How To File Complaints Against Sterling National Bank With The FDIC & U.S. Treasury 

Last week, I wrote an article about Sterling National Bank. I wrote about the bank’s use of intimidation, mob style collection tactics and their practice of liquidating accounts without their customer’s knowledge. As a result, the article must have hit a nerve on social media. Let’s say the response wasn’t very sympathetic to Sterling National Bank.

One person said:

This is why people trust their bookies more than banks!

Another said:

Crooks…No effing good!

Another person wrote: 

I have my mortgage with Provident and they keep misapplying my payment. Or hold on to it and post it late just so they could charge me more fees. Don’t get me going about the staff at their branches. The government needs to shut them down!

People have also emailed me saying that Sterling National Bank tellers are rude. In addition, people have said employees at a New York branch once locked the doors to the branch 30 minutes before closing time.

Here is what you do if you are unhappy with Sterling National Bank. The federal government gives you two ways to file a complaint. Bank costumers can either file a complaint with the FDIC or with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency aka the OCC. The OCC is a division of the U.S. Department of Treasury.

How To File A Complaint About Sterling National Bank

A FDIC complaint is great because if Sterling National Bank decides they want to expand their branch network they need to get approval from the FDIC. The FDIC uses consumer feedback as part of its approval process. The FDIC will deny the bank’s request for expansion if they have a stack of complaints from people in the community the bank serves

The FDIC will usually acknowledge receipt of a complaint letter within a few days. 

The complaint should also be submitted in writing. It should also include the following:

• Complainant’s name, address, telephone number;
• The institution’s name and address;
• Type of account involved in the complaint–checking, savings, or loan–and account numbers, if applicable;
• Description of the complaint, including specific dates and the institution’s actions (copies of pertinent information or correspondence are also helpful);
• Date of contact and the names of individuals contacted at the institution with their responses;
• Complainant’s signature and the date the complaint is being submitted to the regulatory agency.

The regulatory agencies will be able to help resolve the complaint if the financial institution has violated a banking law or regulation. They may not be able to help where the consumer is not satisfied with an institutions’s policy or practices, even though no law or regulation was violated. Additionally, the regulatory agencies do not resolve factual or most contractual disputes.

Complaints to the FDIC should be mailed to:

Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council
2100 Pennsylvania Ave, NW
Suite 200
Washington, DC 20037

You can also file a complaint with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency or OCC, a division of the U.S. Department of Treasury. OCC is charted by congress to regulate and monitor banks that are chartered by the federal government like Sterling National Bank. The OCC website is actually very consumer friendly and walks you through the complaint process. You can check it out at https://appsec.helpwithmybank.gov/olcc_form/