Can a bank in CA use the "right of offset" without notifying the account owner?I am in a situation where I could not make my mortgage after a divorce and close to foreclosure. My lender is also my bank and I found out that they took money from my children savings account to pay for the mortgage. I am on the children's account. They said they have the right of offset to do this. Can I... | |
I work for a bank, so I can tell you what they did was totally legal. Legal, yes, ethical, no. If your name is on an account, regardless of what kind of account it is, you are legally responsible for that money in every way, shape, and form. Even if you never deposited one dime into that account and your name was only on the account for monitoring purposes, if you owe money to another account, they can take it from wherever they can find, including your children's account.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. Good luck though.
First question: Yes, well, you were notified in all the stuff you signed to open the accounts.
2nd Q: Yes, you can challenge, but you will lose.
