In 2003 I purchased approsximately $3,000 in penny stocks as an investment from a brokerage house that did not charge fany ees. I have not touched those stocks in four years. Somewhere along the line, E Trade purchased my account from the no fee brokerage house then began charging a $25 quarterly "maintenance fee" to just keep the account on the books.
The stocks fell down in value over the years to about $60. E Trade liquidated the stocks without my permission then advised me I owed them first $202, then later $220 in fees!!! When I asked how they could liquidate my stocks without notifying me, they claimed they had called me to tell me. I have answering machines on all my phones and there was never any messae from E Trade and I advised them I never received any such call.
It would seem a normal business practice to record any such calls (the banks do that).in fact, they never made such a call. When I called the company again and asked for some kind of proof I agreed to pay them fees, they simply blew me off saying that they post a fee schedule on the Web, but that they were dropping the fees I owed them to about $165.
I told them to close the account so as not to accrue any more charges and they refused to saying they would leave it open to accrue more charges unless I paid the $165.
In other words, E Trade was going to charge me $25 a quarter plus interest even though I no longer held any stocks with them simply for keeping my name in their database against my will. This is extortion because they know leaving an unpaid debt can affect someone's credit rating. E Trade incidentally does not charge interest on their maintenance fees, only using these charges to extort the small investor whose account they refuse to close even if the account is dead.
I consulted an attorney who advised me to write them and ask them to furnish a copy of a signed agreement by me agreeing to pay any fees on my stocks from the time of the purchase of my no load stock brokerage account,
a requirement in accordance with Federal Consumer Protection Act.
I sent three letters, the last one asking for proof according to the federal law to their legal department.in all three letters I told them to close the account and they still refused. The last letter was sent to their legal department yet each time all I got back was a letter from a customer services rep repeating their fee schedule and not furnishing what I asked from ltheir egal department.
Over the last three months E Trade has been steadily adding new interest charges to the account that has no stocks, and for no services. They do not charge these fees to large investors who hold over $10,000 in stocks, so it's obvious the company has a policy of ripping off the small investor any way they can.
I am still getting regular bills from them adding a few dollars at a time to the $165 bogus charge as a threat to my credit rating. I am sure I am not the only consumer they ahve done this to and would appreciate any help I can get. There must be a class action attorney in Washington or Virginia who can pursue these fees against E Trade.
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