FB: Liberty League

[Senor RedTackle]

http://www.privacyguard.com


Look like it jumped to $12.99, maybe JT is under some kind of grandfathering.  Still worth it.

RT uses identity guard...it's $12.99/mo and sends RT an email anytime an inquiry is made, account opened, etc. RT gets all 3 scores and other useful info. RT recommends this type of service for LLPP,Inc

www.identityguard.com

[Garnet]

garnet can't view the link 'gro put up so he will try to share a little something he can view.

http://mb22.scout.com/fouinsiderfrm1.showMessageRange?topicID=109203.topic&start=1&stop=20

Merry Christmas

[Garnet]

Garnet's new favorite college team....Boise State!

[Senor RedTackle]

garnet can't view the link 'gro put up so he will try to share a little something he can view.

http://mb22.scout.com/fouinsiderfrm1.showMessageRange?topicID=109203.topic&start=1&stop=20

Merry Christmas

RT is speechless over the Oklahoma girs (the cheerleaders and the fans)...RT alost slipped into the 1st person he was so overwhelmed

[icgrad87]

Merry Christmas to the LLPP!!

garnet can't view the link 'gro put up so he will try to share a little something he can view.

http://mb22.scout.com/fouinsiderfrm1.showMessageRange?topicID=109203.topic&start=1&stop=20

Merry Christmas

RT is speechless over the Oklahoma girs (the cheerleaders and the fans)...RT alost slipped into the 1st person he was so overwhelmed

Was checking out some of the other pages..Grad may have to add this to his favorites!!!

[Jonny Utah]

OK.  Weird moment from today - just a few minutes ago, in fact...

I applied to open a Bank of America checking account online last night (they're offering $100 for opening, and I've been wanting one from there since they have branches everywhere now).  So, I fill in the application, submit it and got an email last night saying they were delaying acceptance.  I was a little peeved, since I think my credit score is at 777 right now -- I nurse that baby like it's my job.  However, I went to sleep and forgot about it.

Fast forward to this morning -- I get an email saying that I need to call for verification purposes.  Fine -- I call and speak to a lovely customer service rep.  She begins asking questions much like they ask when you attempt to access your credit report (based from supposedly public records which refer to property locations, relations of yours, vehicles you've owned, former residences, etc.).  Often, they throw in "trick questions" that don't apply to you when you attempt to access your information to see if you'll answer "none of these/no relation."  Here are the 5 questions I was asked:

1) In what city does [NAME OF FORMER SISTER-IN-LAW, 2 YEARS REMOVED] own or rent property?

2) Which of the following vehicles have you owned/leased? (listed 5 vehicles to which I have no relationship)

3) What is the age range of Barbara Rossi? (listed 5 age ranges -- problem is, I know no Barbara Rossi)

4) Which of the following vehicles have you owned/leased? (again listed 5 vehicles to which I have no relationship)

5) Which of these people are you most closely associated with? (list 5 foreign names I've never heard of in my life)

After the first question about the former sister-in-law, I said to the girl, "That's an inappropriate question."  Essentially, if I didn't answer, I'd be rejected for the account and would have to go into the branch to open (who knows what their verification process would be like).  I'm pretty sure I'm not going to be approved for this account -- which is a little freaky to me, based on that phone call.  Should I be worried about identity theft, etc.?

Yea, Bank of America is crap anyway.  Unless you have tens of thousands of dollars (probably close to over 100K) those banks just arent worth it.  Look to your local bank or credit union (which usually have great ATM no-fee deals with other banks) and go there.

['gro]

Gro has BoA and likes their website and billpay feature (most banks probably have this by now)... gro did not like it when BoA gave me and 1000's others a new debit card/number saying they were hacked and financial data was stolen.

[JT]

Gro has BoA and likes their website and billpay feature (most banks probably have this by now)... gro did not like it when BoA gave me and 1000's others a new debit card/number saying they were hacked and financial data was stolen.

JT hates BoA.  He liked it better when they were Fleet and before that Summit in DJ.  The only real benefit is BoA's wide reach and the ability to find ATM's all over the country.  They are completely inflexible and will do anything to generate fees.  Fleet's Billpay would not let you accidentally cut a check for more than the money in your account.  For example, you are out of town and had some unexpected expenses and your automatic car payment would throw you into negative balance.  Fleet would hold it up till you could check it out.  BoA starts bouncing payments right away.

They suck and you have to fight to get any fees (partially) refunded.  JT only uses BoA for the wide access.  He funnels most of his money to a smaller bank.

