Legal Question in Consumer Law in Virginia

paypal

Paypal froze my account about a month ago for receiving to much money all of a sudden. They asked me to provide certain information and I did, then they asked me to link a credit or debit card and I called and explained to them that I have neither. So they asked me to send a paystub and a utility bill to verify identity and address. After doing so they further tell me that I need to send more information, a passport. The account is still frozen and I am unable to withdraw MY money from MY account. What should I do?


Asked on 3/28/08, 1:05 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Andrew Flusche

Re: paypal

Unfortunately, you may not have much of a choice but to do what PayPal asks. When you signed up for an account, you consented to the User Agreement: https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=xpt/UserAgreement/ua/USUA-outside

You specifically authorized PayPal to take steps to verify your identity:

"2.3 Identity Authentication. You authorize PayPal, directly or through third parties, to make any inquiries we consider necessary to validate your identity. This may include asking you for further information, requiring you to take steps to confirm ownership of your email address or financial instruments, ordering a credit report and verifying your Information against third party databases or through other sources."

Also, if you only have a Personal Account, it is limited in the amount of money it can receive each month. PayPal can require you to upgrade your account to Premier or Business.

Your best option is to comply with their requests or ask if there is some alternative documentation you can provide. If that fails, you could initiate a dispute with PayPal, under paragraph 14 of the User Agreement.

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Answered on 3/29/08, 1:25 am


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