About Frozen Checking Accounts

Video Transcript

"Have you ever tried to access your checking account and found out that your account was frozen? Hi, this is Roger Groh, at Groh Asset Management. What does that mean, and why does it happen? Well, your bank has the responsibility to protect your money, and their thought is that if somebody takes your money out by accident that they're going to get sued, so most banks very actively scan accounts for activity that is unusual. And that term is very broad and means different things to different types of accounts, but bottom line, if a bank senses that there's something not quite right they will freeze your account. Now, can other people freeze accounts? Well no, but the government can request that a bank is, that a bank freezes your account, or a court can request a bank to freeze your account, or even a spouse can request a court to freeze your account, so there are other reasons why your account may be frozen. The now the next question is how do you unfreeze it? Well really, it depends upon what happened. If it was just your regular bank thinking that there was an unusual event occurring you call them up, you talk to them about it, and generally, they'll lift that freeze right away. If it's something more complex, a tax matter or a family issue, you'd better contact your lawyer in order to determine what the other side really needs in order to make them feel comfortable lifting the freeze that they have gotten. So, it's not such a big deal. Generally, freezing your account is a good thing as the bank is looking out for your money, so just call them up and discuss it and they will lift that hold right away. I'm Roger Groh, at Groh Asset, and thank you very much for spendin' time with me."