Tomorrow we are having a protest in Phoenix, Arizona against Bank of America. I have not used my checking account there since November 2011. I have been waiting for the right date to close my account. With protests against Bank of America all over the country tomorrow, I have found the date. I could have written a novel, but I wanted to keep it to one page. With a grrrrrrr, here it is:
March 15, 2012
Dear Bank of America,
Today you are losing a customer of over 23 years. The reasons for this are too numerous to list. I will highlight three of them.
1. ALL THE PEOPLE YOU HAVE FORECLOSED ON
I live in a small neighborhood in Gilbert, Arizona. When I moved here in the summer of 2004, it was a happy, friendly neighborhood. Now it has been decimated by foreclosures. Four of the five houses around me have been foreclosed. These were all middle-class working families with children. The people next door to me put $90,000 down on their house and they were still foreclosed. The house behind me has been vacant for well over three years, and is quite literally, falling apart. The house across the street from me has been vacant for two years next month. The people who lived there loved the house and took care of it. Now Bank of America owns the house. You do not take care of it. When you get a weed notice from the City of Gilbert, you have a gardener come and pull the weeds, but you do not take care of the other plants. The palm trees look like old men with overgrown beards. I see this house every day of my life and it makes me sad. I feel like I am living in a Ghost Town. It is very sad that Bank of America has thrown so many people out of the homes that they loved. It is sad that the four big banks have refused to work with people to keep them in their homes. It is sad that a nation of homeowners is being turned into a nation of renters. The American Dream has become an American Nightmare, and Bank of America is part of the problem.
2. PUTTING HIDDEN FEES IN LOANS TO VETERANS
This is despicable. The very people who put their lives on the line to serve this country have been grafted by Bank of America. The Bank that reported third quarter gains of $6.2 billion in 2011 puts hidden fees in loans to Veterans.
3. STEALING MONEY FROM CHILDREN
Several years ago I opened savings accounts for my grandsons at Bank of America. When I was a child, I had a bank book and I could watch my money grow. So much has changed since then. My daughter didn’t notice that you were charging the children $5 a month for their savings accounts until you had stolen $10 from each of my grandsons. They are 10 and 12 years old. Bank of America is stealing money from children. How much money does your C.E.O. make? I guess not enough. You can be sure that neither one of my grandsons will ever open an account with Bank of America. You are also losing future customers. You really can’t go much lower than stealing money from children.
Sincerely,
Me