[Jonny Utah]

Gro has BoA and likes their website and billpay feature (most banks probably have this by now)... gro did not like it when BoA gave me and 1000's others a new debit card/number saying they were hacked and financial data was stolen.

JT hates BoA.  He liked it better when they were Fleet and before that Summit in DJ.  The only real benefit is BoA's wide reach and the ability to find ATM's all over the country.  They are completely inflexible and will do anything to generate fees.  Fleet's Billpay would not let you accidentally cut a check for more than the money in your account.  For example, you are out of town and had some unexpected expenses and your automatic car payment would throw you into negative balance.  Fleet would hold it up till you could check it out.  BoA starts bouncing payments right away.

They suck and you have to fight to get any fees (partially) refunded.  JT only uses BoA for the wide access.  He funnels most of his money to a smaller bank.

Exactly JT.

A few years ago, I went around to a bunch of banks (probably 7 or so in one day) looking for the best deals on checking accounts, and maybe a savings account or a CD rate.  All the big banks BOA, Soverign, Citizens, TDBanknorth or whatever it was then) all had stupid fees that didnt make it worth it.

"Sir you can write up to 5 free checks a month and then its a $5 fee each after that"

Yea right lady, thanks but no thanks.

then usually you had to keep a 10,000 minumum in order to really benefit from any interest anyway, or at least a 2-5K one for realy small fees.

[Senor RedTackle]

OK.  Weird moment from today - just a few minutes ago, in fact...

I applied to open a Bank of America checking account online last night (they're offering $100 for opening, and I've been wanting one from there since they have branches everywhere now).  So, I fill in the application, submit it and got an email last night saying they were delaying acceptance.  I was a little peeved, since I think my credit score is at 777 right now -- I nurse that baby like it's my job.  However, I went to sleep and forgot about it.

Fast forward to this morning -- I get an email saying that I need to call for verification purposes.  Fine -- I call and speak to a lovely customer service rep.  She begins asking questions much like they ask when you attempt to access your credit report (based from supposedly public records which refer to property locations, relations of yours, vehicles you've owned, former residences, etc.).  Often, they throw in "trick questions" that don't apply to you when you attempt to access your information to see if you'll answer "none of these/no relation."  Here are the 5 questions I was asked:

1) In what city does [NAME OF FORMER SISTER-IN-LAW, 2 YEARS REMOVED] own or rent property?

2) Which of the following vehicles have you owned/leased? (listed 5 vehicles to which I have no relationship)

3) What is the age range of Barbara Rossi? (listed 5 age ranges -- problem is, I know no Barbara Rossi)

4) Which of the following vehicles have you owned/leased? (again listed 5 vehicles to which I have no relationship)

5) Which of these people are you most closely associated with? (list 5 foreign names I've never heard of in my life)

After the first question about the former sister-in-law, I said to the girl, "That's an inappropriate question."  Essentially, if I didn't answer, I'd be rejected for the account and would have to go into the branch to open (who knows what their verification process would be like).  I'm pretty sure I'm not going to be approved for this account -- which is a little freaky to me, based on that phone call.  Should I be worried about identity theft, etc.?

Yea, Bank of America is crap anyway.  Unless you have tens of thousands of dollars (probably close to over 100K) those banks just arent worth it.  Look to your local bank or credit union (which usually have great ATM no-fee deals with other banks) and go there.

RT plays both sides of the fence on this one. RT used to use Fleet (from his Boston days) but then stayed w/ BofA after the takeover. The do a nice job for online banking, billpay, etc....RT is always on the website following his transactions, etc. For a guy like RT who seems to be hemmhoraging cash, good online capabilities are a must.  More importantly, there's ATM's everywhere RT travels across NY, New England, and the East Coast.

On the flip side, RT also likes the local bank/credit union to avoid fees, etc. RT keeps a small account at Trustco in Saratoga where he does all his rental property banking. This is all done via a teller or an ATM...the downside of the small bank, in RT's experience, is that their online stuff sucks compared to the large financial houses.

As far as RT is concerned, a bank is scored on:
- online feature/functionality (including bill paying, following transactions, and money movement like transfers, etc)
- ATM locations & proximity to where RT spends most of his time
- fess/cost of doing business

[Senor RedTackle]

Gro has BoA and likes their website and billpay feature (most banks probably have this by now)... gro did not like it when BoA gave me and 1000's others a new debit card/number saying they were hacked and financial data was stolen.

