Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in New York

Re: can they freeze a bank account without a judgement?

In general, if the bank and the credit card company are the same you will have agreed that they can take the money out of your account to pay late bills.

Other than that it is rare for the bank to freeze your account without a judgment.

Unfortunately banks are fairly monolithic and tend to do what they want and do not suffer meaningful consequences when they are wrong.

I suggest you demand copies of all papers that led to the freezing of your account. You can also contact the State Banking Dept.'s consumer complaint division.