Wachovia Bank Bilks Milford Mom of $455.00 In Predatory Bank Fee's

With Trillions of our tax dollars being given to banks you would think that the cash in hand would be used to bail out struggling home owners, or those upside down on their mortgages but that is not the case.

The story printed in the Connecticut Post is only one of many reasons why draconian banking reform is required. Lori Anne Galligan, like most people in Milford struggle to pay bills and balance her budget, but our local Wachovia banks comprised of the worlds most evil people feel no crime is committed when they rob their clients of $10.3 Billion in overdraft fees.

Our founders warned us long ago about banks, and they said that "none are more imperiled than those people whose nations stand silent as crimes against them are made to be legally protected by the courts." My point is that if we rob a bank of $455.00 we can be charged with ROBBERY OR FRAUD, they on the other hand can call you STUPID AND NEGLIGENT then legally keep your money.

This is just but one of many creative violations of the 14Th Amendment that evil banks engage in on a regular basis. While Ms. Galligan pleaded with her bank manager at Wachovia, she like most of their customers are told to "Go Pound Salt" that there is no credit. Their favorite techniques is to make their customers who receive these fees feel stupid, negligent, and deserving of the fee because of the risk of loss they pose to the bank by their reckless behavior.

These arguments are all baseless, they are mere training techniques rendered by the senior managers to guarantee the 10 Billion in profits keep flowing into their pockets. They even add the added scam of electronically stacking the system against their customers. The do this by clearing the largest checks first and then churn multiple fees on the other smaller transactions. This is the only way its possible for banks to make the huge profits the need to support their overbearing banking presence in local communities.

Many people have asked banks for relief from these fees and Congress passed new banking reform that few people really understand but if one thing is for certain banks are making it clear that being middle class and having a bank account can be a very costly liability. Fee structures indirectly communicate that bank accounts are for the rich, or people so flush with cash that they can keep a massive base sum in their accounts.

Most banks offer "over draft protection" but even that is stacked to harm its consumers with fees and excessive interest, and more often than not they do their very best not to advertise it, offer it, or make it easy to qualify for.

The best way to retaliate against these abusive banks is to close out your account, convert all your savings into Gold (Contact you financial advisor) and have a bank account for the sole purpose of paying those bills that you cannot pay in cash. If you need a credit card, than use prepaid ones that cannot invoke hefty $35.00 fees. Lastly if you insist on using a bank write a letter to your old bank explaining that you switched to a bank that has lower fees, and are less abusive of their customers. The best relief that I personally found from greedy banks was to investigate credit unions.

You may also abandon your account with the negative balance, but some banks now report customers who fight back to the "CHEX" system. This is a "RAT" network of people on a "LIST" that are alleged abusers of their checking privileges. While some people rightfully deserve to be on this "LIST" there are others who are abusing it with customers who refuse to allow themselves to be cheated by their bank or simply just disagree with their charges.

Local Banks Prey On The Poor & Financially Strapped

The financial world today has changed greatly over the years, with seven day banking and faster than ever clearing times of transactions our finances have moved into the realm of light speed.

Big banks and their banking policies have also changed greatly with the changing times. After the Real Estate bubble popped, big banks became victims of their own greed. Staggering foreclosures and evaporating collateral in real estate forced hundreds of small and large banks to go out of business.

However, some select banks were deemed “too big to fail” and reckless and greedy banking institutions like AIG, Citibank, Fannie Mae, Freddy Mac, Bank of America, etc.. etc.. were given Trillions of dollars in taxpayer bailout money.

This money was created by the Federal Reserve System, a corrupt institution run by the banking elite themselves and led by Ben Bernake. While many have recently congratulated Ben Bernake for fending off a Depression globally, Americans have seen no relief, no growth, and ever increasing unemployment.

The Trillions in fake money that has been given to so many un-named institutions are still a mystery to the average American but fortunately our leaders have taken notice and two bills H.R 1207 and SB 604 are demanding an audit of the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve has fought back by hiring a high priced PR firm to lobby Congress and make sure the recipients of the Trillions in tax dollars are kept secret.

According to Peter Schiff of Euro Pacific Capital, every one of us will be paying the price even harder in the coming years. “When the fake money hits the streets Congress will be confronted with two horrible choices. Raise interest rates to stop runaway inflation and further collapse the real estate market and stock market or leave interest rates low and force the Dollar down against other currencies. This second choice also brings the risk of forcing our debtors to cut their losses, to induce the sale of U.S. treasuries and debt and spawn hyper inflation, or worse hyper stagflation.”

“The stage we are at now with banks is one where banks are trying to make it through the challenging environment in the next two years, and they are doing a great job of making huge profits off all the economically challenged people who live on minimal fixed incomes. This practice is one the banking industry refers to as their “Fee Income” and their “Fee Income” is expected to produce a whopping 38.5 Billion in revenue for the big banks. This figure is so large that it will now be the single largest revenue source for all banks.”

One bank in particular has a $39.00 fee; legally they can charge their customers a maximum of ten such fees in a day for a total of $390.00 to a single consumer. Other banks have fees for deposited but uncleared checks (UAF) or their credit cards have Over Limit Fees and Late Fees. There is also the ATM fee game where it is now possible to pay multiple fees on a single cash withdrawal. Adding insult to injury banks are charging up to 39% interest on these late fees. Mortgage companies have also got into the fee churning game. Many mortgage companies using (ACH) or the electronic payment system are running multiple transactions through to the banks that draw on payment accounts.

Anyone who has had experience with this will see that there are two separate transactions posted to their checking account. One transaction is for a $5-$10 “A Convenience Fee” and the other the larger mortgage payment. While banks could easily combine both these transactions into one payment they refuse. Instead they learned that this practice will generate twice the $39.00 fees for their banking partners who will overdraw the account by clearing the larger check first and the smaller check next.

At Peoples bank here in Milford, CT bank managers are under duress by their higher bosses not to refund any overdraft fees. They are training their employees to engage an angry public and give answers and solutions that guarantee they keep these very profitable fees. The manager also said that managers will deduct the refunds from their bottom line and punish employees who engage in Overdraft refunds.

The bank manager I spoke with wishes to remain anonymous, but has personally told me that these fees are being paid by the towns financially strapped, the poor who live paycheck to paycheck. Sadly their cowardly bosses who never see a bank customer are instructed to tell fee victims to fill out an overdraft protection loan form. However, she said this is a waste of time because management has made it nearly impossible to qualify for this type of loan. It is not in the banks financial interest to be giving away their fee income to people who wish to opt out.

Congress and the CT Banking Commissioner have heard so many complaints about this fee issue, that there has been talk of reforming the practice under an ethics rule. Some suggestions have been made to limit banks to charging one fee per day, other suggestions have been to force banks to lend the overdrawn money or not issue the fee, and other proposals have been to limit fees to reasonable amounts.

For obvious reasons the banking industry is fighting this at the highest levels and lobbying hard to keep “extorting the poor.” Banks argue that in these troubled times they “need the money” more than the people they take it from. They argue that banks can’t fail but individuals who can’t manage their finances can and should.

While banks know that there is little money to be made in this era of low interest rates their core business have been criminally “retooled” to strip the general public “one fee at a time.” This money comes from people “young and old” living on the “edge.”

The best way to fight these fees for now is to use low fee Credit Unions like McKesson and get rid of your high interest credit cards, or just pay them off altogether.