Citibank closed my bank account and stole my money because it was inactive WTF!!
 

About 10 years ago (damn I'm old!) I opened a bank account in New York City and deposited some cash there for my USA travels. I never came back and just left the money there. Yesterday I remembered having that bank account and that Citibank has stopped sending me Statements in 2007. So I call up to see how rich I am. I told her I was not an American citizen or resident or anything and that I need to know why I didn't get any statements in the past.
The very annoying customer service agent kept asking for a social security number which I cannot have. So finally after taking my account info she said there were no records of my Name, the Account number and my Card Number and that my money was gone. GONE!!!

But there is hope: Chrissy (the only person I know who knows about banks in America) from WebmasterChecks was very helpful and got me the info "banks do consider accounts not used for more than a year inactive and accounts not used for more than 2 years dormant". And for me "inactive" sounds better than gone.

So tomorrow I will call them again and see how I can get my $3000 back. I am so pissed, this sucks so much!

I wonder if I will see my money again or if the bank used it to finance more shady loans and investments.

bump for fucked up shit.

that sucks!

Hmm i just readed in newspapers how citibank going out of biz so....

That sucks man, good luck :(

Sucks to hear but for some reason does not surprise me..


Klen,, Readed should be Read.

Wonder where those billions of profit came from... the bank thanks you for bailing them out :)

you must be a high roller :pimp i baby sit my money like a new baby:1orglaugh

Standard policy for all banks I think..

National City does the same fucked up shit.

It makes you appreciate the 1940's Swiss banking system even more.

:disgust

I cant understand how a bank can close an account without paying the money back to the owner.

For the first time i hear that bank can close an account without asking the custumer :(
personaly i wouldnt use that bank anymore So go take your money and never came back there.Hope you'll get your money back

Thanks guys.

IF I get my money back I will never put a foot in that bank any more. Let's hope for the best... I haven't been to the states ever since and I hope I don't have to go in person to get my money back. Flights aint cheap!

Banks can't auto-close your account for any reason.
Even if you're dead only court can close your account once the funds are transferred to your legal inheritor.

Happened to me also.

But after my account was closed I didn't care so a couple of years went by and
I got a statement saying I owed fees and my account would be closed if it remained
inactive. WTF???

So they closed it and then opened it back up just to charge some fees.
So they closed it again.

So six years later I went and opened a new account there and they said, yes
you had an account with us before. I asked about the money in the other
account but never got it.

This stuff is probaby why I see a lot of "check cashing" places opening up.
They are taking the business from crappy banks.

It must take up a ton of computer resources to store an account number and balance.:disgust

god bless america!

Depending on the state, it may not be the banks fault. If they had proper contact information and didn't send you something, I feel it's pretty shady. Legally they are required (usually, depends on the state) to both contact you at your last known address, and/or publish your name in a local newspaper.

Your money is still around. At least if you were a US citizen it would be, I guess I'm unsure about foreign-owned accounts but I assume it would be the same?

Google escheatment if you like.

Or also, a decent URL that sums it up (fairly accurately as far as I can tell) - http://www.helpwithmybank.gov/faqs/b..._inactive.html

You may disagree with the laws, but they exist for a reason. Whether those reasons are valid or not is up for debate :)

-Phil

Edit: The reason it's not the banks fault, is that many states legally require banks to turn over accounts to the state if they are inactive (read: no deposits or withdrawals) for more than X years. X is usually 3 or 5 years, from some brief googling.

thats some fucked up stuff

that sucks really.

I wonder if you take a credit from them will they close account as well

bump for you dude!

service charged out of existence!

"For your protection, banks, insurance companies, utilities, investment companies and many other businesses are required by State law to surrender inactive accounts to the State. "

Go here to find out how to get it back.

http://www.osc.state.ny.us/ouf/index.htm

that's some bullshit

they can't just take your money, if they closed your account the money is still under you ss# you can claim your funds thru a different venue, theres a office in Albany NY which handles that type of deal.

get yo:2 cents::2 cents::2 cents::2 cents:

wow dude hope you get your moolah back- i wouldnt have left it there for so long anyways lol im a shopper :)

I didn't realize people didn't know about this. Your money ends up on some ledger somewhere if the account is inactive for too long.

Yep.. that was basically my point. I missed the NYC location, so it's pretty simple.

It appears this all applies to foreign-held accounts as well, minus some interest that may have accrued while they held it. Looks like the state keeps 30% of any interest earned on your behalf :)

-Phil

cucking funts!

If I remember correctly your money would go into a state owned account, most states have a website you can search for your name in(for free) and if there you can claim it once you provide proper identifictation.

Do a search for unclaimed money NY, skip the sites that charge you for the info and find the state operated site.

what happens if you have just a few pennies with a bank but owe them thousands and haven't made any contact with them for like 10 years?

Does that debt just dry up too?

Good luck dude! CitiBank sucks!

and people complain about epass..

That's one Big Fucking situation!!!

That is part of the Patriot Act.

It's worse in New Jersey. Here the state claims the money from inactive accounts and it is a bureaucratic nightmare to get it back.

i hope that is not the case with a savings account

I believe the rule with Citibank is that you need to have a combined total of $1500 in yout banking and checking account. Luckily I found out early enough and made some deposits.

Bank of America has a similar policy - they waive fees if you have direct deposit account, otherwise they have maintainence fees as well

My savings account was closed also.

good luck getting that back... it's already in the CEO pension fund

Shit almost happened to me a few years ago. I had a bank in NY that I'd deposit random sponsor checks that were less than $50. I wound up with almost, but not quite a grand in the account, moved and forgot about it for a few years. During that time they instituted a minimum balance, 1k, and started charging me fees. That almost $1000 turned into about 400 after all the fees they got me for.

Most states have unclaimed property laws that govern how you can get your money back. Some states require companies to forward the money or property to the state, and there is a procedure to get the money back. Look into it...

Fuckin bandits,bad enough with their outrageous fees

i have fucking had it with these banks. what made me sick was when they were begging the Senate Banking Committee for billions in tax payer money while at the same time telling people who wanted to renegotiate their loans "sorry, a contract is a contract."

ps there are smarter people in the porn biz than finance IMO. so they can make cash in a bull market running a leveraged hedge fund?!?! who cant make money on stocks in a bull market?!! now they are being shown up for the tards they are when they cant make money in a bear market. also, doesnt the term 'hedge' mean that you make money if the market moves either way!? you arent really very well hedged if you only make cash on an upward move but then go bankrupt on the downward move.

fucked up shit...

thats actually pretty fucked up.. hopefully you will get it back

The rules are much older than the patriot act. States have had such rules for a long ass time. For awhile when I was much younger I used to track people down who had unclaimed property and act as the middleman, taking a cut and getting them their cash.
Same rules apply for everything from safe deposit boxes, utility deposits, checks that went missing in the mail, refunds, etc.

I will try my luck today, I hope I can achieve something with a phone call. As much as I love NYC I don't really want to fly there from Europe just because of this fuck up...

And what is the point of a savings account if you cannot save any money but lose everything? Should have put it in a Box under my bed.

Just got off the phone with Citibank, it is confirmed that my account does not exists and that I have to ask for my money at New York State's Unclaimed Funds. I hope this will work...

that sucks