National City Bank PNC Bank allows FRAUDULENT charges against closed account. Grayslake, Illinois

PNC, Formerly National City Bank allowed a vender to fradulently charge a debit card on a closed account.

In 1997-1998, I opened a checking account with debit card at a local branch of National City Bank.  I linked this account to my work with direct deposit.  As the years went on, I experienced difficulty with the bank.  I received overdraft charges periodically when there were enough funds because the bank reorganized incomming charges in their favor.  The bank regularly held payroll deposits and government checks for up to 10 days instead of the 1-2 days followed at other banks.  In 2004, I left my job.  When my last direct deposit occured, I decided to close my account and use another local bank which treated me a lot better in regard to fees and customer service.  The teller I approached told me that since I waited 2 weeks without incomming charges and no outstanding checks or charges, I could close the account by simply settling the credit or debit balance with him, which I did immediately.  This occured around October of 2004.

In just about October of 2005, I received a call from a collections agent about an outstanding balance of I believe $238.  I stated the account was closed in 2004 and there was no balance.  I asked what the charge was related to, but the agent had no idea and stated he just wanted me to pay.  Of course I do not pay without any detail, so I tried to call the bank.  This went on for nearly a year with no returned calls from the bank.  I was continuously harassed by different collections agents and companies for that year.

In about January of 2006, I got a call from Mary of National City Bank in a local branch who asked about the debt.  By this time it was somewhere over $1,200, ($238 plus fees for the charges).  She sent me a breakdown of the charges and it became clear this was fraud.  An internet services provider for which I bought website space on a quarterly basis by charging my debit card when I renewed my service, was charged continuously after closing my bank account, without my knowledge or approval.

In 2004, just before closing my bank account, I called Affinity hosting and stated I no longer wanted their service.  I paid as I needed service, as they informed me in the beginning they did not retain my debit card information and I'd have to pay quarterly, which I did.  The sales manager stated that service would end for me in a month or so and would not be renewed if I did not pay.  I had forgotten about this company after that point.

When Mary at National City informed me of the charges, I promptly called Affinity Hosting to find out what was going on.  With mary on the phone, I learned that affinity had retained my credit information and decided to keep charging my card as long as they could, even though they were never authorized to do so.  I was already hosting my site with another provider and did not need their services.  Mary asked why I did not acknowledge the bank bills, but as it turned out, they changed the billing format and envelopes to a new name after I closed my account in 2004.  All the new information looked like a new bank sending me junk mail and I did not read it, since I closed my account.  Mary informed me the account was not closed and was maintained open because charges came in on the debit card without my knowledge.  She said the bank closed my account in 2006 because of inactivity and an unpaid balance.  Mary left the bank a week later and no one ever helped me attempt to resolve the charges  in this matter again.

In 2007, while trying to atain good credit, I discovered a balance of $1,708 from National City.  I contacted Equifax (the reporter), only to find they wanted complaints filed electronically.  They only gave about 5 options for complaints, one being fraud.  I used the fraud choice, as it was the closest to what occured.  I continued on the web page only to find there was no room for any description of the complaint.  In a few weeks Equifax contacted me to state that there investigation revealed no fraud, as National City Bank was a valid institution.  There was no discussion, only an end to my pursuit of the law.

While refinancing, I discovered this horrible notation again on my credit report and want to remove it.  Do I contact the  CEO of PNC or do I file with an agency.  I cannot afford to hire an attorney for this small amount.  Is there a way to settle this and get that fraud off my credit report?