My bank refuses to help me

Unfortunately it is very hard to close an account when it is overdrawn. Try to work out payment arrangements with them, go in and talk to a branch manger and explain your situation.

You need to contact the places that are taking the companies that are taking the ach's and withdraw your consent allowing them to do that. Other's will be along to advise you further.

you need to speak face to face with the manager and get a
hard debit block on your account.that means nothing can or will
come out.if you are overdrawn that is what you should do.go
talk to the manager nobody else.

I don't know if it would work but it might put pressure on the bank manager if you filed a police report against the companies that were stealing from you. I would take any documentation you had revoking ACH access and bank statements showing they were still hitting your account when you file the police report. Make sure you mention in the report that the bank is not helping you and empowering the thieves. Then take that report to the manager. Thats assuming they won't hard block like paul suggested.

Thanks for all of your suggestions. There is such a block on the account. They still allow the ACH debits. The account is not suppossed to be overdrawn. The bank is WAMU and the Branch managers are powerless to do anything. WAMU makes the rules and these rules are followed to suit them.

If you need anything done except apply for a loan or open an account or close an account you have to call an 800 number.

It used to be a good bank, but about 1 year ago policy changed.

I would appreciate any other help or suggestions that you could give me. For example, does any one know an agency that I could report this to?

I have submitted a written complaint to WAMU Headuarters in WA

I once found a site like this where they offered legal advice for this type of situation however I wasn't having this problem.

I have started contacting the companies and have withdrawn my consent for ACH withdrawals.

In a recent communication the Bank did say that they can stop ACH withdrawals, but when I asked them to they said that they can't. -- It is all very strange to me

The OCC (Office of the Comptroller of Currency) is the regulating authority for national banks like WaMu.

http://www.occ.treas.gov/

To billyg35:
Thank you sooooo much for the link. I think that is just what I needed. Bank update--The bank is finally trying to cooperate after I went to their secure message site and left them a message.

To everyone else:
Thank you all for all the info I saw about PDLs, I already contacted one company and they are backing off. I am one of those people who got into the PDL thing and now, thank God, and thank you for showing me the way out. I can't even begin to express my gratitude for all of the help and advice that I have received through this site. Thank you very much

See this is why I love this site so much. Everyone in the PDL industry is a scumbag and there is nothing better than helping someone deal with those PDL scumbags. Just keep at them and you will get the mess cleared up.

Ahhhh, another problem with WaMu!!! What fun people they are....NOT!!! Wish I did not have to deal with them for my mortgage, but can't refinance right now either,.

Yeah, my husband and I are in the same boat as you 2nband. We have a mortgage with WAMU and cannot refinance because we owe more than the house is worth. We even tried to go through the loss mitigation department to try and lower our payments, but of course since we are not behind or have defaulted they will not help either. I guess we are stuck with them until some miracle happens :)

Pima what is the status of this?

At Wamu you can go to any branch and talk to a branch manager. What I did was I went to a small branch in the neighborhood and I got lucky and found a branch manager who was willing to actually help me. I got all of those (7) PDL's reversed and most NFS fees credited back. I got him to put a FREEZE on the account--he wasn't sure if he could do it so as nicely as I could I told him about the Office of Financial Management Systems and that he was forcing me to file a complaint with them. That seemed to be the key that unlocked the door and finally after almost a month the account just got closed today. WAMU isn't a National Bank so they don't come under the control of OCC. This has been a good lesson for me and I want to THANK everybody who contributed to helping me.

I could not have gotten out of the PDL trap withoout your help and support. Bank didn't want to understand my problem and didn't want to help--everything was dark and gloomy but now the clouds are lifting.

Good news, Pima! That is certainly a step in the right direction. I'm sure that you feel loads better to have control over your money again!

glad to hear it has been resolved, congrats!

WaMu isn't a national bank? I thought that if the bank had branches in more then one state then it fell under the OCC.

its an FSB

Oh okay, I see . . .

What Type of Bank Is Your Bank?

October 2, 2007 by TFB

No, it????????s not a trick question. While most people think a bank is a bank is a bank, the financial institutions we usually call a ???????bank??????? actually come in many different flavors. Some are organized under federal laws, some under state laws. Some are a special kind called thrift, savings and loan or savings association. Some are members of the Federal Reserve, some are not. Depending on the types, they are regulated by different entities. I learned these from the book The Greatest-Ever Bank Robbery which I reviewed a few weeks ago. Here are some categories of banks in the United States:

1. National Bank. These institutions are organized under federal laws. Their primary federal regulator is The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). All national banks are required to be members of the Federal Reserve. Their names typically (but don????????t have to) include the word ???????national??????? or end with ???????N.A.??????? which stands for National Association. For example Zions First National Bank and Bank of America N.A. are national banks.

2. Federal Savings Association. These institutions are organized under the federal Home Owners???????? Loan Act. They are required to do a substantial amount of business in mortgage lending. Their primary federal regulator is a different branch of the Treasury department called The Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS). They are NOT members of the Federal Reserve, but are instead members of a parallel Federal Home Loan Banks system. Their names often (but not always) include the word ???????savings??????? or end with ???????FSB??????? which stands for Federal Savings Bank. For example Washington Mutual Bank and ING Bank, fsb are federal savings associations.

3. State Member Bank. These institutions are organized under the state laws but they chose to become members of the Federal Reserve. Their primary federal regulator is the Federal Reserve. For example SunTrust Bank and Fifth Third Bank are state chartered banks which are also members of the Federal Reserve.

4. State Non-Member Bank. These institutions are organized under the state laws but they are NOT members of the Federal Reserve. Their primary federal regulator is FDIC. For example Bank of the West and GMAC Bank are state chartered banks who are not members of the Federal Reserve.

5. State Savings Association. Like their federal counterpart, these institutions also do substantial amount of business in mortgage lending, except they are organized under state laws. Their primary federal regulator is FDIC. For example Emigrant Bank is a state chartered savings association.

Finally, a credit union is not a bank at all. Credit unions are not insured by FDIC. They are supervised and insured by a different federal agency NCUA.

thefinancebuff.com/2007/10/what-type-of-bank-is-your-bank.html