Banking 101 - Be sure to read what you sign when opening a bank account

April 19, 2009 by Curt Siters

I never thought much about it whenever I opened a new bank account. I don't think most people do. Did you realize that when you open an account with a bank - be it a checking, savings, money market, CD or any other consumer account - that you are actually entering into a legal agreement?

Believe it or not, when you sign that piece of paper, you agree to be bound by the conditions set forth in the agreement - as does the bank. The agreement covers things like interest and fees and other items set forth by the government, the central banking system, and the bank itself. Like most agreements it is written to protect the bank - not you. Sometimes, like most businesses, it may contain some not so straight forward stuff that may come back to bite you later.

They should disclose things like Reg Z (truth in lending), Reg C (home mortgages) and others (all put forth by the FDIC in an attempt to make sure you understand some important things about your account.)

It doesn't matter if it is Bank of America or a small hometown bank like First Citizens or your local credit union. They all have attorneys. Having an attorney you can talk to about these things can help to level the playing field.

As with any legal agreement you can have it reviewed by a legal professional. What an attorney can do is to let you know what is legal about the agreement, what isn't legal and what is in a grey area. They will let you know what you will be legally bound for.

What an attorney cannot do is to let you know the financial ramifications of the agreement are. For that you would need to visit a financial consultant (by the way - they are not allowed by law to tell you if something is illegal or not.)

So, my friends, if you are going to open a new account it wouldn't hurt to have it reviewed by legal counsel. If you have an open account it may be to your benefit to get it reviewed as well.

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Curt Siters is an Independent Associate for Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. He is also aYoung Living Essential Oils Independent distributor and publishes articles on YourWebReference and at TheVeryEssence. He also does web work such as website design, website maintenance and SEO for websites.

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