My Bank Took Away All Access to Money On My Birthday... Including My Surgery Fund.

What’s in your wallet?

Did you know that banks in America have the legal right to close your accounts with them for any reason, but without any warning or explanation to you? I’ve recently learned that the hard way.

Last Friday, I celebrated my 39th birthday with my 7 year old daughter. We were in the middle of my first vacation away from work in more than two years when I noticed an email from my bank, Capital One. At first, I thought it had to be a scam:

The email reminded me of those scams where some fraudulent call center claims you borrowed money online and that if you don’t clear things up with them over the phone right then and there, they’ll come to your place of work to arrest you. Even when you know you never borrowed money online, you can’t help but feel a little bit wary. It’s unnerving.

You might wonder if you’re actually in some sort of trouble. That’s how I felt about things on Friday. Googling didn’t exactly make me feel better either since I found out that banks do this to lots of people, and some folks even find themselves blacklisted from opening up new checking or savings accounts anywhere.

The end of the pain text Capital One email read, “If you have any questions, please call us at 1-888-644-8316, 8 a.m.–11 p.m. ET, 7 days a week.” I was a bit too wary to call the number at first, just in case the email was a scam, so, I opened up the…

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