Bank policy frustrates grieving family

ABC7.com ^ | July 30,2008 | KABC

[kms61]

HEMET, Calif. (KABC) -- He gave his life serving this country in the war zone of Afghanistan. But a local bank has refused to cash the government check to pay for his burial. Now his family is fighting back. Navy Corpsman Marc Retmier was the 500th Californian to die in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. He had dreams of coming home to Hemet to become a doctor. Click in the Eyewitness News Story Window above to watch the accompanying video to this story. But now his family says a controversy involving a bank and his bereavement check is adding an insult to their tragedy. The family of 19-year-old Navy Medic Marc Retmier told Eyewitness News they were stunned when they told by their bank branch manager that they would have to wait nearly two weeks before they could have access to their son's bereavement funds -- money they needed to pay for his funeral services. The family says the two $50,000 checks from the U.S. Treasury could have been verified with a phone call. However, according to the Retmiers, the Hemet branch of Downey Savings and Loan refused to budge. "He did what he believed in doing," said Joy Retmier, Marc's mother. "And they said he was the best of the best, and I believe that. And I

[combat_boots]

It’s their policy that’s being exercised. Not the law.

See Post #27.

[combat_boots]

By the way, so are we.

[AddSomething Worthwhile]

Here are some details that I know for sure based on all the reports I have read and my knowledge of the banking industry:
1. The family did not want to cash the checks (the reports are wrong). The family only wanted to get an immediate $20,000 in cash. Therefore, you have to wonder how accurate the reports are.
2. The checks were Gov’t checks, but they were questionable because they were typed on a typewriter and personally signed (copies of the checks can be seen at ABC.com). Most Gov’t checks are pre-printed so I can see how the bank was a little concerned about their authenticity.
3. The bank did offer to release funds after verifying the issuance of the checks. The only reason this would have caused a problem is if it was after 5PM and the issuing office was closed (reports did say it was Friday, so it’s very possible it was after 5PM since banks open late on Friday).
4. Bank holds may be a little excessive, but banks have to wait for checks to clear just like customers, and sometimes banks don’t know a check is bad for several business days. Checks are just pieces of paper and banks take huge losses from cashing bad checks.
5. The Credit Union that ended up cashing the check was a Navy Credit Union. Of course they’ll cash it, it was a Navy check. Probably, because nobody else would.

My personal opinion is that the Retmier family were distraught and they probably were not ready for a small inconvenience. Even though the bank was prepared to help them, they probably were a little over-sensitive and did not want to have to wait. It’s unfortunate that the media (via Gloria Allred) have to make this into a big deal. Ultimately, the bank will probably suffer because of the negative publicity, even though most people don’t understand the whole situation and the media publicizes only the things that will get people emotional (like the family crying on tv). Of course their crying, their son was just killed. The thing that bothers me is that they make it look like it the bank’s fault. I’ll apologize for the long post, but Gloria Allred just gets the blood boiling, so I thought I’d do some homework on this one...

[caseinpoint]

I know. The average cost of funerals lately in California is around $8k, and that’s just the funeral home fees. One can’t forget the food, the flowers, the headstone, the travel. I feel sorry for the family, grateful for their sacrifice, disappointed more could not be done to smooth the way for them, but things like this happen all the time and people don’t run off to Ms. Allred for recompense.