Perhaps everyone with a B of A account should call them and say we will be closing our accounts

[crispini]

if they don't restore credit to Republic Window and Door. What do you think? I have a B of A account.

Edited to add: Phone number for General Banking questions:

From Within the US 1.800.432.1000 Monday - Friday*7 a.m. - 10 p.m.Saturday - Sunday*8 a.m. - 5 p.m.

[trashcanistanista]

1. Yes. I do too. I will be happy to close it.

To Bank-wise du'ers - where do we park our money? What is a socially decent bank?
I can do this Wednesday if they don't come up with a deal for the workers. I will give them until Wednesday.

[WolverineDG]

3. Find a credit union nt

[saracat]

6. Don't do that. It sets a dangerous precedent right now.

[ColbertWatcher]

32. How so? n/t

[saracat]

37. It is the equivelent of asking for a run on the bank. And if all these folks started to do that

other banks would follow and we would have an even worse disaster on our hands. That is partially what happened in the 30's.

[ColbertWatcher]

38. Well, what can people do to show BoA their disapproval? n/t

[saracat]

41. I would concentrate on showing support for the Republic Workers instead.

[ColbertWatcher]

50. But, isn't punishing BoA because of this decision supporting the workers? n/t

[bdamomma]

51. I would like to help the Republic Workers what could we do?

I am not from Illinois, but I would like to help them.

[Selatius]

12. Two words: Credit Union.

Credit Unions are controlled by the depositors themselves, so when you are a member of one, you are given voting rights in electing the board that appoints branch managers. This gives depositors a check on the union making risky investments. The depositors can always object. Depositors at traditional banks only have voting rights if they also own stocks, but even then, most depositors own relatively few stocks.

"Credit unions differ from banks and other financial institutions in that the members who have accounts in the credit union are the owners of the credit union<8> and they elect their board of directors in a democratic one person-one vote system regardless of the amount of money invested in the credit union."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_union

[Odin2005]

45. I bank at a local credit union only a couple blocks away from my apartment.

Wonderful place! the employees know us customer-owners on a first-name basis, quite refreshing for a person who grew up in a little rural town and who is thus used to everyone knowing everyone. Funny thing is that one of the bank tellers is a high school classmate's big sister!

[riqster]

20. I have had good luck with Huntington National Bank nt

[dmallind]

2. Yes because what we really need now

is banks loaning money to economically desperate borrowers with no chance of getting their money back. That's never caused any problem has it?

[saracat]

4. WTF? You want a run on the bank? That's my money we're talking about, the little

that is left and the money of lots of other regular folks that you would jeopardize.How incredibly stupid. And one bank run could lead to others and finish off whatever is left of the economy! Talk about making a bad situation worse.

[Selatius]

13. You should seriously move your money into another bank, a bank with a much better track record.

My money is in my credit union. They didn't get involved with this garbage sub-prime mortgages that banks like Citigroup and BoA did.

[saracat]

15. I also use a credit union. That isn't the point.If I move my money, I am sending a signal I don't

want to give. It isn't ever just about any single person's money. A bank run, or closure hurts many people

[Selatius]

18. I wouldn't necessarily say so. You look after your own money.

If Jim Cramer on CNBC came out and said to all depositors to move their money out of Bank of America, we have a problem, but I wouldn't say the same thing if it was some anonymous poster on some left wing website.

[saracat]

23. Rumours are what feuled the bank runs in the 30's. None of those folks were told by any bigwigs or

authorities to pull their money. And once a run is started , it is almost impossible to stop. I don't support what the Governor of Illinois did for that reason.

[DebbieCDC]

5. I closed mine 6 months ago over constant hassles with them

Opened accounts at a small local bank. Best thing I ever did. Nice people -- I mean REALLY nice. Call and you get a REAL VOICE on the phone not some fucking eternal voice mail system with no exit -- Kafka-esque.

[RB TexLa]

7. Why not say Wrigley should have given them more than $31M for the plant they bought?

:shrug:

[TexasObserver]

8. FYI: local banks are far safer than the big banks.

Communities banks are much healthier than the big banks. They are not infected with the same bad deals. You can check the rating of banks online, and you can verify that many local banks are rated four or five stars. There's really no reason to bank with the bigs, and I haven't done it in a decade.

Go here:
http://www.bankrate.com/brm/safesound/ss_home.asp

I encourage all of you to keep this link, and use it to check out any bank or lender you wish to check out. It's important to know if a bank if having problems, or if it is considered safe.

[MiniMe]

9. My local bank just sold out to one of the bigs

It's happening more and more.

[TexasObserver]

17. Probably because they're well capitalized and the buyers are using bailout money.

I'd move to a local bank immediately. If you have loans with them, you can leave them there, but I wouldn't let a big bank use my checking or savings funds.

