http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2012293936_bliss07.htmlPhil Wright's family has been making soap for three generations, but that tradition is at an end for now. Wright, the last in his family to keep the trade alive, has owned Bliss Soaps on Capitol Hill for the past four years. He has befriended customers and gained a reputation for selling some of the best handmade soap in town. But last week the store closed — and Wright contends it wasn't the recession but a bank error that was the final straw.
He claims Chase, the bank owned by JPMorgan Chase, froze the store's checking account, causing irrecoverable financial damage during the crucial holiday season and forcing him to hang a goodbye sign on the store's front door. "Thank you for four years of love and support," it said. "This community rocks."
Chase has formally acknowledged that it made a mistake with the store's account, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, a banking regulator, also found Chase had committed an error. "Recently the Bliss Soaps accounts at JPMorgan Chase bank were inadvertently restricted by the bank," Phil Stark, the bank's financial-center manager, wrote in a letter for Bliss Soaps to distribute to upset customers. "These accounts were blocked by mistake."
A spokesperson for Chase declined to comment, saying a lawsuit is pending. Al Donohue, the attorney for Bliss, said he has not yet filed a lawsuit, though he plans to....