NFCU Credit Card, Checking Line of Credit & Checking account Frozen (8/15-Update)

[Anonymous]

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@Guyatthebeach wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

GuyatTheBeach I am glad you posted this .. because I wondered if there was a statute or something about the account holder's rights. Very interesting... I am curious not that this has happened.. but what if this happened to any of us.  What are our rights as the consumer. 

I of course pray and hope for a good outcome for the OP.  

But also knowledge is key here for any and all of us. 

Thanks for responding to the OP. 

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Palmdale & BellaLina,

Palmdale pointed out a few things that got my attention because I read something similar happened to an active duty Marine on deployment a few years ago.

Navy Federal can close anyone's accounts at any time for any reason. NFCU has this printed on their statements. They can also request supporting documents to verify indentity and income at any time they want. NFCU has listed on several disclosure we sign when we start our membership and when we apply for credit, loans, or any new products. Navy Federal only has to notify us by mail, so it's possible to find out your account is closed whe you swipe your card befire getting written notice. There is no doubt about this, I have no questions, and I'm fine with this practice, because it's clearly documented in the fine print.

My concerns come from Palmdale having a VISA card with a balance on it. If Navy Federal wants to close his credit card account, that's CU's right to do, but they need to send it to him in writing with the reasons why his account was closed. As a consumer, Palmdale has the right to why his account was closed as it will directly impact his credit history. From what I have read, NFCU has not sent Palmdale written communication on why the account was closed. The CU didn't even tell him over the phone why they took the course of action they did. This is first possible violation.

The second potential violation is NFCU not accepting his payment on his credit card. According to Palmdale, he was not able to make a payment on his Visa online or in the local branch, NFCU didn't accept the payment. There are consumer laws in place stating that the CU must make reasonable accomdations for accepting payments. He did his due dilegence to make a payment. In the NFCU disclosure, it states these methods are standard accepted payment metods in its disclosures. NFCU chose not to accept his payment, because the branch teller could not access his credit card. This could cause Palmdale to have a late payment, miss a payment all together, accrue interest and fees, and negatively affect his credit.

I don't mean to make a mountain out of a mole hill, but the potential is there for a Pandora's box of problems, which I don't want Palmdale to have to deal with. I am going to research this.

Guyatthebeach

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While you are researching this .. does for example PenFed have this kind of disclosure in their fine print also about being able to close etc? 

Is this something common across most credit cards?  

It seems this is something maybe NFCU seems to do more often then other CU's .. or I can be naive in saying that ... I have only been on these threads for 1/2 year .. and just have not seen this of PenFed .. but I believe the 2nd time in my short history of happening with NFCU. 

Any Illumination on NFCU .. or this being a common practice amongst other Credit Unions etc. 

Thank you for your time in sharing your knowledge and research. 

[Anonymous]

This is definitely an NFCU specific thing that they do to some people. It's NOT a credit union thing for sure. When you are the 800lb gorilla in your marketplace (largest CU in the world by membership and assets and the pretty girl that everyone wants you can pretty much do whatever you want. 

[Anonymous]

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@Guyatthebeach wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

GuyatTheBeach I am glad you posted this .. because I wondered if there was a statute or something about the account holder's rights. Very interesting... I am curious not that this has happened.. but what if this happened to any of us.  What are our rights as the consumer. 

I of course pray and hope for a good outcome for the OP.  

But also knowledge is key here for any and all of us. 

Thanks for responding to the OP. 

---

Palmdale & BellaLina,

Palmdale pointed out a few things that got my attention because I read something similar happened to an active duty Marine on deployment a few years ago.

Navy Federal can close anyone's accounts at any time for any reason. NFCU has this printed on their statements. They can also request supporting documents to verify indentity and income at any time they want. NFCU has listed on several disclosure we sign when we start our membership and when we apply for credit, loans, or any new products. Navy Federal only has to notify us by mail, so it's possible to find out your account is closed whe you swipe your card befire getting written notice. There is no doubt about this, I have no questions, and I'm fine with this practice, because it's clearly documented in the fine print.

My concerns come from Palmdale having a VISA card with a balance on it. If Navy Federal wants to close his credit card account, that's CU's right to do, but they need to send it to him in writing with the reasons why his account was closed. As a consumer, Palmdale has the right to why his account was closed as it will directly impact his credit history. From what I have read, NFCU has not sent Palmdale written communication on why the account was closed. The CU didn't even tell him over the phone why they took the course of action they did. This is first possible violation.

The second potential violation is NFCU not accepting his payment on his credit card. According to Palmdale, he was not able to make a payment on his Visa online or in the local branch, NFCU didn't accept the payment. There are consumer laws in place stating that the CU must make reasonable accomdations for accepting payments. He did his due dilegence to make a payment. In the NFCU disclosure, it states these methods are standard accepted payment metods in its disclosures. NFCU chose not to accept his payment, because the branch teller could not access his credit card. This could cause Palmdale to have a late payment, miss a payment all together, accrue interest and fees, and negatively affect his credit.

I don't mean to make a mountain out of a mole hill, but the potential is there for a Pandora's box of problems, which I don't want Palmdale to have to deal with. I am going to research this.

Guyatthebeach

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To be fair, My CC only showed closed on my credit report as of a few days ago.  So if they did send me a letter, It may still be coming in the mail.  It has been frozen for over a month, but I don't know if there is any protection against that.  I assume banks can take time to do a thorough investigation.  I do feel that maybe there should be some sort of requirement that they notify you in writing when they do freeze your accounts and why.  Not sure if that is a law anywhere.  I dont think my experience qualifies as any sort of CPFB discrimination.  

