Should I get a lawyer??

**AnW819** · 12-24-2009, 12:55 PM

I am so depressed right now. My bank is killing me. I had a positive amount 2 days ago. Check the bank today bc DHs pay went in today and they charged me over $400 in NSF fees when my account was negitive and they are saying that they will not take them off. Its such BULL. I was not even in the neigitive!!!!!!!!!!!!

What am I suppose to do here????????

**Greebo** · 12-24-2009, 12:59 PM

First I'd be looking closely at the online transaction register to see what pushed your account under.

**Greebo** · 12-24-2009, 01:01 PM

Join me on the main page chat if you're reading this now (1pm EST, 12/24/09)

**ladytoysdream** · 12-24-2009, 06:59 PM

Were you able to get things straightened out with the bank ?

**AnW819** · 12-24-2009, 09:30 PM

Well it ended up not being $400 in fees...but no...the bank was no help. They basically said they see that they are wrong but they can maybe refund $70 and thats it. They should be refunding $117. Ugh.

**frugalwarrior2** · 12-24-2009, 11:27 PM

Sorry your having trouble w/ your bank. I highly suggest considering a credit union. They have overdraft protection and i rarely have any real prob. w/ them.

**frugalfranny** · 12-25-2009, 12:08 AM

Like greebo said..........check it out first.

**littleplum** · 12-25-2009, 09:30 AM

Originally Posted by frugalwarrior2

Sorry your having trouble w/ your bank. I highly suggest considering a credit union. They have overdraft protection and i rarely have any real prob. w/ them.

What county are you in? I bet I could find you two or three CUs to pick from.

**AnW819** · 12-25-2009, 08:54 PM

Yeah DH and I have decided to go with a credit union.

**frugalwarrior2** · 12-25-2009, 10:34 PM

I truely think it will work better for you. I can check my accts for free online every day. I knew everyone.(no longer go in). There's overdraft. Loans will be easier to get if you really need one. They even have discounted event tickets.
You may want to consider duplicate (carbon) checks. I do this so I can tell if DH wrote checks what the amt. is. He forgets to log EVERY time.

**AnW819** · 12-25-2009, 10:52 PM

Can anyone tell me the difference between a credit union and a regular bank?

**frugalwarrior2** · 12-25-2009, 11:02 PM

The money you deposit in a credit union (in part because they have operating cost like anywhere else) is funneled back in for members. The money is used to help members get loans. Although credit unions are not as exclusive as they once were its ALMOST like a club vs. a business. Banks operate to make money above helping their customers. Banks(goal=profit). Credit Union=members helping members after costs. We always think of it a more personal community helping place.

**littleplum** · 12-26-2009, 01:46 PM

Originally Posted by AnW819

Can anyone tell me the difference between a credit union and a regular bank?

Joining a credit union is like buying "stock". You own a piece of it. Your share entitles you to use the services of the CU.

Generally a good credit union is better than a good bank. Lower fees, lower loan interest rates, higher savings interest rates, etc. I have found that the service is better as well. The exception to this would be the small community bank like what my husband grew up with where the bank manager is in the VFW with his dad.

I'll give you an example that we encountered with the difference between a mid-size bank and our current CU:

As we were doing our TMMO, we decided to sell DH's truck. But we were about $4,000 upside down, but only had $1,000 cash to spare (over our BEF). He had been with the same mid-size regional bank for 4 years, and we went to the branch near our apartment at least three times a month. About half the times we went in there, the branch manager would try to sell us a loan. Then, when we decided to sell that truck, and borrow the difference, suddenly, it was going to be "difficult" to get us the loan, and it was going to take "weeks". So, we borrowed the $3,000 through a cash advance, paid it off two weeks later when we got our tax refunds and closed out all of our accounts with that bank.

We took our money over to the local CU, and opened accounts there. 6 months later, we found a sweet deal on a used truck for DH, but he had only saved half the cash for it. The guy would have held it for us, but winter was coming, and walking to work in sleet at 3 am was not an option for DH. So, we went down to the CU, and asked for a loan. We had cash in hand in 30 minutes. The lending manager apologized that it took "so long".

One other thing that I would look for if you tend to move around a lot is a CU that is a member of CU Swirl. It's a shared branching organization. Because CUs are so small and local, if you move out of the local area, it becomes difficult to do even the most simple transactions. My CU in AZ is a CUSwirl branch, so I can go to another CU that belongs to the shared branching program and make deposits to my accounts if needed. Once my auto loan is paid off, we will close all the accounts, but in the meantime, it's nice to be able to visit a branch here and make a deposit back in AZ.

**Russ** · 12-26-2009, 01:59 PM

I'm trying figure out why you would need a lawyer? :thinking:

**littleplum** · 12-26-2009, 02:07 PM

Originally Posted by rcannon

I'm trying figure out why you would need a lawyer? :thinking:

I believe she thought she was going to sue the bank for messing up her account, but I think now she's realized that someone wrote a check and didn't log it in the register, and it was not the bank's fault.