Take it above the bank, for nothing
Take a bank’s refusal to the free bodies above it, and name the one rung that can actually order anybody to pay.
When a bank says no, that is not the end. There are three places above it, and it is worth knowing exactly what each one can and cannot do.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau takes your complaint free, sends it to the bank, and the bank is expected to answer — usually within fifteen days. Your state attorney general works much the same way. Neither of them decides who was right, and neither can order the bank to pay you.
Small claims court is the one rung that can order somebody to pay. It is also the only one that costs anything: a filing fee, usually between thirty and a hundred dollars, and no lawyer is needed.
Key points
- File a free complaint with the CFPB and get an answer on the record
- Keep the bank’s written answer, which every rung above asks for
- Name the one rung that can order anybody to pay: small claims court
What to remember
- No representative is needed, and nobody is entitled to a share of it.
- A bank that says nothing does not close the door.
Try this
Type consumerfinance.gov/complaint into the address bar and read the first page. Knowing where a bank’s “no” leads is the point.
Practice: Take it above the bank, for nothing. Your first lesson is free, with no account or card; the rest are part of a Lantern plan. Interactive lessons require JavaScript.