Them not accepting my payment is an issue, but since the account showed back up online, I am sure if I go to branch on saturday I will be able to pay it this time.  Not sure if it would even benifit me to persue anything down that line.  I am not looking to get paid by any means, but I just want to be treated fairly.  

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

OP, I hope this works out for you and please keep us updated. I'm sorry you have had to deal with all of these delays and problems.

So far I'm progressing along the Navy League path to NFCU membership. Here is where things stand at this point:

I became a member of the Navy League San Diego on 6/30, then applied online for NFCU membership the same day.

Received an e-mail this morning from NFCU requesting proof of Navy League membership, and I sent along my welcome e-mail showing that I was a paid new member of the  San Diego Council.

I'm waiting to hear back now and will report my progress.

We will see what happens. I'm a little concerned about some reports I am reading online re/ NFCU reviews (consumeraffairs.com, for example) of people who have been members for a year and then suddenly had all of their accounts frozen requesting that they reverify information.

Another person (22 year Navy veteran) reported that his NFCU home loan was approved and 3 days before his low rate offer was due to expire, they froze everything asking him to reverify and resend documents he had sent to them one month before.

And another lady stated in her review:

Called and determined that all of our accounts had been frozen. We didn't receive any warning, no communication. If we hadn't tried to login we could have gone for gas or groceries and been completely shocked to find that card wouldn't go through.Good thing for us is that this is not our main bank account.

However, I can only imagine if this was our only source of money, this would be a huge issue to have accounts frozen with no access for possibly up to 4 weeks. I have seen several complaints about this practice of freezing the accounts with no warning with this company. This is extremely unfortunate as some people this could have a huge impact on their lives for things like food and gas. 

I hope not to have these issues.

It is a little bit unnerving to read about them here and then in other reviews on other sites, too.

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Update: My NFCU accounts have now been frozen and I have no access to my money or NFCU accounts. I sent in all the documentation and was approved as a member, for checking and savings, for Cash Rewards card and CLOC. All locked now. They now asked for other documents which I did send.

It's just not professional to welcome someone as a member at 8am, take their money as a deposit, let them know their credit card is approved and is on its way in the mail, and then lock up all of their accounts 10 or 11 hours  later after they have submitted everything you asked for in terms of documentation.

I hope this gets resolved soon.

OP, please keep us updated as well and I am sorry you are going through this. It's just not necessary is my feeling.

[Guyatthebeach]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

OP, I hope this works out for you and please keep us updated. I'm sorry you have had to deal with all of these delays and problems.

So far I'm progressing along the Navy League path to NFCU membership. Here is where things stand at this point:

I became a member of the Navy League San Diego on 6/30, then applied online for NFCU membership the same day.

Received an e-mail this morning from NFCU requesting proof of Navy League membership, and I sent along my welcome e-mail showing that I was a paid new member of the  San Diego Council.

I'm waiting to hear back now and will report my progress.

We will see what happens. I'm a little concerned about some reports I am reading online re/ NFCU reviews (consumeraffairs.com, for example) of people who have been members for a year and then suddenly had all of their accounts frozen requesting that they reverify information.

Another person (22 year Navy veteran) reported that his NFCU home loan was approved and 3 days before his low rate offer was due to expire, they froze everything asking him to reverify and resend documents he had sent to them one month before.

And another lady stated in her review:

Called and determined that all of our accounts had been frozen. We didn't receive any warning, no communication. If we hadn't tried to login we could have gone for gas or groceries and been completely shocked to find that card wouldn't go through.Good thing for us is that this is not our main bank account.

However, I can only imagine if this was our only source of money, this would be a huge issue to have accounts frozen with no access for possibly up to 4 weeks. I have seen several complaints about this practice of freezing the accounts with no warning with this company. This is extremely unfortunate as some people this could have a huge impact on their lives for things like food and gas. 

I hope not to have these issues.

It is a little bit unnerving to read about them here and then in other reviews on other sites, too.

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Update: My NFCU accounts have now been frozen and I have no access to my money or NFCU accounts. I sent in all the documentation and was approved as a member, for checking and savings, for Cash Rewards card and CLOC. All locked now. They now asked for other documents which I did send.

It's just not professional to welcome someone as a member at 8am, take their money as a deposit, let them know their credit card is approved and is on its way in the mail, and then lock up all of their accounts 10 or 11 hours  later after they have submitted everything you asked for in terms of documentation.

I hope this gets resolved soon.

OP, please keep us updated as well and I am sorry you are going through this. It's just not necessary is my feeling.

Keep the faith! I'm sure NFCU will get this resolved.

Guyatthebeach

[Anonymous]

I think all will work out, too. 

[darkfrosty]

if this all works out i would find it hard to trust them again 

[Anonymous]

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@darkfrosty wrote:

if this all works out i would find it hard to trust them again 

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+1 darkfrosty

To update: I am on the phone with NFCU now and was told that I need to allow 5 business days for this BSA department to review the documents I sent.

I asked if they could at least confirm they received the documents (since several other myfico members have reported emailing or faxing items multiple times). The gentleman on the phone is telling me that they have my e-mail and to just wait the 5 business days.

This will unfortunately result in my accounts remianing locked until the middle or end of next week. Will update when I know more.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@darkfrosty wrote:

if this all works out i would find it hard to trust them again 

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+1 darkfrosty

To update: I am on the phone with NFCU now and was told that I need to allow 5 business days for this BSA department to review the documents I sent.

I asked if they could at least confirm they received the documents (since several other myfico members have reported emailing or faxing items multiple times). The gentleman on the phone is telling me that they have my e-mail and to just wait the 5 business days.

This will unfortunately result in my accounts remianing locked until the middle or end of next week. Will update when I know more.

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[Guyatthebeach]

Palmdale & company,

Any updates yet from Navy Federal yet?

Guyatthebeach