Stripe froze my account with $47K - anyone get funds back?

Im losing my mind here. Been using Stripe for 2 years with zero issues. Last month I finally landed a big enterprise client - they paid a $47K invoice for a 3 month dev project. Payment cleared, showed in my Stripe balance.

Then 4 days later I get an email saying my account is "under review" and all funds are on hold. No warning, no explanation, nothing. I submitted all the docs they asked for - contract, invoice, email thread with client, my business registration. Radio silence for 2 weeks now.

I have rent due, contractors to pay. This is destroying me. Has anyone actually gotten their money back from Stripe after something like this?? Starting to think its just gone

This is unfortunately super common with Stripe. Their risk models flag sudden large payments, especially if your previous transaction history was smaller amounts. A $47K payment when you were averaging like $2-5K probably triggered automatic review.

Few things that help:

• Get your client to email Stripe directly confirming the payment is legit
• Provide bank statements showing your business history
• If you have a CPA, have them send a letter on letterhead

The funds aren't gone - they legally can't just keep them forever. But they CAN hold for 90-120 days while they "investigate." It sucks but you'll likely get them eventually.

dude same thing happened to me in september. $23K held for "review" after a client paid for website redesign. took 11 weeks to get it released. no apology, no explanation, just suddenly got an email saying funds were available

switched to square after that lol. stripe is a nightmare for freelancers

Let me explain your legal options here:

1. Arbitration. Stripe's Terms of Service (Section 14) require binding arbitration through AAA for disputes. If they're holding funds without valid justification past their stated review period, you can file for breach of contract. Filing fee is $200 for claims under $75K, and Stripe pays the arbitrator fees.

2. Demand letter. Before arbitration, send a formal demand letter to their legal team (legal@stripe.com). Cite their ToS, the specific section on fund holds, and demand release within 14 days. This sometimes accelerates human review.

3. State AG complaint. California AG (where Stripe is based) handles payment processor complaints. Filing one creates a paper trail and sometimes prompts faster resolution.

At $47K, you're in the range where a contingency-fee attorney might take the case if Stripe continues to stonewall. Document everything - screenshots of your dashboard, all emails, timestamps.

update - sent the demand letter like @ContractLawyer suggested. Got an actual human response within 3 days asking for "additional verification." They wanted:

• Photo of my ID
• Utility bill matching business address
• Client to fill out some verification form

Annoying but whatever, submitted it all. Now waiting again. At least someone is looking at it now instead of the auto-responses i was getting before

following - dealing with similar situation rn

FINAL UPDATE: Got my money!! Took about 3.5 weeks total from when I sent the demand letter. They released the full $47K minus their normal processing fees.

100% think the demand letter is what did it. Before that I was just getting canned responses. After that I got actual humans.

Still switching to a different processor for future big invoices tho. cant deal with this stress again. thanks everyone for the help