THE ELDERLAW FORUM

Professor Michael Myers

 Bank Stonewalls Caller, Feds, Helpline

            “US Bank is a scam!  Don’t ever turn any of your hard-earned money over to this sham of a company that calls themselves a bank.  They will rob you blind and then tell you that you owe them money.”

            So reads one of scores of similar comments on a website entitled “US Bank Complaints” and urging its readers to “Fight back against Grundhofer’s evil banking empire.” 

            I found the website while trying to assist a 72-year-old USD Senior Legal Helpline caller.  He had worked for a small company for some 12 years when it was sold.  The buyer terminated the company pension plan and gave each employee the option to take a lump sum or roll it over to an IRA or other deferred compensation product.

            “I chose to roll it over,” said the caller.  He designated the bank where he had been banking for 25 years. The pension plan administrator—an insurance carrier—

issued a check to his bank in the amount of $4,883.61.  That was eight years ago.

            Last year, as the caller passed the age of 70-and-a-half—the age when the IRS mandates the withdrawal of tax-deferred monies—he visited “his” bank to initiate a plan of withdrawal.  “His” bank, as he knew, had been acquired by US Bank.

            It had no record of the transaction, he was informed.  “I met with a bank employee who said he would track down the deposit. But when I returned I was informed he no longer worked there.  Then I began working with another person, and I believe she, too, has left,” he said.

            He made 15 telephone calls over several weeks before he received a stonewalled return call.  He enlisted the assistance of the U.S. Department of Labor, which after an   unsuccessful intervention, told the caller he would have to engage an attorney.  So, he called the helpline.

            “USD Senior Legal Helpline to the rescue,” I thought.  Armed with a copy of the check, I called US Bank and asked for the caller’s last contact.  She hadn’t left after all. 

            Several phone calls later, it became evident that I was receiving the same treatment as the caller and the Labor Department.  The website has a section called “US Bank Five-Star Screwed.”

I am not taking the caller to the website.  I am taking him to the courthouse to seek accountability.