybe they maybe more willing to work with her.

 

My take is she knew what was going on from the start, but didn't push the issue. It was as simple as getting something in writing.

 

I used to work for a financial brokerage firm years ago. She will have to pay it back. There is no doubt about that one as it was not hers to begin w/. She may be able to work out some type of payment plan but most of thetime the banks want it back all out once.

Do watch yourselves and if it's too good to be true(ie money magically appearing in your account), then it probably is.

We have had identies taken from us in our household as well. My husband went to get his drivers license and they weren't going to let him leave. They said he owed $40K in backed child support! Wrong guy. What we learned from all this besides how incredibly hard it is to prove you are you, is that they do NOT base things on your SS#. But rather on where you live. That's right. The reason his name was on this list is b/c he and another guy lived at the same address at NCSU in an apartment eons ago. The credit people cross reference based on addresses you've lived at NOT your SS#. You learn something new everyday.

BTW, if someone dies, it also does not just show up in your account. There is a process. Though I'm not familiar w/ the process (my specialty was not estates), I do know that there is a process and parties are notified.

I wish your friend the best of luck. It is a tough spot. I would have left it in a seperate savings account and triple-checked w/ the bank manager before I ever spent a dime. I've never had money come into my account but I've had Sprint mess up so bad and take $2600 out for a phone bill once! Watch your accounts folks. BTW, Target and Walmart are bad for double charging. I've had this happen on several occassions.

Take care,