Legal Question in Banking Law in Maryland

I am a member of a credit union bank. From time to time I would withdraw money from my credit card. Mind you....a withdrawal cannot be made unless you have credit/sufficient funds. So over the course of time, I made withdrawals that amounted close to $3,000. When I was making these withdrawals, I was always told that I had a credit and was able to make withdrawals. However, in June of 2013, I received a statement showing that I was over my limit. The bank had taken all the withdrawals I made in the past, under the assumption that I had sufficient funds, and stacked it all on my bill at once. I initially thought someone had committed fraud on my card until they gave me a lame excuse for the cause of the problem. Apparently during this time the bank was in transition of converting to online banking and they had some "complications" on their end. A representative told me that I was supposed to receive a courtesy call from someone to make me aware of the error, but they made the mistake of never getting in contact with me. The rep also told me that I should have noticed the lack of cash withdrawals on my bank statement and bought it to their attention. So, aside from harassing calls to pay back money that I was told I had in the first place, the bank has frozen my assets until I make the overdrawn payments. On another note, I paid $700 back towards the bank over the past few weeks and although they have a record of it on their end, the payments have not been displayed on a recent bank statement received from them recently. So, if these guys cannot get me an accurate bank statement, how can I be liable for not notifying them of "their" errors. I honestly don't feel I should be liable for those withdrawals, if they were the one who made errors on their end and made me think I had funds available.


Asked on 10/18/13, 12:05 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Cedulie Laumann Arden Law Firm, LLC

Your post does not have a clear question other than "how can I be liable"? It is simple, really - if you take out more money than you had (whenever it showed up on the bank's system) you're almost always legally obliged to pay it back. Although banks must keep accurate records, customers are also expected to keep track of deposits and withdrawals in a check register or deposit book. A delay can wreck havoc but it is not clear how long of a delay in posting the transactions. When payments/credits are not showing up, a customer should immediately contact the institution in writing. To get the protection of certain federal law a consumer complaint might need to be made within 60 days, though there are a host of banking rules and regulations far beyond the scope of this answer.

You're welcome to challenge the bank, of course, but it is highly unlikely that a customer who actually made the charges / withdrawals would prevail. Please keep in mind that the above response offers general legal information and not a detailed review of your particular situation.

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Answered on 11/13/13, 1:24 pm


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