Collection agency took money from the checking account

Take the names off of the account, legally they debited the account since her parents names are on it also, bit you can still file a dispute with the bank.

She tried but it didn't work. I was under impression that they had to notify the primary holder of the account first. But they didn't.

How did the collection agency take the money? Was it a court order, like a writ or levy? Also, the bank I work at does not allow any names to be removed from an account unless that person is dead or declared legally incompetent. I always tell people to just close the account and open a new one. Anthony is right about it, though. If they are signers on the account, it's allowed. Like how if you have a joint account with your kid, and they screw up their account, the bank can take money from your individual account at the same bank to offset any fees. If you can tell me how the collection agency took the money, I can tell you if you can dispute it.

If there is no judgment, and the parents didn't authorize the debit, file a complaint with the bank and they must conduct an investigation within 45 days. It is a violation of the Electronic Funds Transfer act.

We have just experienced a collection agency taking money from our joint acct. The bank told me it was linked to my fiancee's SS#. They took alomost $1,000, and claim he owes $5,565 total. He was not aware of any existing debt. He received no notification in the mail prior to this action.

Wells Fargo will not close the account, nor remove my name even though this action was taken against my fiancee alone. They claim the financial agency had a court order to be able to do this.

I read it is a violation of the Electronic Funds Transfer Act.

What is our next step? Should we contact the agency directly, or have a lawyer do it for us? How fdo we find out what they are claiming that he owes money from?

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

~Betty in San Diego, CA

Hi Betty and welcome! The first thing I would do is ask to see a copy of that court order. If they are garnishing they are obligated to let you see it. It will have the name of the company on it.
I would also have your fiancee check with his payroll dept at work, because chances are they would try and go after his check too.
Also, when you find out about the debt, check the statute of limitations on it. If it's over 7 years, there is nothing the creditor can legally do.

Thank you very much Kscornell! I'm so glad I found this site and I have learned a lot already.
Just yesterday we were really at a loss for what to do. Tomorrow he will check those things you suggested.

I also wondered, will the copy of the court order have any indication of the original debt it came from? Or is that something else he will have to ask the collection agency?

Once we find out what this is coming from, and if it is valid, what is the best way to negotiate a payment plan? I understand that we should get everything in writing, and that some agencies will be more likely to work out a plan than others.

We had also mentioned the possibility of having a lawyer contact them for him. The thing is that we don't have much extra money to hire one.

~Betty

First off, get the debt validated. Since the burden of proof is on the creditor to show you owe it, we have them do what's call validate, or prove you owe the money.
Then if you agree that this is indeed your debt and you owe it, try and call the original creditor if you can to make payment arrangements. They may agree to a settlement, they may not, but try and work something out with them.
Once payment arrangements are made and kept, they may in good faith lift the garnishment, but see how this goes--and keep us posted.

I'm not sure I understand why the bank will not remove someone's name from the account - if the primary account holder goes into the bank in person and demands they be removed, they should be removed.

Short of that, I guess you could always close the account and open another in your own name?

If there's no judgment and your fiancee didn't authorize this, the bank must investigate. In the meantime, open a new account (in your name only) with a different bank. If at the same bank, they might still try something.

If the debtor demands validation from a judgment creditor, isn't a copy of the judgment considered proper validation? I mean from that point on, they don't need to provide anything else, do they?

Morningstar you are mostly correct.Judgement creditor would have to file and present assigment of judgement if they were not the original holder and they would still be obligated to provide a person a cost breakdown.

The bank should have sent them a letter with all of this information in it--and I assume it would have the name and phone number of the creditor.

kscornell,I don't know if banks have any obligation to inform you of a levy.The only notice I am aware of for garnishments is for your wages.Debtcruncher may be able to expand on that.

I think anytime they take money out of your account they are obligated to inform you, be it for a levy or another bank-initiated withdrawal.

:? Like I said I am unsure of a bank levy procedure.Normally where I live,you serve the bank with the writ thru the sheriff and you find out when account is frozen.The sheriff's office does send you a copy of the writ but your account is usually frozen by then.

Great big thank you's all around to everyone who offered their invaluable advice! I am so glad to have found this forum.

We will follow up on obtaining validation and see if it is legitimate. If it is, I am keeping my fingers crossed that he will work something out with the OC.

As for the bank, Wells Fargo, they suck! They will not let us close the account. Despite primary account holder demanding them to take off my name, they won't do anything. Any money we put in there will go directly to the creditor until they get what they claim he owes them.

~Betty

Hey Betty,
I also bank with WF and can tell you that they will let you put a fraud alert on the account and you can fix it so that they have to call you before anything is debited from the account. I did this when I was first getting out from PDL's. It can be very slow but it is effective. Call the 1-800 number and ask about this. Good luck!

Thank you Kscornell. I will call them as soon as possible. They were saying that there was nothing they can do, but I will place a fraud alert.

Ks,

Following the great tip you gave, I called Wells Fargo, and they were able to put a Fraud Lost/Stolen Restraint on my account. They have set it up to call us if any other activity arises. They advised setting up a "payment instruction" within the fraud restraint that automatically returns any payments that attempt to go through on the account.

Thanks a million.

Now on to consulting with our new lawyer. I have found a few and verified their licenses through the CA state bar.