Get Your ChexSystems Removal In Writing!
You have heard it before and I am here to tell you again – Get It In Writing!
What am I talking about you might ask? I am talking about all the lies I have heard the bank customer service departments tell customers about how they are going to remove them from chexsystems if they simply pay the amount owed. Let me tell you – it is rare that they actually remove you. When you owe money to them, then you have a record with them, that that says “record – money owed”. When you pay then usually it simply gets modified to say “record – no money owed”. Now you may think that if they report you as having no money owed then you are off the hook. But that is not true. A record is a record whether you owe money or not. Let’s start with your bank employee at the branch level. First off they really do not have any power to remove you. They can empathize but they have no real power. Chex is handled at the corporate level. Now when you call the loss department and ask them to remove you they always say “no”. If you owe money you may be able to have a little leverage. Try to negotiate with them and say that you will pay if they remove you from chexsystems. I have seen many times when they will agree to this verbally – but just like a collection agency lies – so does the banks corporate office. If they tell you they are going to remove you get it in writing. Make certain it says they will completely remove you also – not just change it to no money owed. You want them to specifically state in writing that they will remove everything on your from chexsystems. Countless times I had customers come in and tell me that they paid and no longer had a record. Then we would check and sure enough they still had a record. At first I thought the customers were exaggerating when they would tell me that they were told that when they paid the report would be removed. But then over time I had it happen so often that I knew they were telling the truth. The back office at the bank were nothing more than collection agency agents saying anything to collect money. That is when I began telling customers to treat them like a collection agency and begin negotiating. Because they were behaving like a collection agency I knew there goal was to collect money. So I began telling customers to use the money owed as a negotiation tool to be removed. It's all about bank profits . Guess what? It did not always work. But oftentimes it did and those times were worth the effort. I know you may not feel comfortable ”playing the game” but you did not design it – they did – so you have to play it. Yes. You owe money. Yes you are going to pay it. But they do not have to know that up front – it’s best to give it a shot and see what happens. The have their chexsystems that effectively bans you from banking – so use what you have as leverage.