New Weiner Survey Shows Recipients of Bounced Checks Being Charged Up to $40 in Fees...

Banks are Charging Victims as well as Writers of Bad Checks

According to a recent survey by Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Queens & Brooklyn), many banks are charging high fees of up to $40 to victims who are written bad checks.

If you write a check and it bounces, you should expect to be charged a high fee: you’ve wasted the time and money of both the bank and the person you’re supposed to pay. But receive a bad check, and that should be punishment enough, since you’ve done nothing wrong! But banks make a bundle charging the recipients of bad checks high fees, especially in New York.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEINER BANK FEE SURVEY:

• Banks in New York City charge an average of $16.94 to the recipients of bad checks, an increase of nearly 27% over what the same banks charged in 2003 when the average fee was $13.34.
• Brooklyn Federal Savings bank charges recipients of bad checks a whopping $40 per check.
• Six other banks that charge over $35: Bank of America, Hudson Valley Bank, Sterling National Bank, Apple Bank, New York National Bank, and Flushing Savings Bank.
• Victory State Bank in Staten Island and Metropolitan National Bank were the only banks to not charge a fee for trying to deposit a bad check.
• Major New York City banks like Chase, Citibank, and HSBC charge $10 for every bad check received by a customer.

Imposing fees on people who write bad checks provides overdraft disincentive, and more than covers the cost to banks of processing what turn out to be worthless pieces of paper. So that’s what banks do. End of story right? Wrong.

That’s because banks have turned bounced checks into a cash cow by also charging fees to people who, through no fault of their own, receive bad checks. Called deposit items returned (DIR) fees, they put New Yorkers in potential double jeopardy every time they cash a check. If New Yorkers cash a bad check, they (1) lose out on money from the bounced check, and (2) the bank slams them with a high fee, even if it’s not their fault.

Rep. Weiner’s Innocent Check Depositor Protection Act will prohibit banks from unfairly profiting at the public’s expense by prohibiting them from charging DIR fees.

“Every time a New Yorker cashes or deposits a check that bounces, he or she is hit by a real double whammy,” said Rep. Weiner. “You don’t get the money you were counting on and the bank piles on with a high fee, even though it’s not your fault. It’s time for banks to stop charging DIR fees and cashing in on their customer’s misfortune.”

"So-called 'deposit item returned fees" are among the most frustrating of the hundreds of stealth charges that banks use to punish consumers and fatten their profits," said Russ Haven, Legislative Counsel for the New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG). "When a consumer or a businessperson innocently deposits a check they have every reason to believe is good, they shouldn't get whacked with a big fee if it bounces. The reality is that the processing costs to the bank are minuscule."

To conduct the check fees survey, members of Rep. Weiner’s staff contacted 57 FDIC insured bank in New York City. Each bank was asked whether they provide personal checking accounts, and if so, what their deposit item returned and overdraft fees were. Recognizing the consolidation in the banking industry for purposes of comparison, banks that were in the 2003 study that have merged are listed under their new bank name.

Bank Heist Ruined Preschool Next Door by Terry Chun - The Queens Courier

Read original...

Carol Verdi HeartShare

As police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) continue to investigate the bank robbery at a Howard Beach Sovereign Bank branch that occurred over Easter weekend, neighborhood residents remain shocked - and intensely curious - about the incident’s resemblance to scenes from bank caper movies.

According to police reports, the thieves entered the Angels on the Bay Preschool Evaluation Center, which sits next door to the bank, and knocked down a wall adjoining the bank’s vault. After reaching the bank vault, the thieves broke into customer safe deposit boxes and made off with vault cash and the boxes’ contents. Police believe the robbers also attempted to obliterate evidence by shooting fire extinguishers inside the office and plugging a bathroom sink to create flooding.

Recent movies, such as the “Inside Man” and “The Bank Job,” depict robbers that break into bank vaults and safety deposit boxes and elude detection by digging tunnels or boring into walls.

“I always thought the neighborhood was pretty safe,” remarked Yong Park, a bank patron who works at a nearby bagel store, “but the more I hear about it, it seems like a movie story.” He added that he was not worried about his account since the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insures all bank deposits up to $10,000.

A spokesperson for Sovereign Bank, Michael Armstrong, said the break-in was the first incidence of theft at the branch which had opened in the fall of 2006. He also confirmed that the thieves did not steal any customer account information and Sovereign Bank has notified customers with compromised safety deposit boxes to that effect.

Bank employees discovered the theft on the morning of March 24, but were prevented from entering the premises by police detectives and the FBI until later that night, Armstrong said, and the branch wasn’t able to reopen until two days later.

Although customers at Sovereign Bank can now resume their activities, families visiting the Angels on the Bay Preschool Center are not so fortunate. Officials at HeartShare Human Services of New York, the parent company of the Preschool Center, said that the Howard Beach office sustained heavy damage during the bank robbery.

The thieves’ demolition and subsequent flooding wrecked floors, furniture, computers and even some program records. Cleanup crews had to remove all of the Center’s carpet and replace wall sections as high as two feet from the ground, due to the extensive water damage.

“Everything was saturated,” said Nick Demeo, Jr., a member of the cleanup crew, “and we’re trying to save anything that’s salvageable.” Since the office also works with children regularly, he noted, the cleanup work will also require inspecting for possible mold growths.

As of Monday, March 31, HeartShare officials did not know when the Center would reopen.

“The site is a disaster,” said Carol Verdi, Vice President of Education Services, in a statement. “We feel violated about what happened here. There are no words to express the sadness I felt seeing historical photos of the children we have helped over the years laying on the floor, destroyed by water and being walked on. We also have to start over in collecting raffle and auction items donated by our parents and staff for our May fundraising dinner.”

Anyone who would like to donate raffle items should contact HeartShare at 718-422-4200.