7 On Your Side helps Queens man recover 5-figure frozen inheritance check

NEW YORK (WABC) -- Imagine expecting to see a big check deposited into your account, when all of a sudden your funds are frozen and you have no access.

That's exactly what happened to a Queens man. He called in 7 On Your Side to bring in the heat.

When Chris Metellus thinks about his late grandma Solange, he smiles.

"She was very loving, very kind. She was always generous. She would give anything to anyone," Metellus said.

He was raised in her home in Jamaica, Queens, and the two were always by each other's side until the she passed away in 2016.

"It took us a long time to kind of process it, you know, we knew her health condition, of course," he said.

After her funeral, the family was surprised to learn their Nana had saved her entire life to leave her heirs an inheritance.

The loving grandson was gifted part of his grandmother's legacy, $20,000.

"I went to deposit the check through the ATM and so forth," he said. "I was informed that it would be cleared on Christmas Day."

At the age of 25 at the time, he was working two jobs and needed the money to pay bills.

"I mean, how do you exist without access to your money," Metellus said. "Right? And it was the only account that I had."

Metellus, who is a program director at an assisted living facility, deposited the check at his bank and thought it cleared.

"And then I received a letter saying that the bank, you know, that they closed the account," he said.

Unable to use his locked account, he tried to withdraw his $20,000.

"So I told them, 'I'm at the bank. Please refund me my money,'" he said. "They denied me that option, and they were like, 'Okay, we're going to go with the check.' But then the check never came."

It was a waiting game that Metellus was losing.

"It just it vanished into thin air," he said.

That's when he decided to call 7 On Your Side.

"My family members were even expressing to me that you can't let this go, don't, you know, don't give up and i don't give up the fight," he said.

Metellus said that four hours later, he was given the online keys to finally unlock his account and had access to that full $20,000.

"Thank you to 7 On Your Side for helping me get my inheritance back. When you guys stepped in, they were able to refund me my inheritance and cash out the next day," he said.

Tips when making large deposits:

• Never use an ATM or Mobile deposit with a big amount.

• If you have a large check that's unusual for your account with banks trying to fight rampant check washing and fraud they are going to flag it.

• Bring the check to a branch manager with all the paperwork explaining what the check is for along with a few forms of ID.

• Remember its a lot easier to prevent a freeze than unthaw it.

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