Early Warning

[tboy1977]

OK,

So I applied for an account with Delta Community CU and was declined.  Why?  Because of Early Warning has entries in my name.  So pissed of right now.

I remember back in 2006 my then employer wanted me to apply for a BofA account because he had BofA.  I had an old charged off account from 2000 (yes, I was stupid then).  I open the account, deposit the check (like 5.5K cuz I was paid monthly) and withdrew one or two hundred dollars in cash back.  I left, thought all was fine.  Next day, BofA suspends the account; I call and the rep said the account is frozen, no transactions allowed and I will receive the balance in 28 days.  I have bills, I can't go 28 days without money.  I finally get a manager to allow me to withdrew  the money in cashier's check to pay my bills and deposit elsewhere.  BofA charged me a $35 account closure fee and because the account was at zero itwould post, then fail, then post, then fail etc....for six weeks until another manager finally took my check for $35 (you think I was paying CASH for that.......just saying) and the account zeroed out and I was done.  Except I received a notice from Early Warning, but I was so happy to be done with BofA I ignored it.  Now I want to scream.

The rep at Delta Community was very nice, but said she couldn't override anything because of Early Warning.

Then I called Early Warning.  That smarmy witch (another word is more appropriate sorry) told me she will send me a letter (no sign of letter yet) and I had to send it in with ID and then they will send copy of credit report and if I wish to dispute I would have to fill out the form and send it back and within ninety days it will be reverified.  They aren't a CRA so they aren't obligated to delete anything.  If bank refuses to delete item, that's it.  Bank doesn't have to respond. 

Anybody else know about Early Warning and how to get out of their hair.

Do I need a lawyer on this?

[p-]

---

@tboy1977 wrote:

OK,

So I applied for an account with Delta Community CU and was declined.  Why?  Because of Early Warning has entries in my name.  So pissed of right now.

I remember back in 2006 my then employer wanted me to apply for a BofA account because he had BofA.  I had an old charged off account from 2000 (yes, I was stupid then).  I open the account, deposit the check (like 5.5K cuz I was paid monthly) and withdrew one or two hundred dollars in cash back.  I left, thought all was fine.  Next day, BofA suspends the account; I call and the rep said the account is frozen, no transactions allowed and I will receive the balance in 28 days.  I have bills, I can't go 28 days without money.  I finally get a manager to allow me to withdrew  the money in cashier's check to pay my bills and deposit elsewhere.  BofA charged me a $35 account closure fee and because the account was at zero itwould post, then fail, then post, then fail etc....for six weeks until another manager finally took my check for $35 (you think I was paying CASH for that.......just saying) and the account zeroed out and I was done.  Except I received a notice from Early Warning, but I was so happy to be done with BofA I ignored it.  Now I want to scream.

The rep at Delta Community was very nice, but said she couldn't override anything because of Early Warning.

Then I called Early Warning.  That smarmy witch (another word is more appropriate sorry) told me she will send me a letter (no sign of letter yet) and I had to send it in with ID and then they will send copy of credit report and if I wish to dispute I would have to fill out the form and send it back and within ninety days it will be reverified.  They aren't a CRA so they aren't obligated to delete anything.  If bank refuses to delete item, that's it.  Bank doesn't have to respond. 

Anybody else know about Early Warning and how to get out of their hair.

Do I need a lawyer on this?

---

10 or so years ago I had an "early warning" issue with B of A that kept me from opening a Wells Fargo account.  Esentially I disagreed with them on some overdrafts 15 years ago, and being young, dumb, and broke just refused to pay.  I walked into the nearest B of  A branch, talked to the manager, and negotiated a PFD for a hundred and some odd bucks they claimed I owed.  The manager then gave me a letter showing the issue was resolved, that I took to WF.  Never had a problem with early warning since.

Back then I didn't even know what a PFD was, but it worked out.  They got the money, and removed the black mark on my reputation.

I bet if you got a letter from a branch manager confirming the issue was resolved you could get "early warning" to remove you.

Why did they suspend the account in the first place?

[tboy1977]

The first account with BofA was my fault.  Young, dumb, and .... (nevermind ;-) )!  I wrote a few rubber checks and bought gas with $5 in my account.  This was in 1999 and that account charged off in 2000.  I owed $153. Fast forward to 2006 and my employer asked me to open an account with BofA.   He banked with them and he was asking all his employees to do the same.  Ok.  I go into the branch with my 5.5k monthly paycheck, open account, deposit check and receive one to two hundred cash back.  The next day they suspended the account because of the previous negative account.  I called them and asked that they pay the $153 and since it was six years ago, let it go.  They countered that the account would be closed and I would receive my money in 28 days.  Since I was paid once a month, that was unacceptable.  I finally got a branch manager to allow me to get cashier's checks for my bills and to deposit elsewhere.  I zeroed out the account and thought I was done.  BofA on closing charged me a $35 closing fee, but the account was at zero.  So for over four weeks, they would try to post the fee, it would fail and then it would reverse and repeat.  Finally, after so many people had it was closed to deposits, I found a manager that took a check for $35 (I wasn't paying ca$h).  About two months later, I received a notice about being in Early Warning but I didn't pay them any mind.  I was so happy to be free from them.  But here I am, they are still keeping me from moving on.

[p-]

Yup, similar to my problem.  Go to a branch, and calmly explain your predicament to a manager.  Try to come off as a nice person hoping to clear up a misunderstanding, not as a pissed off ex customer.

Good luck!

[tboy1977]

I will wait a couple of days before I go so I don't start screaming, but thanks!  Hopefully this gets resolved and I can become a Delta Community member. 

[p-]

Let us know how it works out.  I'm sure lots of people have similar problems.

[tboy1977]

I will.  I called Delta Community back and asked if there was any way around this if I could bring in letters showing proof I'm not in a bad state with any other financial institution.  And I'm going to battle with Early Warning Services........No gloves, I need a KO!

[somotao]

I had a similar issue last year with Bank of America and Early Warning systems. My situation is very similar to yours I only got to find out about this when I tried to open an account with Georgia's own Credit Union. I was refused an account because Early Warning systems showed that I owed bank of america money on a closed account. It took months to sort it out, going back and forth with Bank of America and I simulteanously filed a dispute with early warning systems. Eventually it got resolved, however resolved means that the record was updated with Early warining systems showing that I did not owe Bank of America any money. EWS will not delete records. I learned that one should take EWS very seriously they are a company just like Chexsystems which the Big banks all somehow either created or work with to report accounts which have been charged off. Well I asked EWS for an updated report which showed that my account was paid and took that to Georgia's own and was able to open an account.

Hopefully you'll be able to resolve your issue with EWS and get your account opened with the credit union.

[tboy1977]

I mean, we are both in Atlanta so you understand.  I was furious.  And to make it worse, BofA can't send me a letter because there is no record of me in the system at ALL.  So I called Early Warning and the wench told me since they can't find me, there is nothing anyone can do because the bank has to verify and remove.

I see I will have to save up for a lawyer for this. 

[p-]

If you have a good case that you have been genuinely harmed, you could always find a lawyer who works on contingency.