San Antonio Veteran Secures Apartment After Media Assists with Tax Refund Access Issues

A Navy veteran who found himself on hard times has finally secured an apartment thanks to some local media intervention. Leonard Maye, who was previously living at Haven for Hope, a homeless shelter in San Antonio, Texas, faced a significant setback when he couldn't access his tax refund, slated for move-in costs, from a Serve American Express debit card provided by tax preparation company Jackson Hewitt. According to a KENS 5 report, Maye had visited numerous banks and attempted transactions at almost 30 ATMs, without success.

Despite filing his taxes on February 25 and promptly receiving his refund, Maye was unable to withdraw the funds, stating, "We’ve been fighting with this card for at least a month… actually." The veteran told KENS 5, "I went to five different banks…almost every bank company in the city, and almost 30 ATMs." After repeated attempts to resolve the issue with customer service and creating a new PIN number yielded no results, Maye reached out to KENS 5 in a last-ditch effort to secure his housing.

Once involved, the team at KENS 5 contacted banking experts at USAA to identify compatible ATMs and explored money order options through the U.S. Post Office. However, it wasn't until Maye and KENS 5 visited another Jackson Hewitt location, and a tax preparer there contacted the card company directly that a resolution was found. Maye said, "They had to fix it on their end," revealing that after the intervention, ""They had to send me an email and after I did all that I could see my account balance."

Finally, Maye managed to withdraw his money, get a money order, and officially move into his new apartment. Expressing his relief and excitement to KENS 5, Maye stated, "It's really exciting. Especially in a new town with nicer weather here. It's a beautiful city," and looked forward to introducing his family to their new home.