Closing Bank Accounts to Stop Debiting (WaMu)

1. Yes, but you should close the account and open a new one, instead of transferring. When you just transfer all ach transactions will transfer too. The only thing it will stop is debit cards and checks.

2. Some banks have policies that allows them to force open a closed account if ach transactions go through within a certain time. That's why it's best to tell the bank that you think these companies will try to hit your account, even though you revoked authorization. That way if they do have this policy steps can be taken to block any transactions. If they were to force open the account, you would be responsible for the nsf fees.

3. You don't need to notify them, but you do need to revoke any and all authorization you gave them to debit your account.

Hi! Here's the skinny on your questions:
1) I agree with Gouda on this one. Do NOT ask to have your info transferred. To do this, the banker needs to do a "penny-pay-through". This is when the old account is left open with a penny in it, and all ACH swaps are entered by putting a legal restraint on the account and by sending the ACH department an e-form for things like insurance and payroll direct deposit. Even though the banker deletes the overdraft limit, this means that other ACH's not listed in the ACH swap will get returned and you get an NSF fee. To completely take away any chance of that happening, you need to completely CLOSE the old account.
2) Tell the banker that you are cloing the account due to unauthorized ACH transactions. They will ask you to fill out a form to dispute ones that have occured in the past, and they will make sure that nothing else goes through that old closed account. Don't be embarrased about this. I see this happen all the time. And if I ever see that any of my customers have done a payday loan (online or storefront), I give them a firm lecture about the evils. (By the way, I'm a banker)
3) I'm not sure about this one. I do know that they will pester you until the cows come home for you to give them the new account number. Stick to your guns and do NOT give them anything.
I hope this all helps. Just talk to your banker. We are all very nice and are trained to handle situations like this. You're not the first, and unfortunately won't be the last, I'm sure. :wink:

^Awww, thank you that is very sweet of you. ;)

I have some more questions for you guys. I just got off the phone with WaMu, letting them know I would be coming in tomorrow and asking what information I needed. Like you guys said they want me to fill out information about the unauthorized ACH debits. Should I go through all my bank statments since I took out each loan, see what I have paid each company (to make sure I have paid the loan back in full plus the legal amount of apr)? I really don't know what I should put as unathorized, unless I go ahead and let them know which ones were not legal (according to AZ law).

I would also like to know what happens when WaMu disputes these charges with the lenders. WaMu doesn't get into state laws on borrowing money so are they going to go by these companies loan docs and see that based on their illegal doc they could refinance me as many times as they wanted $90 every two weeks, until I contacted them and told them I wanted to PIF?

I would like to dispute the overage that I paid these companies and not wait for a credit back from them or risk them flat out telling me no. But, what is your suggestion on what I should do?

If swedishgirl responds to this, definatly go with wht she's says. She's probably the best person to get advice from in this specific situation. She knows the WaMu processes better than I do.

I'm not sure what you should dispute. Because all these companies would need to do is show the signed contract from you and that would prove that the charges were authorized. I would think it's best to say that you've revoked authorization, and you are afraid that these companies will continue to debit your account. You want to avoid any potentially fraudulant transactions from occuring.

All the bank does is make the company show proof that they had authorization to take the money. They aren't going to care that these companies are breaking the laws. They will only prove or disprove that authorization existed. All the other issues don't concern them.

If you do try and dispute any of the transactions that are over the legal amount for your state, just be prepared that a possibility does exist that the bank can come back and say that they were valid charges. The way most banks work is once you dispute they give you a provisional credit. Then once they have investigated the transaction, they can take back that credit if they find that authorization did exist.

My information is from what banks generally do. But as I said at the start of my post, swedishgirl has WaMu specific info, so if she corrects anything I said I would follow her advice.

Ok. I just sent Swedishgirl a message to see if she can reply.

I'm almost tempted to say that some of them are unauthorized. (The companies that rolled over like 7-9 times, because I've read in messages here that some companies didn't do anything after people had reported the debits unauthorized.

I hope she will respond!! This information would be greatly appreciated.

Wamu needs to hurry up and open already! I just got a direct deposit of $2500 and one company already has three debits over the night totalling $210. The lady I spoke with yesterday told me if I was going in today not to put a block on the ACH debits and that she didn't see any pending!! GRRRRRRRRRRR

I would definatly dispute those transactions!!!

Hey. Sorry I didn't respond last night. If you do a dispute on those ACH transactions, the form is going to ask you if you ever authorized them. There are a few choices on the form to dispute the transactions. One woul.d be that you never authorized them in the first place. That would be incorrect. You DID authorize them, just not for that much. THe other choice is that you authorized them, but revoked that authorization. If you choose this one, you need to have a specific date that you revoked authorization with the company doing the debits. THere is another choice that says you authorized the company to debit your account, but the amount debited exceeds the amount you authorized. This form is official and notarized. You are making a sworn statement when you complete this form. WaMu will give you a provisional credit for the amount, but if they investigate the transactions and determine that some "contract" somewhere with the lender actually DOES authorize them to take these obscene amounts out when they feel like it, then WaMu has the right to turn around and take that credit back. Even if you open a new account, they can do a right of off set and take it out of that new account. You can always try. I'm not sure if they even investigate much under a certain amount. I don't know what that amount would be, but you can try. Good luck! Let me know how it goes. :)