u/Kwynne4444

I wanted to provide an update regarding the ongoing impact this situation has caused.

Although my account was finally unlocked on Tuesday, May 19th, I was previously told that my direct deposit paycheck from Thursday would be available once access was restored by a supervisor. However, when the restriction was lifted, the paycheck was not in my account.

Charles Schwab later confirmed that the direct deposit had been returned to my employer. I contacted my employer on May 19th as well, and they advised me they would monitor for the returned payment and instead issue me a live paper check. I was also informed that I would now need to pick the check up in person.

This has created additional inconvenience because I am scheduled to be on vacation for seven days beginning after May 21st, making it difficult to retrieve the check promptly.

Additionally, because payments tied to my Schwab account were returned, I attempted to make a payment on my Amazon Chase credit card and the payment was denied stating I need another bank account. After contacting Chase, I was informed that due to the returned payment, I may now need to either visit a branch in person or open a new bank account in order to continue making payments on the account. And they do not except debit cards as payment

Charles Schwab also contacted me Yesterday 20th asking what they could do to make this situation right, but honestly much of the damage has already been done. I have now incurred returned payment fees on some of my accounts, increased interest charges, disruption to my ability to make payments, and ongoing financial stress from suddenly losing access to my funds.
They stated they would call me back today the 21st with a resolution ( they did not call me back..)

By the time I am finally able to receive my paycheck, I will have effectively gone nearly two weeks without pay due to this situation.

At this point, the effects of the account restriction and returned transactions have extended far beyond a temporary inconvenience and are actively affecting my finances, credit obligations, and daily life.

Deposited a settlement check from a law firm into my bank account On Tuesday

At first, the bank made only $60 available, which I expected. Then 12hours later around 11:30pm they made about half the check available, so I used part of it to pay bills. Later that morning, 7am the money was still available in my account. I woke up later that day, since I work night shift to discover they reversed the available funds and put the entire check back on hold.

I called them to ask what was going on, and they stated they received information the check “may not be honored.” Whatever that’s is suppose to mean, they would not dive deeper into it. I asked them if they confirmed it with the bank or with the law firm to which they said they don’t know how the other department does things. I was then told by Support to “be careful accepting checks” and that I should really watch out who I accept checks from. After the phone call I attempted to login to my bank account but found out they then suspended my bank account. I called support back and they stated that there is nothing they can do to unlock my account and now my entire bank account is suspended and can not be using giving me no access to my money I had before the check. They are my only bank, and now I was restricted from my money.

The support told me the only way to get it lifted is if I faxed them over proof that the check was real and any information regarding the check, I then faxed everything over and was advised I have to wait until the next business day for them to receive it…..

The next day (Thursday) I called support and they stated they did not receive anything….. and I was advised if I wanted to speed things up to visit a branch

I called the law firm to confirm everything was correct on their end to which they stated yes everything was good and that the check cleared on their end Wednesday and they stated my bank never reached out to them and stated that they would be happy to provide any additional information needed if the bank called them

I went to branch that same day and advised them of the situation, they stated they would add all the documents to their system but stated they can no lift the suspension on my account and stated that there is no way to contact the department investigating the check except through email and stated I have to just wait…… They did say before leaving the funds for the check will be available on 21st of May

So that’s where I am at right now, I have no access to money, I don’t know when this will be lifted.
The worst part of this whole thing is there was zero communication for any of it. I was never advised of anything, they They made part of the funds available, let me use them, and then later removed the availability without warning after I had already made payments. If they believed there was an issue with the check, I don’t understand why any portion was released in the first place.

Now I’m left dealing with possible returned payments and fees while getting very limited information from the bank about what actually happened.

I was also supposed to be paid Thursday and I have bills that were supposed to come out but now they won’t since everything is suspended…..

This is my first time dealing with anything like this, my previous bank was TD Bank and it had its fair share of problems, (too many fees) but I never had issues depositing checks with them

Is there anything else I can do or is my only chance to wait?