CU took $1400 out of my account without telling me.

[EAJuggalo]

Got a call from my CU Thursday while I was at work.  Didn't see the light on my phone until much later in the evening.  The message said, "We need to speak with you regarding your account."  Wondering what was going on I logged into my online account and found that they had taken $1400 out that day, essentially draining my account and causing my rent check to bounce.  After taking some time and digging into it I found out that someone else had been direct depositing their paycheck into my account for the last two months.  Just so happends their payday lines up with my wife's so I thought it was expense checks from her job.  Then they refused the ACH for my son's daycare yesterday, so I'll have to see what the repercussions there are next week.  What would a reasonable accomodation from them be?  I don't dispute that we should pay back the money, I take issue with them taking it all at once without telling me, charging me fees for things that I didn't control, and whatever happens with the daycare issue.  Not catching it for two months is something else entirely.

[Anonymous]

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@EAJuggalo wrote:

Got a call from my CU Thursday while I was at work.  Didn't see the light on my phone until much later in the evening.  The message said, "We need to speak with you regarding your account."  Wondering what was going on I logged into my online account and found that they had taken $1400 out that day, essentially draining my account and causing my rent check to bounce.  After taking some time and digging into it I found out that someone else had been direct depositing their paycheck into my account for the last two months.  Just so happends their payday lines up with my wife's so I thought it was expense checks from her job.  Then they refused the ACH for my son's daycare yesterday, so I'll have to see what the repercussions there are next week.  What would a reasonable accomodation from them be?  I don't dispute that we should pay back the money, I take issue with them taking it all at once without telling me, charging me fees for things that I didn't control, and whatever happens with the daycare issue.  Not catching it for two months is something else entirely.

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I don't think you'll get anything from the CU and I personally don't think they owe you anything. This may sound harsh, but unfortunately it comes down to you not noticing $1400 in your account that shouldn't have been there. Straighten out your bounced payment and know your $$ well enough going forward that it never happens again.

[Anonymous]

They should not have taken the money out without explaining things to you first. While I don't think there are any laws on your side, I would expect the CU to refund any overdraft fees, etc. They may be willing to cover the bounced check fees as well. (I've heard of this happening when the issue was 100% bank error, but maybe they would for this too.) Which CU is it? (If you don't want to share the name, would you mind giving an indication of their side e.g., my hometown CU vs. USAA?) A larger CU is more likely to have an EO that may be helpful. Good luck!

A side note, $1400 is a heck of a lot of money to not notice, but I'm sure you've learned now to check the numbers a little better. The biggest error I've ever had was a bank not taking back their trial deposits: ~$0.30.

[EAJuggalo]

It is a CU entirely within the state of WI but with 20+ branches.  It was 5 deposits over 8 weeks in amounts that could have easily been my wife's expense checks.  I'd be content with taking away their fees.  Ideally they would take the money back the same way they put it in.  Every two weeks, but I doubt that is feasible.

[Anonymous]

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@EAJuggalo wrote:

It is a CU entirely within the state of WI but with 20+ branches.  It was 5 deposits over 8 weeks in amounts that could have easily been my wife's expense checks.  I'd be content with taking away their fees.  Ideally they would take the money back the same way they put it in.  Every two weeks, but I doubt that is feasible.

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And you never noticed or found it odd? Did you know?

Either way, it didn't belong to you and taking it all at once is perfectly fine and they are doing nothing illegal. If you don't like how they handled it, join a different CU.

[Anonymous]

Simple thing i would do if i notice some unexpected money in my account and assume it must be my spouse's is to first check with my spouse to see If its indeed their money or not. Obviously there is miscommunication here. Sorry you are dealing with this op. Hopefully everything works out in your favor in the end. Just last week i was about to drain one of my accounts and transfer all the money out then i noticed some .23 cents that were not supposed to be there . I realizex it was trial credit from another bank and they didnt debit yet ,its been more than 3 weeks lol!. I so emptied everything except .23 cents. We have to keep an eye on these things.

[iced]

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@EAJuggalo wrote:

Got a call from my CU Thursday while I was at work.  Didn't see the light on my phone until much later in the evening.  The message said, "We need to speak with you regarding your account."  Wondering what was going on I logged into my online account and found that they had taken $1400 out that day, essentially draining my account and causing my rent check to bounce.  After taking some time and digging into it I found out that someone else had been direct depositing their paycheck into my account for the last two months.  Just so happends their payday lines up with my wife's so I thought it was expense checks from her job.  Then they refused the ACH for my son's daycare yesterday, so I'll have to see what the repercussions there are next week.  What would a reasonable accomodation from them be?  I don't dispute that we should pay back the money, I take issue with them taking it all at once without telling me, charging me fees for things that I didn't control, and whatever happens with the daycare issue.  Not catching it for two months is something else entirely.

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If they offer to waive any of the insufficient funds fees, consider that a lucky break and take it. The only way they're at fault here is if they're the ones who typo'd the account number of the other person's deposits, and in that case they owe the other person an accomodation, not you.

If the other person happened to work for the same employer as your wife, I can see the confusion about expense reimbursement since the source of the deposit would be the same (though often even the same employer will differentiate the name of the deposit in such a way you can tell if it's an ACH paycheck or an ACH special payment/reimbursement). Otherwise, you basically saw a deposit you didn't recognize and assumed it was your wife's and spent it. Sorry to say it, but that's on you, not the CU.