Warning: my online brokerage locked my account for 10 days during a volatile week

I opened a self-directed brokerage account at Fidelity back in March for some extra control over my retirement funds, but when I tried to sell a position during a big dip last Thursday, they froze everything pending a "compliance review" with no explanation. After five calls and three hours on hold, they finally released it, but by then the stock had dropped another 4% and I lost $1,200. Has anyone else run into these sudden freezes with a discount broker versus a traditional bank account?

2 comments

2 Comments

gray_patel3d ago

Honestly 10 days and $1,200 sounds pretty rough but maybe you're overreacting a bit. These freezes happen sometimes and it's not like you lost everything.

bettyh843d ago

Oh man, I've been there. What finally worked for me was filing a complaint with the CFPB online - it's free and took like 15 minutes. Got my money unfrozen in 3 days after that.