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Fatwa CenterOpened three bank accounts in US and did not pay penalties
Question
I've lived in the United States for quite a while and during my stay I have opened three bank accounts. Part of the bank's regulations is that at all times there should be a 100 dollars minimum in the account and that goes for all three banks. However with all three banks I violated that law and all my accounts went below 100 dollars therefore I was charged for that violation and I haven't paid for the violation even though I was sent warnings continuously. I am now back in my home land and have no idea what happened with the bank bills. My question is, is this considered "Dayn" on me, will I be held accountable for the unpaid bills? Also I want to mention that there is no contact whatsoever between the bank and myself at this point.
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger. We ask Allaah to exalt his mention as well as that of his family and all his companions.
If you were obliged to open an account with a bank that deals with Ribaa (usury and interest), then it was an obligation on you to open one bank account only and not three accounts in three different banks, because the necessity is only to attend to the urgency. It was an obligation on you as well to close these accounts when the necessity was over and they were no longer needed. Anyway, we do not consider that you are obliged to pay the fines due to not fulfilling the condition, because it is not permissible to save money in banks that deal with Ribaa, and obliging you to do so is an invalid condition that you had to agree to. So you do not owe them anything and that is not considered a debt that you have to repay.
Allaah knows best.
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