JP Morgan Chase Plays Fast and Loose with Escheated Funds?

For those not familiar with the term:
es·cheat  (s-cht)   n.

1. Reversion of land held under feudal tenure to the manor in the absence of legal heirs or claimants.

2. Law

a. Reversion of property to the state in the absence of legal heirs or claimants.

b. Property that has reverted to the state when no legal heirs or claimants exist.

intr. & tr.v. es·cheat·ed, es·cheat·ing, es·cheats Law

To revert or cause to revert by escheat.

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[Middle English eschete, from Old French (from escheoir, to fall out) and from Anglo-Latin escheta, both from Vulgar Latin *excadre, to fall out : Latin ex-, ex- + Latin cadere, to fall; see kad- in Indo-European roots.

In other words, when you leave money at a bank for too long with no activity in your account, the bank must escheat the funds to the State.  Most State Treasurers in the United States have on-line search engines where you check to see if you have any escheated funds (sometimes called unclaimed funds, or lost money). I have successfully recouped thousands of dollars on multiple occasions on funds that insurance companies have placed with the state for who knows what reason.  Unless you check, you will never know if they are there.
I check my name and all my dependents on an annual basis. I also check my business names.
I once found funds in South Dakota because I used a bill paying service in Sioux Falls and the broker did not have my home address, so they sent the funds to that state.  I have successfully recouped funds in six states.
Most recently I have a very unusual situation that has developed:

XXX LLC (name has been changed to keep anonymity) is a domestic Limited Liability Corporation registered for doing business within the State of New York, having been organized on Feb. 2, 2005.  XXX LLC is currently recorded as being active and in good standing with the Secretary of State of New York.  XXX LLC has maintained a business bank account with JPMorgan Chase Bank.  XXX LLC does business in the Bronx, NY. The address registered with the Secretary of State for New York for filing of service is in Nassau County, NY.

The Office of the Comptroller of New York State has indicated that they are holding funds in excess of $100 that were escheated to them by JPMorgan Chase Bank during the calendar year 2012 on behalf of XXX LLC. They record the address associated with XXX LLC as being in Yonkers, NY (Westchester County).  The New York State Comptroller’s Office also indicates that the XXX LLC account was established through a branch of JPMorgan Chase located within New York State and that the type of property is “Cashier’s/Teller Checks”.

While I can provide documentation to the Comptroller of New York State as to  XXX LLC’s identity, including articles of organization, and, further, I can provide substantiation as to my relationship as managing member of that entity, I cannot provide any substantiation to the Comptroller as to the address that was provided by JPMorgan Chase that they show as affiliated with this entity as required by the Comptroller.  The Comptroller of New York has taken the position that until I “prove” to their satisfaction that the funds are XXX’s, they will not honor an application for claiming the funds.  The Comptroller’s Office is requiring me to provide some substantiation that the address in Yonkers is associated with the XXX LLC for which I am the managing member

I have done a search with the Secretary of State of the State of New York with regard to entity names and there is only one entity by the name of XXX LLC (either active or inactive) that is associated with that name or a name similar to it in New York State, and that entity is the entity for which I am the managing member. I have also checked NJ and CT. In NJ and CT, again, I find no entities with that name.

I have checked the internet for “XXX”. I find no indication that there is any other entity on the internet doing business with this name in the United States, or for that matter, anywhere in the world.

JPMorgan Chase has disavowed any knowledge about the funds that were escheated to the Comptroller of New York or their ability to respond to my inquiry about the funds.  They have directed me to deal with the Comptroller of New York State.

Further, it is my understanding that by banking regulation, JPMorgan Chase would have been required to obtain the articles of organization and other identifying information from XXX LLC before opening an account in the name of XXX LLC.  Since I am the representative of the only entity that could have opened such an account, the funds that were escheated to the Comptroller of New York State by JPMorgan Chase must have been those of XXX LLC (the one and the same XXX LLC for which I am the managing member) and no other.

On March 11, I filed a complaint with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which is the regulator of JPMorgan Chase, seeking assistance in this matter.  More specifically, I have asked OCC to require that JP Morgan Chase either:

1. correct the information provided to the Office of the Comptroller of New York State so that we may successfully claim the funds, or, alternatively,

2. Provide auditable substantiation to either me or the OCC that there is another legitimate entity with the same name as ours for which they escheated the funds to the Office of the Comptroller of New York State.

On March 19, I received a call from the executive office of JP Morgan Chase indicating that they have received a copy of the complaint that I filed and that they will respond in writing within 14 business days to both me and the OCC.

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Through an unrelated sequence of events I have now learned that the Agent I retained for XXX LLC had maintained a lockbox with the same Post Office Box number in Yonkers New York that the Comptroller of New York State has associated with the unclaimed funds. So, it is clear that the funds are those of XXX LLC. I have now been attempting to get the proper documentation together so that I may claim the funds.

