Question about bank collection

[blondie813]

First off, this forum has been amazing. Thank you all for sharing your information and advice. I have felt so empowered since I found this site! Knowledge truly is power!

I apologize if this has been addressed before but after a search I really couldn't find anything that matched my situation specifically.

I had a bank account in 2003 that became overdrawn after a deposited check (one that someone else had written to me) was deposited and then bounced at their bank. My account became overdrawn and was subsequently closed and placed for collection with JJ Marshall and Associates. I disputed with the CRA and it came back verified so then I sent the DV letter to the CA. I received a response today from JJ Marshall which contained a photocopy of the deposited item that was returned and some computer mainframe printouts showing the balance when the deposit was made and the subsequent overdrafts. None of the items that were submitted for payment after the deposit was reversed were paid by my bank, however, the bank tagged a $25 fee to each item. The original returned deposit was $400. JJ Marshall is listing the debt as $694.99.

I am looking for advice on next steps. Is the information they provided enough to be considered true validation? Are there any guidelines you can point me to regarding the collection of the overdraft fees since the fees are not associated with any items the bank actually paid?

Any guidance is greatly appreicated.

[willingtocope]

Welcome...

I'm afraid they've probably got ya...

Did you ever pay the $400 back? Did your account actually go overdrawn because of checks you wrote, or because of the fees?

I had a similiar situation a few months ago...one of those "automatic renewal" things using an old check card overdrew an account. When I found out about it, I called the people that did the automatic withdrawal and had it reversed, but the bank had already racked up $150 in fees...so the account was overdrawn by like $103. So...I called the bank...several times...and finally got them to reverse most of the fees. Of course, I still wound up overdrawn by $5 or so...and now there's a collection agency writing me letters for the $5.

Anyway...if you paid the $400 back...call the bank...and give them an "oh gee, golly, really like you folks...this has never happened to me before...can you help me?"

[blondie813]

Unfortunately, no, I did not pay the $400. I (obviously incorrectly) made the assumption that the bank would pursue reimbursement from the deposited item that came back. The account did indeed become overdrawn from the fees...not because they paid any items that came in.

I really appreciate your input. I will try calling the bank. I am sure they just want their $400...the fees they charge are most certainly just fluff and nonsense. Or if that route doesn't work, perhaps since this debt is 4 years old I can hope that the CA is willing to negotiate and I can settle it with a pfd.

[elyse449]

You spent the 400.00 then thinking you had it in there? You said you deposited, not cashed so I'm wondering where the 400.00 ACTUALLY went because there doesn't seem to have ever been any 400.00 at all.

Otherwise why do they think YOU owe them this? If they deposit 400.00 in there but there isn't 400.00 in the account it's coming from than all they need do is reverse it and charge an overdraft fee (which probably overdrew your account, but only by however much was left)...now, they may charge BOTH accts the overdraft, I don't know...but it would be an overdraft fee from the check that bounced from whoever wrote you the bogus check.

Here's what I'm thinking...say you had 10.00 in your checking acct at the time of the deposit. They tentatively add the 400.00 to it, making it 410.00. The check bounces so they have to deduct the 400.00 plus a 25.00 overdraft charge bringing your account to a negative 15.00-so, 15.00 is ALL you should owe UNLESS you spent the money thinking you had it to spend. So...yeah, I'm confused.

Elyse

[myscoresawful]

You spent the 400.00 then thinking you had it in there? You said you deposited, not cashed so I'm wondering where the 400.00 ACTUALLY went because there doesn't seem to have ever been any 400.00 at all.

Otherwise why do they think YOU owe them this? If they deposit 400.00 in there but there isn't 400.00 in the account it's coming from than all they need do is reverse it and charge an overdraft fee (which probably overdrew your account, but only by however much was left)...now, they may charge BOTH accts the overdraft, I don't know...but it would be an overdraft fee from the check that bounced from whoever wrote you the bogus check.

Here's what I'm thinking...say you had 10.00 in your checking acct at the time of the deposit. They tentatively add the 400.00 to it, making it 410.00. The check bounces so they have to deduct the 400.00 plus a 25.00 overdraft charge bringing your account to a negative 15.00-so, 15.00 is ALL you should owe UNLESS you spent the money thinking you had it to spend. So...yeah, I'm confused.

Elyse

I could be wrong, but this is what I am reading:

(for the sake of simplicity, let's say she had $0.00 in her account).

She receives a check for $200.00 and deposits it into her account. She writes 16 checks for $10.00 each, (or any amount that adds up to less than the $200 she believes is now in her account).

The deposited check is not honored by the bank of the person who wrote it to her and so her bank reverses her $200.00 balance back down to $0.00.

All 16 checks that she wrote, begin hitting her bank and are returned (not paid) to the people she writes them to. Her bank charges her a $25.00 over draft fee for each one and now her bank is negative $400.00. (16 x $25.00).

It could even be that she only wrote 8 checks and they were presented a second time for a total of $50.00 in charges for each check.

[blondie813]

From what I can recall (4 years ago) and what I can see from the print outs they sent...you are both right. I had a positive balance in my account when I deposited the $400. So some items that hit were covered even when that particular deposit was reversed. From what I can see based on their print out the true "overdrawn" balance really ended up being -$16.21. Then 9 items were presented for payment after that...not paid by the bank and returned yet the bank charged me $25 each for each item. One small item was paid, however, they still charged me the $25 fee. The final overdrawn balance was -269.99 with their fees. So, it looks like they are charging me overdrawn balance plus the $400 of the returned deposited item.

I think my plan of attack is going to be to contact the bank directly. I will try to get to someone higher up and plead my case and hope for goodwill, as the charges they are putting on me are mostly their fees.

I really appreciate everyone's input. This has definitely been stressing me out and I have been hard pressed to find anything specific about the collection of overdraft fees by CA's in my google searches.