 TITLE: What Is Right of Offset? CONTENT: When a Bank Might Exercise Right of Offset\n------------------------------------------\nFinancial institutions normally include right of offset language in the agreement you sign when you open a checking account, savings account or CD.\nKeep in mind that this language may differ from one institution to another. Credit unions often enjoy more leeway in exercising the right of offset than banks do. That could mean, for instance, that a credit union could seize your money to pay a credit card debt while it's normally illegal for banks to do that.\nIn some cases, this language might give a bank or credit union permission to take money not only from an individual account that's in your name only but also from a joint account that you have with someone else. If it's a joint account, the financial institution might withdraw money to cover a debt owed by any joint owner of the account.\nA financial institution might even apply the right of offset to government payments deposited into your account, such as Social Security benefits.\nThe right of offset doesn't apply to tax-deferred retirement accounts like IRAs. END