JT hates BoA.  He liked it better when they were Fleet and before that Summit in DJ.  The only real benefit is BoA's wide reach and the ability to find ATM's all over the country.  They are completely inflexible and will do anything to generate fees.  Fleet's Billpay would not let you accidentally cut a check for more than the money in your account.  For example, you are out of town and had some unexpected expenses and your automatic car payment would throw you into negative balance.  Fleet would hold it up till you could check it out.  BoA starts bouncing payments right away.

They suck and you have to fight to get any fees (partially) refunded.  JT only uses BoA for the wide access.  He funnels most of his money to a smaller bank.

Exactly JT.

A few years ago, I went around to a bunch of banks (probably 7 or so in one day) looking for the best deals on checking accounts, and maybe a savings account or a CD rate.  All the big banks BOA, Soverign, Citizens, TDBanknorth or whatever it was then) all had stupid fees that didnt make it worth it.

"Sir you can write up to 5 free checks a month and then its a $5 fee each after that"

Yea right lady, thanks but no thanks.

then usually you had to keep a 10,000 minumum in order to really benefit from any interest anyway, or at least a 2-5K one for realy small fees.

RT used to be the same way when he lived in Boston in 1996-2000, before the real advent of online banking. RT bounced around between Watertown Savings Bank and US Express Bank (I think it was US Express or Bank US or something) to find a good no-fee house that let RT write alot of checks and keep a low balance. Eventually RT gravitated to Fleet and was pleased.

However, the problems JU and JT speak of seem like they shouldn't be an issue anymore? Who writes paper checks these days? ....you can either pay stuff online directly to almost all vendors or the bank lets you do an e-check where they cut a paper check to whoever you designate online. Also, with the online accounts, you typically have unlimited e-checks and RT's BoA account gives unlimited paper checks w/ no min balance....

[JT]

Gro has BoA and likes their website and billpay feature (most banks probably have this by now)... gro did not like it when BoA gave me and 1000's others a new debit card/number saying they were hacked and financial data was stolen.

JT hates BoA.  He liked it better when they were Fleet and before that Summit in DJ.  The only real benefit is BoA's wide reach and the ability to find ATM's all over the country.  They are completely inflexible and will do anything to generate fees.  Fleet's Billpay would not let you accidentally cut a check for more than the money in your account.  For example, you are out of town and had some unexpected expenses and your automatic car payment would throw you into negative balance.  Fleet would hold it up till you could check it out.  BoA starts bouncing payments right away.

They suck and you have to fight to get any fees (partially) refunded.  JT only uses BoA for the wide access.  He funnels most of his money to a smaller bank.

Exactly JT.

A few years ago, I went around to a bunch of banks (probably 7 or so in one day) looking for the best deals on checking accounts, and maybe a savings account or a CD rate.  All the big banks BOA, Soverign, Citizens, TDBanknorth or whatever it was then) all had stupid fees that didnt make it worth it.

"Sir you can write up to 5 free checks a month and then its a $5 fee each after that"

Yea right lady, thanks but no thanks.

then usually you had to keep a 10,000 minumum in order to really benefit from any interest anyway, or at least a 2-5K one for realy small fees.

RT used to be the same way when he lived in Boston in 1996-2000, before the real advent of online banking. RT bounced around between Watertown Savings Bank and US Express Bank (I think it was US Express or Bank US or something) to find a good no-fee house that let RT write alot of checks and keep a low balance. Eventually RT gravitated to Fleet and was pleased.

However, the problems JU and JT speak of seem like they shouldn't be an issue anymore? Who writes paper checks these days? ....you can either pay stuff online directly to almost all vendors or the bank lets you do an e-check where they cut a paper check to whoever you designate online. Also, with the online accounts, you typically have unlimited e-checks and RT's BoA account gives unlimited paper checks w/ no min balance....

BoA makes blatent attempts to throw you into negative balances via on line billpay. Fleet wouldn't cut an e-payment or e-check if you didn't have the cash to cover it.  Some of JT's clients don't pay short of 60+ days.  So sometimes JT is short actual cash.

BoA just cuts e-checks regardless of one's bank balance in order to throw someone negative and collect overdraft fees.  This forced JT to get BoA credit cards in order to provide overdraft protection for his accounts.  Which generates fees but less than overdraft fees.

[Jonny Utah]

Yea, I have some realestate business stuff where I end up having to write at least 5-10 checks a month.  I go with a local bank with online access and no fees with everything else any other bank could offer me (or for what I need anyway)

['gro]

maybe if all you slum lords and drug dealers stopped writting checks for more than what's in your accounts you wouldn't hate BoA so much.   

[Jonny Utah]

_{JU getting ready to pass along a check.....}