How To Get Out of ChexSystems Systems

Need access to a checking or savings account, but your application has been denied?

In 2017, a study showed that a large segment of the population had no access to an account either. In fact, approximately 6.5% of U.S consumers were financially invisible. And with more people under financial strain from the effects of Covid-19, financial institutions are now looking closer at who exactly they approve — and deny.

In today’s tech driven world, not having access to a bank account can be a challenge; finding a safe place to store your money, or make payments online can become almost impossible. How can you beat the system?

Unless your application was denied because of your rating, it was probably because of the information on your ChexSystems report. ChexSystems works behind the scenes to help financial institutions assess new customers’ risk when applying for accounts. Therefore, having negative marks on your ChexSystems report can prevent you from accessing a bank account. So, is it possible to clean your report?

Fortunately, a negative ChexSystems report isn’t the be-all and end-all, and there are helpful options available to you. In this guide, we’ll take you through what these options are after we outline how to get out of CheckSystems in four simple steps.

🎯 What is ChexSystems?

ChexSystems is a consumer credit reporting agency (CRA). The service works behind the scenes collecting information about consumers financial problems with deposit accounts, including savings accounts and checking accounts. This helps banks and credit unions pre-screen new customers applying for bank accounts. ChexSystems shows banks which customers are at higher risk of mis-managing or misusing bank accounts.

According to the National Consumer Law Center, over 80% of banks use an account screening CRA, like ChexSystems when assessing customers applications.

📝 How Does a ChexSystems Report Work?

ChexSystems tracks and stores information about your banking and credit union accounts, and creates a report highlighting key information on your account activities and outlining why previous accounts were closed.

Here are a few items you could find on your ChexSystems report:

• Bounced checks and overdrafts
• Involuntary account closure
• Account, card or ATM abuse
• Number of accounts applied for recently
• Unpaid negative balances
• Suspected fraud or identity theft

When applying for a new checking or savings account, the financial institution will refer to your ChexSystems report to decide whether it will approve or deny your application. If there is anything of concern on the report that could make you a risk, your account may be denied.

Thankfully, some banks and credit unions offer Second-Chance bank accounts.

Fortunately, there are some banks and credit unions that offer second-chance bank accounts for people who have been denied a bank account because of their ChexSystems report.

However, you should expect to pay fees and have access to limited services with second-chance bank accounts. Finding a good credit repair company near you can help you speed up the process of removing negative items from your checking report so you don’t need to do it yourself.

How Do You Get off of ChexSystems?

Getting out of ChexSystems is a key part of reducing the percentage of Americans without a bank account. If your ChexSystems report looks a bit off to you, you can dispute the information you think is inaccurate. Once a dispute is opened, ChexSystems and the relevant bank must either prove the accuracy of the information, or remove it from the report.

However, just because you paid the amount owed in full to the bank on an account does not give you the right to a clean report, or to have the negative mark removed. Your report is a reflection of your banking history, it is not intended to reflect your current situation.

✅ What Proof is Acceptable?

ChexSystems should provide a variety of proof, including a copy of the initial banking contract and a copy of the canceled check. If the proof isn’t offered the concerning information will need to be removed from your report.

Still, ChexSystems can have a complicated dispute process when you don’t understand it fully. For this reason, we’ve created a guide, and letter templates, to help you easily get your bearings on the process.

The information provided can be adapted to your personal situation considering financial situations are mostly unique to the individual. If you believe you might need legal advice, get in touch with an attorney who specialises in this area.

Starting the ChexSystems process of removal has the potential to get unproven or erroneous information removed from your ChexSystems report permanently. After this, you should be able to open a bank account again without any obvious problems.      

If you were denied a checking account, here are four simple steps you can take now.

⭐️ 4 Simple Steps to Get Out of ChexSystems

Step 1: Request Your ChexSystems Report

Get a copy of your ChexSystems report to help you assess why your application didn’t get approved by a bank. The report breaks down the accounts closed, bounced checks, outstanding debts, among others.

You are entitled to a free copy of this report once a year. You are also entitled to a free report when a bank or credit union has refused to open an account for you within the past 60 days as a result of ChexSystems.

You can request your report in the following ways: 

Once you have your report in hand, review the information carefully to see if there is any inaccurate information listed.

• Visit the website: You can go to the ChexSystems website to obtain a free copy of your ChexSystems report. Here you can fill out the consumer disclosure form and submit it online.

• Call Chexsystems: You can also request a report by calling the ChexSystems toll-free number at (800)428-9623.

• Mail: Alternatively, you can contact the firm by mail, at this address:

Step 2: Dispute the Errors with ChexSystems

Once you get a hold of your report and find information that you believe is inaccurate, gather all your supporting documents and choose how you would like to submit the dispute by going to the dispute information section of the ChexSystems website:

• Online: At the link above, click on that webpage where it says “submit your dispute now.” You’ll be taken to a form to fill out and an area where you can upload files that support your claim. Once you’re ready, hit “submit” at the bottom of that page.
• Via mail or fax: You can send the letter via certified mail with return receipt requested and keep a copy on file for your records. This step provides you with proof of the date that the dispute was received.
• By phone: If you have a copy of your ChexSystems report, you can call to speak to a representative at 800-513-7125. This could be your best option if you don’t have any supporting documents. It is not possible to submit a dispute involving identity theft or fraud over the phone.

