I couldn't find as in-depth of an explanation as I wanted on here about what will and will not get you reported to ChexSystems, the "credit" bureau checked by retail banks when you seek to open a checking account. So, I decided to do my own research and report back 
. (Un)fortunately, my history includes some testable variables. Here are the results. Over the past three years, I had these issues that I thought might have generated a report:
- A savings account closed because I stopped using it. (I had started using a new one.)
- Three checks bounced, during a dark and thankfully past period when I had to struggle to meet rent and student loan obligations. The overdraft fee was paid in each case, and the balance restored to positive within a week.
- A checking account that reported a $25.00 fee after I closed it. I didn't know I owed the fee for about a month. When I discovered it, though, I immediately went to Citibank and offered to pay it to avoid any problems. Instead, they waived the fee and closed the account at $0.00.
Well, I just pulled my ChexSystems report, and NONE of this information was on it! Good news. The lesson I take is that if you overdraft or have a problem with your checking account, if you address it promptly, as in, within a week or a month, the issue will not report.
I hope this experiment helps someone with similar questions.
Gardening since May 2015
@triedtogetacardandcouldnt wrote:I actually just ordered a copy of my chexsystems report after finally getting approved to open an account with a credit union that repeatedly denied me. I wrote letters to chexsystems with signed letters from all the banks I had issues with in the past. Chexsystems wrote a letter saying it wouldn't be removed, but in the end, I think they did remove the stuff.
Both the accounts got overdrawn. One due to a stupid Planet Fitness auto payment that ended up going nuts and sending my account $300 into the negative with fees, and the other because of me being stupid and not having enough in my account to cover something. It said "account abuse" on my report, which was not good. Luckily I think it all got removed. I did end up paying it all off, thankfully.
I now keep my accounts in good standing, it's totally not worth it to go into the negative. I have to learn all these things the hard way unfortunately.
Glad it worked out for you! It sounds like the line between business as usual and "account abuse" is very, very thin.
