David J. Stoddard -- Dancing the Lambada With the Bank of Meximerica

DANCING THE LAMBADA WITH THE BANK OF MEXIMERICA

By David J. Stoddard

July 15, 2007

NewsWithViews.com

You remember the Lambada? It was a dance that emerged from South America, (Brazil I think), in the early ‘90’s. It was a voyeur’s validation, an exhibitionist’s dream and left the observer with a sense of somehow being violated while being a predator at the same time.

The Lambada was endorsed by the Beautiful People of Hollywood, and touted as the coming rage while scantily clad couples demonstrated the Lambada on National T.V.

A few months ago, the Bank of America announced that it will “reach out to the Hispanic community,” to the “underserved” of the United States, (Meaning the illegal aliens in this country). This “reaching out” was to issue Visa cards on the strength of a Matricula Consular. (An identification card issued to illegal Mexican aliens meant to replace legitimate U.S. issued visas). In effect, the Mexican government supplanted the need for valid U.S. issued and sanctioned identification. The Matricula Consular has become the “keys to the kingdom” according to most U.S. banking institutions and many municipalities. I won’t go into the reliability of a Matricula Consular except to say that some people, like D.A. King of Georgia and Terry Anderson of Los Angeles have been issued Matricula Consulares.

I had a Visa Card with a Bank that merged and yet merged again into the Bank of America. When Bank of America morphed into Bank of Meximerica, I decided to cancel my account. But, there was horse feed to haul, a chain saw to repair, a drill press to adjust and other chores, so I never got around to driving to town to cancel my account.

When I received by statement from Bank of America for May of this year, I noticed that my account had been credited for only $100. The bank held me in arrears, levied a penalty of $39.00 and demanded a payment of $155.00. I reviewed by records and saw that the check I had written was for $150.00 which was for $35.00 more than the required payment. I called the number given on the statement which was 1-800-789-6685. I got the usual “Press one for English” and “Oprima numero dos parra Espanol”. I got on the electronic merry-go-round, repeated pressed “0” at every opportunity but was unable to speak to a live person. So, I made out a check for $155.00, sent it out in the mail and resumed my opposition to the Bush/Kenny/Kyl amnesty plan, intending to break loose and go to nearest Bank of America branch very soon.

On the same day that the amnesty bill was resoundingly defeated I received another statement from Bank of America. Again, my account was credited for only $100.00, a penalty of $39.00 was assessed, my interest rate was elevated from 7.9 % to 32.24 % and a payment of $340.00 was demanded.

I scooped up my records and copies of the checks and drove to Sierra Visa, Arizona to find the Bank of America branch.

At the Bank of America I was assisted by a lovely, polite young lady named Mishja Williams. (This is in stark contrast to my encounter with Bank of America employees at the Bank of America branch at 201 E. San Ysidro Blvd. in San Ysidro, California in April of this year, but that is another story).

Ms. Williams took me to her desk and I showed her a copy of my May check for $150.00 and asked her to read it. She replied that it is a copy of check numbered XXXX, payable to Bank of America for $150.00. I asked her if she had any difficulty reading it and she replied, “Not at all”. I then showed her my bank statement which indicated that Bank of America had taken $100.00 out of my account. We then went through the same procedure with the June check for $155.00. I gave her my account number and she accessed it via the computer on her desk. She commented, “This is wrong”, and called someone at the B of A in Wilmington, Delaware. After a long conversation during which I heard her say, “The customer has copies of the checks”, “The numbers are XXXX and XXXX” and “Electronic transfer”. Ms. Williams hanged up the phone and told me that.

The penalties have been vacated, and the interest rate rolled back to 7.9 %.

I asked her if Bank of America has outsourced data input to India? She said no that it is all done in Delaware. She didn’t know if the data input clerks are H-1 visa holders from India or anywhere else.

I paid off my balance and walked out, satisfied that I had finally done what I had been procrastinating. I had finally closed my Bank of America visa account.

I love Ronald Reagan. When he deregulated the banking industry, I don’t think he had a clue about the lengths to which the greedy banking industry would go to. Previous to Reagan, what the Bank of America does was illegal and called “usury”. Banks would not dare victimize customers and utilize extortion under a true government for the people, by the people.

Under the Bush administration, the banking industry was allowed to rewrite bankruptcy laws, so the person bankrupted has no protection from corporate greed. The banking industry can arbitrarily change terms without notice, raise interest rates at a whim, demand payment in full forcing people in economic distress into bankruptcy and still get paid their usury rates without relief in the courts. Yet, not a week goes by that I don’t get half a dozen solicitations in the mail offering me great teaser rates, rewards and “courtesy checks”.

The banking industry goes to great lengths to suck in ignorant, poor people only to crush them if they don’t conform strictly to rules sent out by the banking industry and endorsed by our government.

The illegal alien population in this country is eager to establish bonifides, such as credit, work history, I.D. and legitimation.

The Bank of America is capitalizing on these naive people, desperate to establish a record of residence hoping for the amnesty promised by liberals like Ted Kennedy and globalists like George Bush. Perhaps Bank of America isn’t as altruistic as it portrays itself. Perhaps it is greed, pure and simple coupled with unethical practices such as entering an amount into a computer lower than that written on a check to confuse, extort and exploit a population of ignorant, uneducated and pliable people dependant on those who offer them money and identification in return for a 32.24 % interest rate.

I can understand a rare clerical mistake. But two consecutive months affecting the same customer seems to be against the odds of simple clerical error, especially when the checks are clearly legible and the payment coupons have a space to write in the amount paid.

Unless Bank of America reports me to the credit bureau, I am finished with my lambada dance with Bank of Meximerica. I feel slimed. But I have a choice. I don’t need Bank of Meximerica. What choice does Jose have when he gets sucked into the vortex of corporate greed, intimidated by complicated, arbitrary rules enacted by unscrupulous greedy multimillionaires?

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Dave Stoddard has lived and worked on the border all his live. He has traveled in Mexico and has friends and family there. Dave lives near the Mexican Border in Cochise County, Arizona. He speaks, reads and writes Spanish fluently.

Mr. Stoddard spent 27 years in the Border Patrol and served in Calexico, California, Vermont, Yuma, Tucson Sector Headquarters and Naco, Arizona. He also worked in Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico and other locations.

Stoddard provided testimony about immigration reform to Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner's (R-WI) House Subcommittee on Immigration and Claims in 1999 and a Congressional subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy and Human Resources in 2002. He has also been a guest on multiple nationally broadcast Radio and television programs, including Bill O'Reilly's "The Factor."

E-mail: diogenes@theriver.com

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