How To Recover From Debanking
New York bar owner Bryan Delaney makes regular cash deposits and keeps a positive balance. So he was shocked in 2023 when his bank closed his accounts and deactivated his credit cards. Not even the ATM worked for him anymore.
Delaney and his wife were cut off financially through “debanking.” They are not alone. Thousands of people have lost their accounts this way with little warning. Perhaps the same thing has happened to you.
Why Do Banks Close Accounts?
The answer starts with spying. Federal law requires banks to monitor customers and report anything suspicious to law enforcement. Too many reports on the same account can trigger debanking.
Most people have no idea about this surveillance program, by design. The same federal law that mandates bank surveillance also prohibits banks from telling customers about the results of that surveillance. What counts as “suspicious” is a moving target, and law enforcement agencies have expanded the definition over the years.
Delaney’s bank dinged him because he made regular deposits under $10,000, just below the federal reporting threshold. When people do this intentionally to avoid scrutiny, they might be guilty of “structuring”—parceling what would otherwise be a large financial transaction requiring reporting into
Article from Reason.com
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