question about bank accounts

[DizzieDizney]

I was just kind of curious about this....I recently opened an account at a bank..I'm the primary my dh is joint w/ me on the account. DH has his own account w/ the same bank that he is primary on (i'm not joint w/ him)...anyways, dh has a credit card w/ the bank on his primary account that was over the limit.....apparently since he was joint w/ me on my account the bank w/drew the over due amount from my account and transferred it to his account to his credit card. I was wondering if they can do that????? What if I had written a check and my account was too short to cover the check....they didn't tell me that they transferred money and I didn't know to deduct it from my balancing.....and I don't have access to his account so how do I know if his visa is over due or not....I'm really curious if they can do that??? Do I have any rights as far as protecting my money? They didn't have mine or dh's permission to do this....any thoughts?

 

[mudnuri]

I might be wrong, but my understanding is that a bank account can not be used to cover overdrafts, or late payments unless it is set up that way. What I mean is that you have to say to them...use this savings account to cover this checking account, should it be overdraft.

My understanding is that it is illegal for anyone to withdraw money from your account without your permission...usually writen.

Monday, I had to call GMAC and make a payment by phone because I was worried about the mail being slow due to the holidays, and my call was recorded, and I had to repeat stuff twice for the tape to be clear...I had to say the total debit twice, my name twice, then the lady asked "do you, **** ****** authorize GMAC to electronically debit $***.** from acount **** held at ******* bank, on December 21st, 2003.

I'd be first livid with the bank, then I'd have to wonder why DH and I didn't have joint accounts, and why I didnt know his visa was over the limit, and why he didnt have money in HIS account to cover it. but thats just me

Brandy

 

[floridaminnie]

Yes they can do this. They don't care who is first or second, because the way they see it you both have access to the account and you are both responsible for the account. If you look in the little book (I forget the legal term for the book) in the fine print it says that they can transfer funds from one account to cover an overdraft to another account. The reason for that is that you owe them that money. Most places do this as a last resort. Was the other account overdrawn for awhile. They can also do this when you don't pay your loans, credit cards or lines of credit that you have with them. For example, if your son's name is on your account as a signer and he has a loan that he hasn't been paying, the bank can take the money from "your" checking account b/c he's a signer on the account.

 

[DizzieDizney]

The payment on dh credit card was due on the 20 of Dec...they took the money from my account on the 23...it was only a few days late...and the reason why it had become over was because there were some charges on there from internet service that we didn't know about... it's a long story....we had cancelled our service...but a few weeks later they charged us and said we didn't cancel on the right date and that they had to charge us for the month of Nov and Dec...ugghhh that was a battle of it's own....they were suppose to credit back the account but they did not and we had to cll them back in which they said they would credit it back in the next few weeks.....still no credit..... but back to the bank situation...the reason I'm not joint w/ dh on his account is because he has 3 accounts...2 that we have joint together..that is where our direct deposit goes..and the one w/ the credit card..no direct deposit into that one and that is the one he has had way before we were married...I'm letting him keep that one....I do have access to it meaning i can view it online or steal his debit card from his wallet if needed...but I just don't pay any attention to it b/c the only thing it is used for is the credit card.....which he does pay...but it was my understanding that you usually have 5 days after the payment due date to make a payment... oh well....I guess it's both our faults...if we owe the money then we should pay it... I was just kind of upset b/c the bank doesn't know if I had any checks written....i could of easily had bounce checks everywhere because of this...luckily I won't though..... gotta head of to work .....

 

[C.Ann]

Yes - it's legal.. And they can collect a bad debt this way as well - totally wipe out the account for the amount they need..

The only way they can't touch the money is if part - or all of the funds that go into the account - is from Social Security checks..