As promised, this is the end of the story about the man who received a letter in the mail from a Mr. Victor Milligan of Cambridge, MA, instructing him to cash a check (that turned out to be bogus), purchase gift cards, and then to send the gift cards to Victor Milligan for a supposed commission.
The check bounced, and the victim’s Bank of America account became overdrawn, which prevented the man from having funds to pay rent.
So here’s what happened as a result.
I spoke with the branch manager directly on the phone on behalf of this 84-year old man. I expressed my horror and dismay that a customer service representative would cash a check from a third party that was greater than the funds available, and without holding the check to clear first. I said BOA had to take part of the responsibility.
I also expressed my unhappiness about the assistant manager confiscating every last dollar the man had, including the cash he had in his wallet, so that he was unable to pay rent for April. I asked the manager to make this right by releasing funds to the man in the amount due for rent.
I have learned that the best way to negotiate a settlement is to go to the top. What a customer service representative won’t or can’t do, a top executive will do.
For those of you working on negotiating settlements, I would like to point out that the assistant manager was only interested in helping the Big Bank–not the victim of the crime.
I’ve learned that the higher up you go, the nicer the person is.
The ending of this story is that the Bank of America manager wrote a cashier’s check to the man for his April rent. It is a loan of sorts, to be paid back at $300 per month. I thought that was fair and very decent of the manager.
The BOA manager showed himself to be caring, merciful, and ethical. I hope he also trains his customer service representatives on how to handle an odd, uncharacteristically large out-of-state check that is 600 percent higher than the balance in the account.
This incident, along with a copy of the letter, has been reported to the local police in California who is coordinating with the police in Cambridge, MA. I hope this scam is shut down pronto!
If you have experience with a negotiation, I would be very interested in hearing about it.
Stay safe from scams out there, everyone! The criminals are working overtime now.
Thanks for helping that Gentleman. Many Blessings Always!
Thank you Carolyn!
It’s heartbreaking to see a U.S. Military Veteran and elderly person get scammed. I was happy to help.
Good evening Mrs. Warren.. I bought your book approx. one month ago which provided me with a foundation on how to move forward in filing my disputes with all three CRA’s.
Additionally, I conducted extensive research that led me to the H.R. 362 Act.; Comprehensive Reporting Enhancement, Disclosure, Innovation, and Transparency Act of 2020’’.
Essentially amendments to the FCRA 2020. It took me a couple of hours to read it (couple hundred of pages). I was able to utilize the above mentioned information in preparing a proper response to all three CRA’s.
My dispute letters were very detailed and quite lengthy as I wanted to make I did not leave any relevant information out. As of 04/15/2020, I received notice from of my updated score.
To my amazement it jumped 95 points!!!!!! within one month of disputing. I am still awaiting the results for Trans Union and Equifax. I followed these simple rules:
1. File dispute in writing-be very specific
2. Mail to CRA’s certified
3. Include a copy of your CDL.
4. Include a copy of your (one) utility bill
5. Sign your dispute letter and include current mailing address
6. In my dispute (legal argument) I provided citations in support of my dispute
7. In some case I asked for the CRA’s to provide me with any/and all written contracts, signatures, other related documents, additional account information and balances that were not shown on the account due to “NR” reporting over the course of the account (7yrs).
8. I did not dispute ALL negative accounts.
9. My dispute letters were typed but very well thought out and organized which possibly may have overwhelmed the reader.
William, thank you for your input. I emailed you but received no response. Would you be willing to share one of your letters with me? (You can block out all personal information.)
Hello Carolyn,
I have your book for some time and finally getting time to improve my Credit. I am 67 years old and I am trying to use my VA loan to purchase a home instead of renting.
I had believed the promises made by Federal Trade Commission that time monthly payments would improve my Credit. In chapter eight of your book you say there are valid Credit Repair Companies. Could you send me a list of the ones I can trust to complete credit repair for me.
Larry W. Smith (623)9807956
Sent from Mail for Windows 10
I’m sorry, I do not know any real estate agents in Missouri.