banks can and will take money from your account if you're indebted to them...for a bank-branded credit card, student loans, ANYTHING you have with them (read the fine print, it is legal!)....I had it happened almost ten years ago, but it was my social assistance check that was completely wiped out. I got smarter, though, and went to a credit union...and NEVER looked back.

Recently, a third party collector attempted to take money from my credit union account with NO success because the debt, even though VALID, was my husband's only and our account is JOINT. They had HIS signature on a document where the fine print read they could take money from his account but NOT mine.

The credit union (of which I own shares in) had NO problem sending the debtor's automatic debit back UNAUTHORIZED.

It really pays to read everything very thoroughly. Chances are , there is a clause in there somewhere that allows them free reign on your account.

Hello Shauna,

I too was in the same boat, But I neglected my student loans for sometime and it bit me in the ass. Not only did they STOLE my whole frick'n pay check they did it 3 times, once a year, espescially when I had to pay the electric bill or rent. I'm currently paying it now. Three times from my bank account, can you belive it? True story.
Jason Hill

I was wondering what the normal legal proceedings were for taking money out of my bank accounts. I recently had money taken from my account and the only thing that was attached to it was this 1888 number. So I called the number and only got the answering machine. When I called the bank to put a stop payment on it, I had to go into the bank and fill out this form, that said I didn't authorize payment. To this day I still have no idea who they are, they never return my phonecalls. Shouldn't someone have to contact you or show you papers or something before they start pulling money out of a bank account?