     David Temkin (Dtemkin) | Tuesday, October 17, 2000 - 06:44 pm 
I'll try to keep this as brief as possible - When I was 16, I opened a checking account at a local bank. The person who
opened it for me was a friend of a friend's brother. In more recent times, I overdrafed the account a couple of times and left it with a negative balance and went to another bank (due to disputes with that bank over fees and such). The person who opened it told her brother to tell my friend, and his other friends (who all work together at my former employer whom I was trying to go back to). I later heard from 3 or 4 people that "I should pay such and such bank, I owe them such and such amount of money". I'm
wondering if I have something worth pursuing, and if so, what kind of attorney I should consult locally... |
| Christine Baker (Admin) | Tuesday, October 17, 2000 - 08:47 pm
Well, I'm not sure what to say here. She's liable for your bills at the bank and now has the collectors calling her? |
| David Temkin (Dtemkin) | Wednesday, October 18, 2000 - 03:00 am
No, she's not... I probably phrased that wrong. She opened it *for* me in my name, so it's tied to her at the bank - when there's a problem with it, she hears about it.
I'm liable for it, and the banks' collectors are calling me. |
| Christine Baker (Admin) | Wednesday, October 18, 2000 - 11:09 am
That's odd, and annoying, to say the least. I'd tell the bank to stop contacting her. If you've already told them, I think you could pursue legal action. You might want to mention that you lost a job opportunity over it. |
| David Temkin (Dtemkin) | Wednesday, October 18, 2000 - 11:50 am
Well, she works there, it's obvious she has constant access to look at my accounts.
I was contemplating a trip in to see her branch manager. |
| Christine Baker (Admin) | Wednesday, October 18, 2000 - 04:44 pm
Ok, I finally realize that she WORKS at the bank.
I cannot believe that ANYONE employed by a bank would resort to releasing confidential account info to 3rd parties.
Isn't that part of the first hour of training?
"ALWAYS verify the identity of the account holder prior to discussing ANYTHING about ANY account!"
Also didn't know 16 year olds can open checking accounts.
Anyway, because she has access to your account doesn't mean that she can broadcast your account info all over town. I'd definitely send a written complaint to headquarters.
As I recall, there are some very strict rules about how you can collect debts and who you can discuss debts with, probably very STATE specific too. Isn't there a Fair Debt Collection Act?
It is of interest to me too, there are some debts I'd like to collect. But I haven't had time to look into it, or even do a search here.
I'd really like to know which bank that is. |
| David Temkin (Dtemkin) | Wednesday, October 18, 2000 - 06:45 pm
I'll gladly say it:
Sovereign Bank.
She opened the account for me (and a friend of mine) as a 'favor' (his sister was dating my best friend at the time).
I never thought about that as being a collection tactic... I moreso approached it as her just being obnoxious and releasing my personal account information.
I wrote a letter to the President/CEO of Sovereign Bank and sent it certified mail detailing the situation. I never heard anything back. She called my house at one point and asked to speak to me. I wasn't home at the time, and she, very snootily said to my roommate "Have David call Jen at the bank. He won't want to call me back but he SHOULD call me back" and hung up. She then called my work voicemail and left the same message there.
Apparently she got in trouble for opening an account for a 16 y/o (even though at the time this all started I was 20).
I have no clue how to approach it from here. I don't even know if it's worth approaching. I'm sure I'm blacklisted in lovely ChexSystems, but I'm not planning on switching banks again anytime soon. |
| Christine Baker (Admin) | Friday, October 20, 2000 - 10:51 am
This is AMAZING! I'd send a copy of that certified letter to their regulator, probably the FDIC, file a complaint. |
| David Temkin (Dtemkin) | Monday, November 06, 2000 - 12:56 pm
Question to anyone:
Think I should sue Sovereign for violating the FDCPA in this case? Might be worth the 1 hour for the $1000 bucks...
Any opinions on this? |
