Bank mistakenly clears account of woman believed to be dead

PORT ANGELES, Wash. — Betty Longshore, 92, was very much alive Feb. 29 when her bank telephoned her to find out if she was dead.

In this March 9, 2012 photo, Betty Longshore, 92, holds a statement in Port Angeles, Wash., from her bank notifying her that $17,000 had been taken from her bank by the government, who had declared her dead, despite being very much alive. Betty Longshore, 92, was very much alive Feb. 29 when her bank telephoned her to find out if she was dead.

“They said, ‘Betty, is this you? We have a report you are deceased,’” the west Port Angeles resident recalled. “They said, ‘Can you come down to the bank?’ I thought I’d go in and say, ‘Here I am, and I’m alive,’ and everyone would laugh, and that would be the end of it.”
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Her trials and tribulations began after the U.S. Department of the Treasury sent First Federal a notice at the end of February that said Longshore’s “date of death” was July 20, 2011, according to the notice.
Within 24 hours, all her checking account funds and some of her money market funds were gone, with money returned to the government.
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Natalie Diana, senior counsel for Treasury’s financial manager service, said that if a bank is aware a benefit recipient has died, the bank must return all benefit payments after it becomes aware of the death.
“They have one day to act on that,” Diana said.
http://www.eastoregonian.com/free/bank-mistakenly-clears-account-of-woman-believed-to-be-dead/article_fbb9ed30-70ba-11e1-bc07-001871e3ce6c.html


Boy, they sure can snatch your money in a nanosecond. Try to get it back and it's 17 days?