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A comment on Why Banks Are Suddenly Closing Down Customer Accounts. Parent comment

Re:Why Banks Are Suddenly Closing Down Customer Accounts by fencepost on Sunday November 05, 2023 @06:34PM (#38156914)
I'm very far from dealing with 500k personal banking transactions, but my immediate thought is that if you're doing so you're probably making mistakes. If it's revenue from sale of a company or similar, move it through escrow with your attorney. If it's a legal settlement, do the same. If you don't have an attorney but are dealing with hundreds of thousands of dollars, get an attorney. If it's income from trading or investing it should likely be a transaction from a recognized brokerage which shouldn't raise red flags - and if it's a private investment, see above about an attorney.

And of course if it's business transactions, do it with a business account.

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Re:Why Banks Are Suddenly Closing Down Customer Accounts by raincom on Sunday November 05, 2023 @07:12PM (#38157212)
I just gave an example based on what I read on reddit, as I never deposited $500K in my life. I have no problems with banks' closing accounts, as I have accounts with a couple of local credit unions, who are nice to me.

What caused the closure? A legitimate transaction that they find suspicious. Conjunction of two issues--not sending the funds back and closing the account without releasing funds to the customer--is real 'thievery' in my opinion. Since big banks are NOT interested in resolving disputes about funds by lying to customers, better file a complaint with CFPB right away with many details and documents.

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Re:Why Banks Are Suddenly Closing Down Customer Accounts by pc86 on Monday November 06, 2023 @09:27AM (#38163004)
Perhaps we should stop spreading second-hand anecdotes from Reddit as authoritative examples of what can/has/should happen.
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Re:Why Banks Are Suddenly Closing Down Customer Accounts by mindslight on Sunday November 05, 2023 @10:37PM (#38158556)
[delayed]
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Re:Why Banks Are Suddenly Closing Down Customer Accounts by zlg_codes on Monday November 06, 2023 @12:11AM (#38159102)
Wait hold up, lawyers can help you avoid the law as well?

I suspect the bar would not allow that.

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Re:Why Banks Are Suddenly Closing Down Customer Accounts by mindslight on Monday November 06, 2023 @10:37AM (#38163976)
You obviously can't cold call an attorney and ask for help laundering money. But if you find a money laundering operation through the proper channels, then it will likely involve a law firm somewhere that's facilitating making it properly legible to the system - setting up less-than-truthful companies, generating copious fraudulent documentation, etc. If anything attorneys' trust accounts should be receiving more scrutiny rather than less.
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Re:Why Banks Are Suddenly Closing Down Customer Accounts by raincom on Monday November 06, 2023 @01:51AM (#38159593)
Lawyers are not of much help when it comes to reopening already-closed accounts. Most of the time, banks will send a cashier check for whatever money left, if they close accounts abruptly. Sometimes, they give a month to move funds elsewhere. When a bank closes an account for that last check which they find suspicious--subsequently cleared by the payee bank, that's when banks give a run around. File a complaint with CFPB without any lawyer, unless of course that amount is substantial.
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Re:Why Banks Are Suddenly Closing Down Customer Accounts by mindslight on Monday November 06, 2023 @10:27AM (#38163851)
I agree - you don't need an attorney to file a complaint with the CFPB, and that is what you should do ASAP when a bank starts pulling this crap. But the comment I was responding to was suggesting you should have an attorney to handle any large possibly-judged-as-suspicious transaction.
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Re:Why Banks Are Suddenly Closing Down Customer Accounts by fencepost on Monday November 06, 2023 @12:07PM (#38165286)
I wouldn't expect them to help with reopening, but if a bank is investigating an unexpected large deposit and determines that "Oh, it's coming from a law firm's escrow account" it gives at least one obvious possible explanation - and may also indicate to investigators that the account holder is someone with legal representation so don't be sloppy.
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Re:Why Banks Are Suddenly Closing Down Customer Accounts by fastaguy88 on Monday November 06, 2023 @10:07AM (#38163588)
If you are buying a house with cash, you are likely to be transferring $500K+. I do not think an attorney is necessary for the transfer.
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Re:Why Banks Are Suddenly Closing Down Customer Accounts by BobaFloutist on Tuesday November 07, 2023 @12:52PM (#38180242)
When you buy a house an attorney is likely involved, but, in any case, you're going to be transferring the 500k through escrow, not making a direct deposit or wire transfer.
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Re:Why Banks Are Suddenly Closing Down Customer Accounts by fastaguy88 on Wednesday November 08, 2023 @03:54PM (#38196825)
I made a wire transfer to the escrow agent.
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