My bank said that they cannot help me.

That is not necessarily true, and if your bank won't help you then I would move my acct elsewhere. Also, many people have had problems with companies withdrawing money, even after the loans WERE completely repaid according the internet PDL terms. These are companies that aren't always following the law, so some get a little sneakier than others.

http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?c=ecfr;sid=064670d092854a4a898f50e9b5bebbf1;rgn=div5;view=text;node=12%3A2.0.1.1.5;idno=12;cc=ecfr#12:2.0.1.1.5.0.3.3

According to Reg E, section 205.10 (c) which states
c) Consumer's right to stop payment???(1) Notice. A consumer may stop payment of a preauthorized electronic fund transfer from the consumer's account by notifying the financial institution orally or in writing at least three business days before the scheduled date of the transfer

, you have the right to withdraw authorization. I can't believe a bank employee told you that you can't stop the transactions.

First, I would send a letter to the last known addresses for the pdl companies withdrawing authorization to debit your acct. Once you have done so, go into your bank with a print-out of Reg E and tell them they must follow federal banking regulations.

According to federal law, it is illegal to require ACH withdrawal authorization to the purpose of getting a loan, and that has been upheld in a federal district court.

I would ask the bank to "freeze" the account, instead of asking them to stop the individual transactions. Turn it into a deposit only account until you can straighten out the loan situation. If the bank doesn't work with you on this, they are not worth it!

~Mary

I agree with what Mary said, if the bank won't try to keep your money safe, they aren't worth it.

And while you are trying to decide whether it would be better to change banks etc, yes I would ask for them to freeze the acct.

I had the same problem when I was going through the whole PDL nightmare. I asked my bank if they could stop the ACH debits and they told me that it would cost me $30 per stop, and that they could only stop it if I knew the exact amounts (which I did not because most always took out different amounts and if those came back NSF they would hit my accounts five or six times all for different amounts). I explained my situation to my bank and they too would do nothing. I ended up putting a hold on my account and left enough money in there so only the checks I had written for groceries and stuff would clear. I opened a new account and after my checks had cleared the old account, I closed it. I didn't want to have to do that because it was such a hassle but I'm glad I did. The bank sent me a statement for the ACH debit attempts these comapnies made on my account while it was on hold and closed and I was completely shocked. Each company was attempting to debit my account between 3-6 times DAILY, EVERY DAY!!! I can't imagine how much NSF fees I would have had to pay to the bank or how much money I would have wasted if I had tried to block all those ACH debits at $30 a pop.

From my experience and from what others have said here, the only way to keep these people out of your checking account is to close it, open a new one, and NEVER NEVER NEVER give them your new account number. Pay them back by money order or western union and keep your receipts. I always told them that I didn't even have a checking account because they would harass you to give them the new number if you even let on like you had a new one.