Bank of America is now fighting a two front war — a conventional and grass roots war. One against the government and one against its customers.

Yesterday marked the one year anniversary of the American banking and financial industry melt-down. Investment banking firm Lehman Brothers filed bankruptcy triggering the need for a massive government bailout to save the US financial system from total collapse.

Billions of dollars where given to banks, including Bank of America, but some of that money went to pay BILLIONS of dollars worth of bonuses to Bank of America and Merrill Lynch executives. This attracted the attention and wrath of the American public. The Securities and Exchange Commission investigated and attempted to give Bank of America a slap on the wrist.

But, yesterday a federal judge rejected a mutual settlement agreement between the SEC and Bank of America. The judge’s opinion expressed outrage against the limp wristed settlement proposal that would punish no one and leave the bank’s shareholders holding the bag.

Now, further inquiry into the workings of B of A during the time leadig up to the financial melt down and the Billion Dollar bonus fiasco will be exposed to the light of day. The battle with the government will continue with the possibility of a full disclosure of the bank’s dealings.

That is Wall Street — a place of another time and demension. Yes, we are angry about the bailout, bonus fiasco, mortgage debacle, stock market melt down, but at times it still seems one or two steps removed from Main Street (every day life)

Now on to the grass roots war Bank of America is waging against its customers by raising interest rates on their credit cards to atmospheric levels and slow or no real negotiation of its mortgages. There are many other complaints, but these are the ones currently garnering most of the ire from its customers.

The war is real with real victims causing many to file personal bankruptcy or causing finanical distress.

One of the main flash points of this war is the indiscriminate and arbitrary raising of interest rates on Bank of America credit cards. Here is one woman’s story about how she is handling Bank of America’s blunt force tactics: she is refusing to pay her credit card bill until they lower her interest rate back down its previous level.

Her video sums up the feelings of many of my Fresno bankruptcy clients and others who are fed up with unresponsive banks and lending institutions. They want to pay their obligations, but see no help or breaks from the banks who got billions in a government handout, and in response B of A (and others) are unwilling to address their customer’s financial situations or explain the almost criminal amounts of interest they’re attempting to charge.
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