I have tried to get a letter from the Agent indicating that they maintained an Agency account at Hudson Valley Bank and directed my customers to remit their payments in the name of XXX LLC and in their name to that very lockbox in Yonkers, NY. The response I have gotten from the Hudson Valley Bank has been very interesting. They want to know the dates and number of checks that were not deposited in their lockbox in order for them to mail a letter of explanation to the New York State Comptroller's unclaimed funds department. Since I cannot provide that information they have been balking at writing any letter on my behalf. I have offered to indemnify them and hold them harmless for any claims they may sustain should they issue such a letter. Hudson Valley Bank's legal department is reviewing the matter.

I have also requested my Agent to issue a letter to the New York State Comptroller indicating that they are my Agent, that I have a contractual agreement with them, and that as part of the Agent agreement they maintained an Agency Account at Hudson Valley Bank and had remittances sent to the Post Office address in Yonkers New York. While I have not received that letter yet, they have indicated that they would send it.

I will post more on this story as it progresses. However, I must say that my recent interactions with JP Morgan Chase have been anything but friendly and enjoyable. I am glad that I have recently moved many of my accounts to other banks. For other information on JP Morgan Chase please see my other post.

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I have now determined that my Agent also had instructions to other clients of mine to mail remittances to the same Post Office Box in Yonkers, NY and to make those remittances payable to them. The Comptroller of New York State also has funds associated with that address and my Agent listed in their database. I intend to pursue those funds also.

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I have now searched the Comptroller of New York State for remittances to my previous Agent and have found that they are also holding funds there also. I am now pursuing those funds too.

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5/20/13
I have now received adequate letters from Hudson Vally Bank and my Agent with regard to this matter. I have today filed a claim with the Office of Unclaimed Funds of the State Comptroller to retrieve those funds. I have sent them the letters from Hudson, and my Agent and the articles of organization of XXX LLC and a copy of my driver's license. I hope that they do not need any additional documentation. Shame on JPMorgan Chase for their behavior on this matter.
I will note when the funds are received or if there is a need for more documentation required.

Bank of America Elite Credit Cards

Dr. Elizabeth Warren:

I want you to be aware of my recent personal experience with Bank of America with regard to their credit card practices that may influence the way you approach changes to the credit card agreement issues. To me this is a new wrinkle on the abuse that consumers are going to start seeing more of in the months to come. For my own part, I think I have an almost satisfactory outcome as a result of the complaint I filed with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, who oversee National banks, which Bank of America is. It was only by luck that I caught this one in time. That, combined with some aggressive action on my part. However, I fear that for tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of other credit card holders they might be taken advantage of with this new abuse by the Banks.

As I understand it, and I may be wrong on this point, the new Federal regulation that effects credit card agreements does NOT cover the benefits associated with the cards (this is what I have been told by the Bank of America). So, for example, in my case, when the issue concerns a blatant abuse of the rewards benefits component of the agreement there is no change to the protection for the consumer.

Let me go through the sequence of events that I encountered to explain the abuse that I am seeing.

I had called customer service for the credit card company with regard to how a credit I was receiving from a merchant was going to be handled. That matter was satisfactorily answered by the customer service representative. While on the phone I asked about my rewards benefits. It was at that time i was told that the rewards program that I had had for the preceding 15 years was being terminated and that I had received a letter on August 16 explaining all this and that October 29 would be the last date to accumulate points and November 15 would be the last date to redeem points. After that date all remaining points would be forfeited.

I was further told that the letter that I allegedly received on August 16 also reduced my benefits by 25% immediately. Two points worth noting here. First, my bills and all notices are sent either electronically, or through the mail to a lockbox to a bill paying service. The bill paying service had no record of a bill or notice having been received that concerned the matter at hand. Second, having saved those rewards points for 15 years, only to lose 25% of the benefits without notice seemed a bit harsh.

On a subsequent call to the customer service center I was informed that, in fact, no letter was sent to me, but that according to the agreement, no notice was required, and so, the mere change in the plan was allowed at their whim, without any notice to me. Upon hearing this, I sent off a complaint to the OCC.

Subsequently, I received a telephone call from the office of the CEO of Bank of America as a result of their receiving a copy of the complaint to the OCC. They explained to me exactly what I had been told previously, except that my rewards points must be redeemed by October 31 and NOT November 15 as I had been advised by the customer service representative. I explained, that I had no problem with them canceling the program, but that I did have a problem with them taking away 25% of the benefits I had saved during the previous 15 years without any notice whatsoever. They again reiterated that they had sent a letter, but that under the terms of the plan no notice was required. They indicated that they could "do something" to resolve the matter at hand with me by increasing the number of points I have, but that I would have to pick out a benefit that I wanted, and, if it wasn't too excessive, they would make up the difference. That may solve my problem, but what about all the other victims that were out there who didn't pick up on this change?

