Money sent to blocked bank account! Please help! :[

[natashaiera]

Okay so I opened a new bank account with Citibank and Citibank blocked the **** out of my account. The account is under my x husband's name (I have a bad banking history and I KNOW I SCREWED UP) and Citibank won't even tell me why my account is blocked or what I need to do to unblock my account they just keep telling me to wait for a phone call but it has been over a week!!! There's $700 in that account (which is a lot of money for me). What's so terrible about this is that Citibank allowed the money to get deposited no problem but when I tell them to send the money back or close the account they say "sorry there's no servicing available on your account at the moment." They're telling me they have absolutely no access to the account and the department that does does not accept phone calls. I was thinking of calling Paypal and telling them the money was deposited into the wrong bank account but the bank account is confirmed so I'm not sure how that would work. If I tell them I did not authorize the transfer I'm assuming they'll limit my account. Any help??? Thank you..

[hackteck]

they will probably end up closing the account and sending you a check

[nickopedia]

The problem here is with Citibank, as they cannot just hold your money like that.

File a compliant against Citibank with the OCC (Office of the Comptroller of the Currency) in Houston, TX. You can goto their website to start the process. Here is the link:
https://www.occ.treas.gov/topics/dis...omplaints.html

I will guarantee you 100% if you do that, your complaint will reach the very highest levels of the bank, usually the Executive Office will contact you to resolve your problem within 2-3 weeks after submitting it.

OCC is a federal agency that banks are scared of. They take those complaints very seriously, and are even more scared of them than having a lawsuit filed against them.

[phaz0rz]

Originally Posted by hackteck

they will probably end up closing the account and sending you a check

I 2nd this. BoA did the same thing to me years ago. 99% chance they'll mail a check to whatever address they have on file after a couple weeks. 1% chance they'll hold the money and ask you to prove it's legitimately yours.

[nickopedia]

The bank cannot hold you funds unless they have definitive proof there is fraud involved.

Federally chartered banks have a certain amount of time to notify you of actions on your account, such as refunding the balance upon closure.

I wouldn't wait though and light a fire under their butt and file that complaint with OCC. It will be effective to resolve this problem quickly.

I had a similar issue to yours so years back with BofA, and had the Vice President of the retail banking division call me and practically begging me to close the complaint with OCC. They hate it when you do that.

[phaz0rz]

Not saying you're wrong Nick. If you feel it's necessary OP then by all means escalate this. Personally though I wouldn't want the extra attention.

[natashaiera]

Thanks everyone, you all have been very helpful. Just to clarify though, getting this resolved with Paypal is not an option?

[adeel780]

your bank can refund that.
never call to paypal pls.
if your bank account is close then it should be auto refund from your bank to paypal.
in such case i have experince that bank is sending back funds to paypal.
but i m not sure about your credit history .
do u have any loan with same bank?

[newjerseymax]

I would wait this out and see what bank says.

[natashaiera]

Originally Posted by adeel780

your bank can refund that.
never call to paypal pls.
if your bank account is close then it should be auto refund from your bank to paypal.
in such case i have experince that bank is sending back funds to paypal.
but i m not sure about your credit history .
do u have any loan with same bank?

No I don't have a loan with them.

[natashaiera]

UPDATE**
I finally reached a representative that was sort of honest with me. Based on what she said and my experience with banks and Paypal, it seems like Citibank is trying to find a way to prove that there is fraud on the account so they can hold my funds permanently. She said the account is under review and it will take anywhere from 30-60 days to complete the review. They're still refusing to close the account or send back the funds to Paypal.