In case you have greater than $5,000 in your Wells Fargo checking account whenever you file a chapter petition, be ready. If such a state of affairs happens, you might not have entry to your entire hard-earned cash. In lots of circumstances, Wells Fargo will freeze your account till the chapter trustee tells them that it’s okay to launch it. Why would this occur? It is because of a strict studying of the regulation. What occurs is that, whenever you file chapter, you flip over authorized possession of all of your belongings (together with the cash in no matter financial institution accounts you might have) to the chapter trustee. So, primarily, it is not legally your cash any extra. Wells Fargo Financial institution, in an effort to guard unappreciated and defenseless chapter trustees in all places, desires to be sure that the trustees’ cash is stored secure from the depredations of debtors. Wells Fargo Financial institution does have a authorized justification for this with the case Mwangi v. Wells Fargo, 432 B.R. 812 (ninth Cir. BAP 2010). After all, the overwhelming majority of accounts with greater than $5,000 in them will probably be unfrozen with no fee to the trustee. That is as a result of the trustee returns property to debtors that he cannot maintain – stuff that’s both nugatory or exempt from assortment. In California, debtors are allowed a “wild-card” exemption of as much as virtually $23,000. Which means any assortment of belongings, together with money in a financial institution, value as much as $23,000 will probably be returned to the debtor. There could also be circumstances the place a debtor ought to file chapter at a time when he has nonexempt money in an account, however these are few and much between. If Wells Fargo ever turns over money from a frozen account to a trustee, I’ll instantly consider malpractice on the a part of the debtor’s lawyer. So the Wells Fargo follow of freezing accounts, whereas legally-sanctioned, seems to be ineffective apart from the aim of inconveniencing individuals of lesser means. Within the meantime, my recommendation to would-be debtors: get your cash out of Wells Fargo accounts. Additionally, in lieu of such conditions, all the time be conscious that there are many assets for debt counseling, chapter and plenty of different monetary issues. In case you are having hassle along with your funds, then looking for recommendation from credible entities is hardly each something lower than helpful. Even when such issues are unavoidable, those self same entities can present you debt reduction and chapter providers that may allow you to in a bind.