Having problems with your bank? State and federal regulators have hot lines that can offer help

Ginger Belle Chapman was very pleased when she realized that she could shave 2 percentage points off her 30-year mortgage by refinancing, a move that would allow her to pay it off in 20 years with payments only about $20 more a month.

But the Haslet resident was not pleased when there were unexpected expenses, confusion over property tax escrow and a delay of months in getting copies of the signed loan documents.

"Everything about that deal was lousy," Chapman said. "I’ve never had much money, but I husband my resources very carefully."

Chapman’s bad experience was exacerbated by the fact that a national bank bought out her mortgage company amid her transaction. "I called them six times, and they wouldn’t take my calls," the 84-year-old retiree said. She finally got her situation straightened out by personally visiting the bank and demanding help.

"I’ve always handled everything myself," Chapman said. "I was in customer service in the insurance industry for years. So I know a bit about it. But not everybody is equipped to deal with a financial institution."

So where do the rest of us go to get help with banking problems?

The situation is complicated by overlapping regulatory bodies, and differences between nationally chartered banks, state-chartered banks and other kinds of institutions. But the Internet is helping consumers, even those who don’t know the appropriate regulatory body that handles consumer problems with banks.

In Texas, consumer complaints against state-chartered banks should be directed to the Texas Banking Commission. Commissioner Charles Cooper says that the agency will help consumers connect with the right agency, even if his agency doesn’t have jurisdiction.

"Even though it’s not our entity, if she will write or call us, we will make sure that their complaint gets to the right agency," Cooper said.

Most complaints regard misapplied payments or problems with checking or savings accounts. Usually a call or letter to the bank gets the problem resolved fairly quickly, Cooper said.

Through September, the agency had received 1,957 complaints for the previous 12 months and "only had 24 outstanding complaints," Cooper said. For nationally chartered banks, where most of us do our banking, complaints should be addressed to the U.S. Comptroller of the Currency.

The OCC has a consumer hot line, and complainants "will talk to a live human" when you register your complaint, said Kevin Mukri, an OCC spokesman.

He has practical advice for those with a problem.

"Go to the bank first," Mukri advises. "Because that is going to be the way to get your problem addressed the quickest."

But if consumers have already tried the direct approach and don’t feel that the problem was addressed, they should call the customer hot line or e-mail the agency.

"If they are not sure what kind of bank it is, come to us anyway," Mukri said. In Texas, the attorney general’s office addresses problems related to deceptive practices or outright fraud. That agency received 429 complaints against banks in fiscal 2008, said Lauri Satthoff of the agency.

Chapman is spending some time in Arizona and is glad that her problems have been fixed, but she wants others to be armed with the information of where to go if they run into trouble with their bank.

"I know that, if they are doing this to me, they are doing it to other people," Chapman said. "I don’t want them to get away with it."

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