The next part is your choice. You can request that ChexSystems get in touch with the bank or credit union to report the inaccurate information for you or you can mail the dispute to the financial institution yourself. 

Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), CheckSystems has 30 days to verify the negative mark or eliminate it from your report.

Step 3: Follow-up on Your Claim

If you hear back from ChexSystems within the 30-day time frame with a generic confirmation of the negative item, you’ll need to request verification from the original bank as well as ChexSystems.

Send ChexSystems Verification Letter 2 to request actual copies of documentation from ChexSystems supporting the accuracy of the negative item.

At the same time, send Letter 4 to the original bank that filed the information with ChexSystems, which adds the burden of responsibility to the bank.

Both letters reference your rights as a consumer under the FCRA and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Remember, these letters must be sent certified mail with return receipt requested and you should also save copies for your files.

Step 4: Handling No Response from ChexSystems

If you do not receive a response from Check Systems within 30 days, you can send a final letter to warn the firm that the information must be deleted in accordance with FCRA regulations due to its lack of response. 

In this case, you should send a letter to the original bank asking it to send proof of the alleged transgression.

If the information on the report is verified by either the original bank or ChexSystems, completing these steps might not remove the erroneous items from your report for too long.

You might be allowed to open an account in the time it takes the information to be removed. However, this runs the risk of having your account frozen at a later stage if the bank conducts a ChexSystems sweep of all existing accounts.

This is a real possibility and runs the risk losing access to your funds temporarily. Understanding how to get something removed from your credit report will help prevent any potential risk to your accounts, and is an important part of your financial future.

One Final Option

There is one more option to consider to get out of ChexSystems if the bank verifies that you neglected to bring your account to a positive standing. By law, the bank must report any uniformly disputed information to ChexSystems.

If the bank fails to do this, it is in violation of the FCRA which means you can take it to court to argue for the removal of the information. Once you have a copy of the letters mentioned throughout our steps, you should have sufficient proof to win the suit. Before going through these steps, you could consider using a top credit repair software to help improve your bad credit and, in the end, save you money.

Here are some further steps you can take on your own to help improve your report:

☎️ Step 1: Request Your Report After 30 Days

After 30 days of receiving your verification letter from the bank you can request your ChexSystems report again.

In your updated report, there should be a note stating, “Consumer disputes as per FCRA”, or something of the same meaning under the disputed account record.

If there is not a note on the report, it is against the law, and you have the right to file a suit.

✍ Step 2: Outline Your Intent to Sue

Send a letter to the bank letting them know that you intend to sue within 30 days due to their failure to comply with the FCRA.

Give them the option to delete all records of the debt and remove you from ChexSystems in order for you to drop the suit. In many cases, this simple step is all that is required to get the bank to remove the negative information so they can avoid being sued.

👨‍⚖️ Step 3: Handling No Response

If you receive no response from the bank, you will have to take it to the small claims court. You will need to pay a filing fee of about $40 for this. Remember, this is not a dispute about whether or not the debt is yours at this stage.

The suit is solely based on the fact that the bank has not complied with federal law in relation to fair credit reporting.

In the majority of cases, the bank settles. Even if it does show up in court, you will most likely win the suit. This is because you have solid proof of the FCRA violation.

Fixing Accurate Negative Items on Your ChexSystems Report

The steps outlined in the article are centred around getting inaccurate information removed from your report using technicalities in the filing process.

However, if the report is fully accurate and you’ve received responses from ChexSystems and the bank or credit union, you still might be able to rectify your report. If you have any outstanding debt on any ChexSystems member institutions, get those paid off as much as you can, if not entirely, if you are in a financial position to do so.

Then you can ask the creditor to update your information held by ChexSystems to indicate that your debt is paid to help with your negotiations. Again, make sure to create copies of any and all the paperwork that documents the payoff. At the same time, it’s important to work towards building your credit score to show banks and credit unions that you can be trusted.

If all else fails, remember that time heals all wounds. Any negative items on ChexSystems will generally be deleted after five years has passed.

How to Improve Your Financial Well-Being Amid Covid-19

Millions of Americans are still without a bank account. The financial devastation caused by Covid-19 won’t make accessing a bank account any easier as more people become seen as a risk to financial institutions. Before we get into our four steps on how to get out of ChexSystems, below are some tips from ChexSystems on how you can protect your financial well-being at the time.

• Make sure to protect your credit and consumer reports. Request your free annual copy to check they are accurate. 
• You can request a free copy of your ChexSystems consumer disclosure report online or by calling 800 428 9623.
• You are entitled to a free copy of your credit report from each of the national credit reporting agencies annually. You can do this at AnnualCreditReport.com. 
• Adding a consumer statement to your credit report should be a consideration. This only needs to be a short 100-word (200 words in Maine) explanation of your financial situation.
• ChexSystems wants to be there to answer any questions you might have. You could use the ChexSystems site to check out answers to some frequently asked questions, or you could get in touch with ChexSystems by mail or fax.

If you need to call ChexSystems be aware that under current circumstances you may experience a longer waiting time.

About the author

Tim Fries

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Tim Fries is the cofounder of The Tokenist. He has a B. Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan, and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Tim served as a Senior Associate on the investment team at RW Baird's US Private Equity division, and is also the co-founder of Protective Technologies Capital, an investment firm specializing in sensing, protection and control solutions.