The Government Threatened To Close My Checking Account via The Patriot Act

Posted on 19. Nov, 2008 by Kevin Geary in Relevant News

Photo by Dunechaser

Photo by Dunechaser

The tough guys in the Department of Homeland Security forced Wachovia to send me a letter stating that my bank account would be shut down because they couldn’t confirm my Wife’s identity. Close my bank account? Confirm identity? Surely there is some misunderstanding.

Last year my I married my beautiful wife in Destin, Florida. Apparently, that was when our chances of opening a bank account in America were threatened.

Prior to receiving the letter from Wachovia and the Department of Hassle-Innocent-People, I was denied access to making deposits into my account. I was told to contact Wachovia’s underwriting department and they would answer any questions I had. After a little convincing (read: threatening to close my account and bank elsewhere) they allowed me to deposit my paycheck, but insisted that I would still have to call underwriting to get my account straightened out.

So what’s the deal here? Apparently, because my wife took my last name, she is no longer who she says she is in the eyes of the Imperial Federal Government. Even though we are legally married, she changed her Driver’s License, and so on, we can’t get a bank account without proving that she’s not a terrorist.

In reality, it’s not a huge deal. All we have to do is fax them a copy of our marriage certificate. What frustrates me is that illegal aliens can open bank accounts with less hassle than what I’m going through. And for what? Because the government is slow to update their databases? It’s a freakin’ bank account, not an application for a green card.

I’m still trying to figure out what all the fuss is about. If a terrorist wants to get funds into this country, they can do it any number of ways.

Who knows, maybe I can go for a two-point conversion and show up on their no-fly list next time I go on vacation.

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7 Responses to “The Government Threatened To Close My Checking Account via The Patriot Act”

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  1. Ryan

    19. Nov, 2008

    That will teach you to marry a terrorist. Seriously, that’s ridiculous.

    My dad had some mutual funds in an account created with my social security number and my name on the account. When I call to get my dad’s name taken off the account, they tell me that I have to get a medallion guarantee signature or w/e to get my dad’s name taken off. I’m like “I just gave you my social security number, date of birth, etc., what is a little stamp going to add?? It took me a whole week of constant communication with my credit union to get the stamp.

    And like you said we have millions of illegal aliens that can do almost just as many things that citizens can do.

    This is another example of how our system is way to complicated and needs to be simplified.

    Like the lego sniper.

    Reply to this comment

  2. Brandon J. Mendelson

    19. Nov, 2008

    That is a bit crazy. I do disagree though about the terrorist comment. Even if they can get money in, that doesn’t mean they’re so smart as not to try using bank accounts.

    It is a hassle, but I rather go through the extra step if it makes life even slightly more difficult for a terrorist, you know?

    Reply to this comment

  3. Jeff Rose

    19. Nov, 2008

    The Patriot Act has changed many things. At my old brokerage firm I had inherited old accounts that were opened without social security numbers, employment information, etc.

    Now we have to have that, their driver’s license with issue and expiration date, employment info with address, etc. More paperwork but I assume it is to prevent money laundering.

    I think that it affects the college generation the most because most college students change their address frequently. And you have to keep verifying where you live now.

    Reply to this comment

  4. nihao

    19. Nov, 2008

    I had a call from the FBI recently.
    They were wondering why I contacted Boeing regarding a Macromedia Flight Simulator software program that would not install in Vista. Works fine in XP.

    They obviously are trained to track down the simplest of leads, and not the difficult ones.

    If I was going to hijack and fly a plane, i could just run the software on XP, and not bother calling Boeing.

    I could also download the software from P2P instead of obtaining it legitimately from commercial avation.

    Its sad. Even I could do a better job tracking down leads. And I have no enforcement training whatsoever…

    The Patriot Act is run like it came from the 200+ year old constitution era.

    Reply to this comment

  5. Tom

    20. Nov, 2008

    Flashback 2-3 years ago.

    Tom: The patriot act is a horrible violation of the 4th amendment, we have to protect all civil liberties.

    Kevin: It will only affect you if you’re a terrorist, are you a terrorist?

    Tom: That’s how it always starts, once you give government power it will only expand it and it will backfire on all of us.

    Kevin: Are you sure you’re not a terrorist?

    Ooops :)

    Reply to this comment

  6. The Money Hawk

    20. Nov, 2008

    @ Tom:

    You’re right. Temporary lapse in judgement. Won’t happen again :)

    Reply to this comment

  7. heather

    13. Jan, 2009

    Banking in the US has certainly become very difficult lately. Union Bank accused me of structuring cash transactions to evade federal reporting requirements. My only cash transaction: an $80 ATM withdrawal. They closed my account and never told me what the real problem was. Details at http://consumerproblems.wordpress.com/category/union-bank-of-california/

    Reply to this comment

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