[MiniMe]

30. Seriously, I have to do some research on it

I'm not sure how many local banks are left in the area.

[TexasObserver]

34. you can search your town's banks at the site I linked

The site will allow you to search your specific area. All areas have local banks, and you can verify their ratings. The added benefit is that if you use a local bank, you're doing more to help your local economy. The money and profits are more likely to stay in your community, and more likely to provide loans to consumers in your area.

And local banks simply value you more as a customer.

[RebelOne]

10. I'm not going to cut off my nose to spite my face.

I have a B of A account, but I can't close it because I can't open another account at another bank because I am under a Chapter 13 bankruptcy and my credit is shot. And banks won't let you open an account with lousy credit.

[hughee99]

11. If the company is "plunging toward dissolution"

why should B of A be forced to lend them money that they'll never get back? Is it the bank's responsibility to pay the company's workers, or is the company's responsibility? Does the company have assets they can get a secured loan against?

On the other hand, if the company is not "plunging towards dissolution" (http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/12/6/143626/292), the bank should honor their line of credit.

[Witchy_Dem]

14. Already did in May.

Die BofA Die

[saracat]

16. And to hell with all the other depositers? Generous spirit there.

Sound sort of GOP like!

[Witchy_Dem]

19. Not really. Depositers can switch banks anytime they want.

No generous spirit to a bank that size. GOP would want ONE bank...their bank. Your reply is rather GOP. Hahahahaha!

[saracat]

21. I dunno. I get really nervous in this enviornment and wouldn't like to see a run on any bank,

even if it isn't a wonderful bank.

[Witchy_Dem]

22. I never suggested a fast death. A nice, long, slow bleed would work just fine for me.

I never implied a panic run. I think maybe your intuition is telling you something???

[saracat]

24. This whole situation is scary.

[Name removed]

25. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[slackmaster]

26. There are many good reasons not to bank with B of A, but I don't believe any of us are qualified

...to make a judgement like that. It's not what I am trained to do, and I don't have anywhere near enough information about the specific situation to form a meaningful opinion on the bank's credit decision.

[JVS]

27. Why is BoA responsible for Republic not paying its employees?

[crispini]

28. They denied them an extension of a line of credit.

While simultaneously accepting bailout money from the taxpayer which was supposed to go for just this sort of thing.

[JVS]

31. Interesting.

Still, I'd be interested in knowing if the credit line was cut due to them learning information that made Republic disqualify themselves for further credit or if they just cut it as a matter of course in the tight economy. If Republic was showing indicators of flopping, I can't blame the bank for that. If Republic was planning on business as usual, then the bank has some explaining to do IMO

[crispini]

33. Well, true. I'd like to know more about the situation as well. nt

[Witchy_Dem]

29. BofA cut off their line of credit.

No specifics about why but the speculation is that the bailout was to help banks keep offering these LOCs but we don't know the backend details about why BofA may have frozen their LOC.

[hughee99]

39. According to this, the company is "plunging towards dissolution"

http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/12/6/143626/292

It was all I could really find on the state of the company, though.

[JVS]

40. If that is the case, then it is Republic's responsibility to sell off assets to pay the workers.

[hughee99]

46. I agree.

The bank bailout doesn't do any good if the banks continue to make bad loans. If this is the case (if the company is going down the tubes), isn't this essentially saying that a company's bank is responsible for their debts.

[Earth_First]

35. My wife works for BofA ...thanks for the bode of cheer at the holidays.

Maybe the 'progressives' should think about the impact of the solutions they propose.

They affect more than just those 'at the top.'

P.S. bah humbug to you, sir.

[saracat]

36. And another reason not to jump on the anti Bof A bandwagon.

Innocent folks will get hurt, and not just the depositors.

[DonEBrook]

44. A lot of those on the "dump BOA" bandwagon don't do any biz with them anyway.

They are poseurs.
:-)

[DonEBrook]

42. I'm quite happy with their service on my accounts.

No complaints.

[Odin2005]

43. So you are encouraging a RUN ON THE BANK? What are you thinking?

:wtf: :crazy: :banghead:

It would be much better to give support the the workers, it would not involve risking the screwing of the people that work for BofA.

[lonestarnot]

47. And if you don't you won't be opening one and neither will your 15 kids!

:evilgrin:

[scarletwoman]

48. People would rather remained enslaved to megacorporations, than take a chance at freedom.

They fear the wrath of their Corporate Overlords too much to dare throw off their chains.

Oh well.

sw

[Ilsa]

49. Actually, yes, I have a zero balance card I need to close out.

I could request that the credit line, meager as it is, be made available to RW&D.

[4 t 4]

52. I thought the bank agreed to

extend credit to at least pay severance and Vaca. pay, No?