Wells Fargo Wells Fargo Service Center Took our money with no warning and no opportunity to respond. Des Moines, Iowa

They did what is known as the Right of/to Offset.  This is a clause that EVERY bank will have in their terms.  It basically says that if you are delinquent on one account they can(without notice) use a positive balance in another account to "offset" this negative balance.

Think about this, had they sent you the letter saying they were going to take the money from your account.  What is the first thing you would have done?  Of course you would have taken the money out, thus defeating the purpose of the "Right of Offset".  The 10 Days they are referring to is most likely if you want to dispute that you owe it or not.  So unless you can prove that you don't owe the delinquent balance there is not much you can do.  Well other than to NEVER place another dime in any account at Wells Fargo, because until the other debt is satisfied they will continue to do this.

You specifically said you wanted them to put in the notes that you were possibly going to file Bankruptcy.  Well that was probably your downfall.  Because you used the "B" word, it most likely that caused them to use their legal right of offset to get the money you owe while they can.

Now  of course I can hear it now, you are probably saying that "It isn't fair" or "I have a special situation", or "If they only would work with me".  But again the fact is that your willing to work with them was basically "Well we may file Bankruptcy".   As for fairness, which is more fair?  A person who makes a legal agreement that if a bank allows them to borrow money that they will pay it back under set terms, but instead of paying them back all that is owed they say that they are basically going to declare Bankruptcy to get out of most or all of this obligation.  Or a company that
holds a borrower to their obligation?

I can also hear it now in that "Well you are just defending Wells Fargo".  I am not defending Wells Fargo or any bank, just telling you that no matter what bank you were with it is very likely that the same exact thing would happen in the exact same set of circumstances.  You can put any bank name in and I would be saying basically the exact same thing.

All banks have the Right of Setoff in their terms and conditions. If you owe the bank money and you are behind in your payments, they can take the funds from any and all of your deposit accounts that you have with the same banking institution without having to go through a lawsuit to obtain a judgment. For banks this is called the Right of Setoff, credit unions call it cross collateralizing but it is the same process. They are moving your funds from your deposit account to offset the debt.  

So when you owe the bank money and you are behind in your payments, it is NOT a good idea to also have a checking or savings or any type of deposit account with that same banking institution.  Protect yourself, close those accounts and move them to a bank to which you don't owe money. 

By the way, Wells can keep coming after each and every deposit you make into your account until the outstanding debt is satisfied, without any further notice. The notice was in the initial terms and conditions when you opened your account.