Recourse against a bank that blabs your info?

Did they mention names?, or was it just an example to help the customer understand?

If they mentioned names and you can prove it, I would think you could have recourse ... but otherwise who cares (?).

Pete

 

How did you find out about it?

 

I hate banks, it seems like almost everything they do is legal. Just talk to a lawyer you know(if you know one) and ask him these questions. If not this is the right place to come.

 

December 23, 2003
Advance notice of proposed rulemaking to improve privacy notices provided to consumers by financial institutions under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act.

Due March 3, 2004 - Federal Regulators Seek Public Comment on Ways to Improve Privacy Notices
You'll note several helpful .pdf files to see what's what and who's who

(Proposed Implementation summarized in above announcements)
12 CFR 216
Privacy of Consumer Financial Information
Implements the provisions of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act that prohibit a financial institution from disclosing nonpublic personal information to third parties that are not affiliated with the financial institution
______

December 12, 2001
Guidance on Financial Privacy
The agencies' regulations implementing the privacy provisions of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999 were issued last year after interagency consultation and coordination. Financial institutions have been required to comply with the privacy rules since July 1, 2001.

(Financial Insistitution) Frequently Asked Questions for the Privacy Regulation - .pdf file

Examine the exceptions in the above file - by way of example, it seems a "Trust" is anything but trust, when it comes to privacy.

The meat and potatoes: Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999 - which is, as indicated in the opening paragraphs of this post, the Act which is in dire need of improvement/public comment, as your gal can attest.

If the Financial Institution didn't have qualifying exceptions from blabbing, bone 'em and make it hurt.

 

What reason would the person at the bank even have to use a name? If he/she was giving an example foa situiation to another client, why woud giving a name even be necessary? Saying "another client of mine is...." is just as effective as saying "Mr. XXX, one of my clients....." Do you know the context in which the details of the loan were given to the other customer?

 

Peter, see Wax's post about the privacy act. I had a similar case with a banker who had a mouth bigger than his brain. We didn't sue, but we did win some concessions in our loan agreement.

Good luck, DrTax

 

concessions might be the only recourse you have. I'll try to dig up some more information later today. posting to subscribe.

 

Have to say, twist the bank's tail if you can. Doc is right, get some loan concessions, waive some future fees on accounts, free checking, whatever, for her biz, get the bank to promise not to do it again. Use it as leverage.

But, taking them to court, even if you win, will take years and cost a bunch. Other than letting someone know your girlfriend can qualify for a loan, where was the damage? Was there harm to her reputation?

Yes, the bank guy was stupid to give out the information, very stupid, but he didn't do it maliciously, did he?

I just see the rampant desire to sue the crap out of anyone who makes a mistake to be one of the reasons we all pay too much for everything we try to insure.

 

Unfortunately, this is what regulations are trying to avoid here: incompetence. There are rules and regulations regarding how to do certain things and what not to do with certain things, but the human factor is not factored into laws/rules/regulations.

Some time ago, a customer wired me several thousand dollars. It was immediately deducted from his account, so he stated he was out of the picture. It never reached my account. The bank said it was out of his account and that's all they could verify, and would thus, conclude the wire transfer had occurred. Four days later, after pestering the bank many times a day, they located the wire transfer. It seems the bank manager (small branch - satellite) was going to fax it over to the main branch to process, but it fell behind the fax machine. Thus, four days later, the wire finally went through. Unfortunately, this cost me hundreds of dollars and the bank itself would never return my calls after knowing their incompetence. After inquiring with the Texas board of credit unions - the guy said, "there's no law against stupidity and incompetence so you have no recourse whatsoever against this bank, nor does their customer." Pretty sad.

Where I currently work, I can locate the information that you need - currently researching that and will get back to you soon.

 

Peter,
I just spoke to my friend who is a Branch Manager for a large national bank..........the key here is personal information.......Loan info such as amounts is public info..........private info is her qualifications, her income, social security number all that stuff.........although most banks won't say anything about anyone, a persons name and loan amt they applied for doesn't fall under privacy protection..........bad business yes, but "illegal" no.

If they shared her social, or tax info with someone that may be different.

 

Quite horrible. =/

Essentially, under these kind of guidelines, I can walk into a bank and inquire about John Doe and how much he got a loan for XYZ car/boat/house? Hmmm, iffy.

 

Actually,
One can go to any county auditors website, and do a search on someones last name...........all property owned by that person will come up....usually sale price, loan amt, down payment............that's a free service........there are a ton of services out there that for 12.95 you can find out virtually anything about anyone.

 

Fanatic is right. Lexus Nexus (forget the exact site name) is one of those pay sites where you can dive deep into a person's records, including family, driver's license, court appearances, convictions/felonies, addresses, phone numbers, work place, marriage, ad nauseaum.

Hell, even I can bring up detailed property information including loan, sale price, when built, original cost, depreciation, appreciation, projections, taxes paid, land value, ad nausesum. I just need a physical address and 3 minutes.

The info doesn't sound damaging. But playing upset for concessions isn't a bad idea - they are still making money. I doubt its enough to get a 'skinny deal' from them LOL!

Don't sue, you'll contribute to screwing it up for yourself and everyone else over something you'll forget in a week enjoying your new house, boat, car, renovations, whatever.

Sunny

 

My advice, confront the bank manager and use it as leverage. If she hasn't spent the money yet, threaten to cancel the loan and move her accounts.

We were getting crummy service at a local bank, manager wasn't returning my wife's calls (wife was a state bank examiner for career #1). I moved ~$48k out of the bank and low and behold, I couldn't get the manager to stop calling me.

If you really want to have fun, my wife's step-dad just retired from the FDIC. One phone call*...


* he's on a cruise right now and will return next week if you want to take this option

 

Absolutely. Do it as part of RE contracts all the time. Most of it can be had for free at the County Courthouse, or by realators on MLS.


Peter, we need more on EXACTLY what was disclosed. As close to word-for-word as you can get.

SSNs, and other very personal info is a VERY big no-no (legally speaking, there's legislation against that.)


Some of the info relating to a loan unfortunately is a matter of public record, and thus the bank CAN share it.

You do still have the option at the very least of getting (rightly IMHO) pissed and demanding better rates, consessions, etc.

Play hardball.

I went through FOUR corporate banks untill I found one I liked that could cater to my varied needs (don't fit the normal mould very well. But how many small start-up types do these days?)


judge4re- that is a very kind offer, I love F-Chat!