Bank reform...? right

[FirstLight]

Here's what I would like to see...a MORATORIUM for ALL banks. NO FEES for ANYONE on Unemployment, TANF, SSI etc.

It all started last week when I got my $780 Tanf payment, put $500 in the bank and felt like I had a little cushion to take the kids to Jack in the Box. (ya, how dare I spend money on frivolities, i know)
The bank levels a $25 fee at me the minute I get my balance back up called "extended overdraft charge"
(it usually sits dormant the last week of the month, since I am broke. That's when I just HOPE nothing goes through to make it worse...it usually stays either at $0 or a couple bucks below for a week)

well then the phone payment and rent check go through thank god
and they had another charge for $10, which would have been fine, if that $25 hadn't gone into oblivion

next thing I know, the next 3 transactions end up dominoing into fees and fees and fees
$35 x 3 + $25 ...and now my account is -$165...

how the fuck am I supposed to do this?

My mom is bailing me out, thank god, (called her crying this morning)...but now I will have to explain to welfare why extra money is going into my account
and then next month they(tanf) will take it away from me too, if they don't decide to just cut me completely.

no wonder none of us can get a fucking leg up

[FirstLight]

1. kick nt

[onethatcares]

2. what bank is this?

I'm having a hard time figuring out the fees you're talking about."phone pymt, rent, and they had another charge for $10(?)" Do they charge you $5.00 for each check your write or each check that clears or what?

[FirstLight]

3. no...I made a purchase for my business/blog

it doesn't even matter the details of the issue,
I am ranting that the banks level fees like nobody's business...whether they have the "right' to or not...

this is the kind of stuff that ends up draining you of the will to even try, like the cards are stacked against you no matter what
when living on a fixed income,
where each little thing is a big deal, it boggles the mind the thousands they rack up off of people like me...

[FirstLight]

4. wow...i can tell this is a hot issue

:sarcasm:

but then, "i've got mine" and if you can't deal with your money, it's YOUR problem....

[customerserviceguy]

5. What you need to do is find another bank

Or maybe better yet, a credit union. If we don't feed the beast, then it will starve.

[FirstLight]

6. uh, no

reform should include protections from predatory practices, and should protect thos on limited incomes. but that will never happen

I'm going to pull out of the system entirely

put my cash in a coffee can
deal with money orders for all payments
let my electronic footprint fade into oblivion

and someday, god willing, get the fuck outta here... go live on a freaking commune with other unemployed hippies living off the grid...

[customerserviceguy]

7. Ok, instead of supporting consumer-oriented ways

of doing business, just piss and moan about the ones you choose to deal with, in spite of the way they've treated you.

That'll teach 'em all...

[FirstLight]

8. consumer-oriented?

it's ALL a sham! ALL banks and credit institutions treat us like this! it's not a choice of 'which bank do you go to?'

I get it, I don't have enough money to count, period.
And if they can steal up to 10 percent of my income per month, it's MY fault for using the 'wrong' bank, or for not being able to budget well enough

and I am shocked at the number of folks here on DU that are also on fixed incomes that aren't getting this ...that aren't upset

Banking reform should include protections for those on fixed incomes, period.

[customerserviceguy]

9. The 'folks here on DU' that haven't been responding to you

know that credit unions are owned by their members, and are not the scammy banks that got the big bailout money.

It's up to you to educate yourself on how to protect yourself. One of the best ways to do that is to ask people here for advice. I offer it, and you're PO'ed that I'm not calling my lobbyists in all 535 congresscritters's offices, to demand that they look out after you.

Good luck with that commune thing...

[Hannah Bell]

10. I may be wrong, but it's my recollection that tanf recipients may not be able to choose CU's.

[customerserviceguy]

12. Now, that's some needed reform

It can be tough in some places to find a decent community bank. I've been lucky, while the East coast credit unions I've tried to work with have not been as good as the West coast ones I left behind in WA state (still a member of one of them!) I do have a good bank that is conveniently near my job.

In any case, no one here should be doing one cent worth of business with any of the banks on the bailout list. I dumped Key Bank for that reason.

[Capitalocracy]

11. I feel for you, you have no idea how bad they screwed me

$600 in overdraft fees for taking out money when the ATM showed an inaccurate account balance, took me a long time to pay it off from here in Argentina, (I married an Argentine woman and don't meet the financial requirements to sponsor her as an immigrant) and now thanks to the Patriot Act, I'm having a hell of a time even trying to open up a new bank account in one of the few banks that will even accept me after getting overdraft fees (yeah, don't close your account) because they make it almost impossible to do so without actually physically going to the bank, which I don't have the money to do, and it's making it really difficult to start up my translation business because I can't use PayPal or other online services without a U.S. bank account, Argentina's banking regulations are all wonky since the banks stole all the money out of the economy here in 2001, the online application form to open a bank account says some personal detail of mine doesn't match the information they have on me in the credit rating agencies, and good luck contacting them, their website doesn't even work if you're outside the U.S.......

well, OK, to sum up: :mad:

[FirstLight]

13. I don't see this as a CU or Bank issue

The fact is that if you live on a fixed income, there are times you have NOTHING. then why should it become a huge negative number...

it feels like every month I have to dig out.

maybe I am just feeling the sensitivity of my current state of poverty more acutely today.

and for the record, there are no CU's in my area - so it is the bank or the coffee can

I *AM* pissed on a matter of principle though, i hate beiung poor and hate getting the shaft more so because of it.
I guess it always comes down to that
and having others tell me I am not taking responsibility is just insult to injury

I hate holding the victim card, but sometimes it is the truth of the way things are...