I called the customer service number one last time to make sure that the last date for redemption was October 31 as I had just been told by the CEO's office. I was told emphatically that it was November 15, and, upon further investigation, my particular plan was not being eliminated, and that is why I never received the letter. I was further told that the reduction in benefits notice was on my monthly statement. I carefully checked all the statements and found no such notice.

I spoke again to the office of the CEO and explained the apparent discrepancy between the various personnel. I was then told that they had made a mistake and that the last date for redemption was, in fact, November 15 as I was originally told, and that they would check the allegation that my plan was not cancelled and therefore there would be no deadline for redemption of the benefits or suffer forfeiture of those benefits.

They also agreed to make up the difference from the reduction of benefits, IN MY CASE.

Upon further conversation they have now offered me a $100 gift card for my trouble and loss of benefits, which is substantially below the benefits I lost as a result of the reduction of benefits that they unilaterally enacted without notice.

I have now sent a further letter of complaint to the OCC on this matter.

Let me put the problem in a nutshell: They say they do not have to notify me for a change in the agreement for benefits (which is part of the agreement, as far as I am concerned). However, they are playing a real shell game with this. Since they do not post the benefits anywhere they can say at any point to anyone anything they want as to what the benefit plan is or was on any given date. What kind of an agreement is this. They can change it retroactively without notice and without even recording any changes until they need to change the rules. This is Alice in Wonderland.

Clearly, there are many tens of thousands of other cardholders who won't be so lucky as me in this type of situation, but more importantly, it points out a real flaw to the regulations that permit banks to do these kinds of film flam scams.

Please see that upcoming regulations do not permit the credit card companies such unilateral power on such matters without any notice whatsoever.

Thank you,

XXX

cc: Brian T. Moynihan, President and CEO, Bank of America, 100 North Tryon St. 18th Floor, Charlotte, NC 28255

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Comptroller of the Currency/CAG

1301 McKinney Street

Suite 3450

Houston TX 77010

Re: Case# xxxxxxxx

Gentlemen:

As a result of my complaint to you of September 16, 2010, the above captioned case # has been assigned. Subsequently I was contacted by Ms Shameikia Riddle from the Office of the CEO and President of Bank of America. She informed me that, in fact, I received a letter that was sent sometime in early August explaining that my program was ceasing to exist and that I had until October 30 to redeem my points (not the November 15 date I had been given earlier by the Elite Rewards customer service personnel).

I called Elite Rewards customer service to verify the information for the third time and was informed that, in fact, my program was not being discontinued and that is why, contrary to what I was told earlier by Elite Rewards and Ms Riddle, I was NOT sent the letter in the first place (this conforms with my original statement that I never received a letter from Bank of America on this subject). Further, they pointed out that for those individuals where the program was ceasing the last date for redemption was still November 15 and not October 30 as was explained to me by Ms Riddle. However, they did point out that my reward benefits were reduced by 25% without notice, and that according to their agreement with me they are not required to give me notice.

In a subsequent conversation with Ms Riddle she confirmed her misstatement of the deadline for the redemption of the points. I explained the part about my participation not ceasing, and in a still further conversation Ms Riddle conceded that she was also wrong on that point also, and that my program was not ceasing to exist.

So, after being given all the misinformation, the only remaining issue was that I was not notified about the reduction of rewards benefits. She reiterated that no notice is required. She has offered a $100 gift card to compensate me for my loss. In my particular case, the reduction of benefits resulted in a reduction of benefits equal to $200 in cash equivalents.

If, as the Bank alleges, there is no notice required, then there must be some place where, for a given date, one can inspect the current program rules to determine the benefits. If thiswere not the case then the Bank could say anything it wanted to and it would not be verifiable.

Given the state of confusion at the Bank with regard to the program and its benefits I would say that their claims to me have been outright lies and the current situation is a cover-up. The Comptroller of the Currency should not allow such scams to be perpetrated upon the public, Bank of America has probably defrauded tens of thousands of customers with shell games like this one and should be sanctioned for its actions in some tangible form.

As per your email, while you state that I should be expecting a written document from the Bank of America, Ms. Riddle has told me that she will only communicate with me over the phone and not in writing. I felt compelled to state my understanding of the circumstances to you in writing at this time, and that their proposed solution is unacceptable to me and that their flim-flam practices have probably adversely affected tens of thousands of credit card holders and should be stopped.

Sincerely,

XXX

cc: Ms Shameikia Riddle, Office of the CEO and President of the Bank of America, PO Box

52302, Phoenix, AZ 85072