Bank Overdraft Fees…Legal Robbery?
October 5th, 2009. By LucyC
Ever been hit by your bank with surprise overdraft fees, sometimes totalling more than the actual debit itself? You know—you make a $3 purchase on debit, and the bank takes an additional $30 as an overdraft fee for processing the debit instead of returning it NSF—which would also have cost you money. (So where’s the protection?)
That practice, of being “enrolled” in overdraft protection programs without the bank actually contacting you, may be coming to an end, thanks in part to lawsuits. One woman in Baltimore recently filed an overdraft fees lawsuit, which is seeking class action status, against M&T Bank in Maryland, alleging the bank’s overdraft programs are in violation of the state’s consumer protection laws.
What’s her beef? $370 in overdraft fees. She was reportedly overdrawn twice in a 12-month period: a $12.08 charge for lunch triggered a $37 overdraft fee. And something similar happened again the following year. Maxine Given, the plaintiff, is a senior director of finance and administration for the Fund for Johns Hopkins Medicine. In order to dispute the fees with her bank she had to take time off work.
Umm, just so we’re clear—the bank didn’t need Given’s permission to take money out of her account—but did require her to come down to the bank in person with questions about the withdrawals?
Not surprisingly, the banks are feeling the heat from their customers. Bank of America said that as of October 19, 2009 it would no longer charge its customers an overdraft fee if a customer is overdrawn by less than $10 during a single day, and BofA is bringing in other concessions as well. Chase is also reworking its overdraft protection schemes. And SunTrust is on tap to follow suit.
But the skeptic in me thinks the big banks are just trying to beat any possible legislation and set their own rules before government does it for them. The Senate Banking Committee is drafting legislation that would require banks to get your permission to enroll you in programs.
But what I want to know is when did it become legal for an entity to withdraw money from your bank account without your express permission? Isn’t that called stealing?
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I'd be very interested in joining any class-action suit against M&T bank — please let me know how.
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admin Reply:
October 19th, 2009 at 10:03 am
Hi Karen,
It sounds like you’ve been through some issues with excessive bank fees at M&T Bank–you didn’t specify your issue with M&T so I’m just assuming it’s fee-related. I’ve sent you an email (check your spam folder too!) regarding your question about M&T. I hope you find the information helpful–let us know how you make out of if you have any other questions.
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admin Reply:
October 19th, 2009 at 10:03 am
Hi Karen,
It sounds like you’ve been through some issues with excessive bank fees at M&T Bank–you didn’t specify your issue with M&T so I’m just assuming it’s fee-related. I’ve sent you an email (check your spam folder too!) regarding your question about M&T. I hope you find the information helpful–let us know how you make out of if you have any other questions.
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I was checking account with M&T Bank was charged $202.94 for Data Direct. I do not know of this company and since I didn't have any real cash in this account I didn't pay much attention to it, until I started a new job after be out of work for nearly 2 years, had my first work check deposited into my account only to be charged with $299.70 for 7 – $37.00 overdraft fees and atleast 4- $10.00 fees for past 5 days of overdraft. So while I was thinking I had atleast $350.00 in my account I had only $115.00 in the end. I called the bank to have this explained to me and the young woman I spoke to told me to contact the company, there would be nothing they could do for me. I am very interested in receiving any information on class action suits against M&T Bank, Bank America and Wachovia. This is legal rape!
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Please forward me this email. In a matter of two weeks, M&T Bank has charged me approximately $450.00 for overdraft fees AFTER I deposited M&T paychecks that were held by the bank for 3 days before clearing. So all my purchases before MY check was cleared were charged $37.00 ea. I'M A COLLEGE STUDENT making $300 bi-weekly!
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admin Reply:
November 19th, 2009 at 3:17 pm
Hi Jeff, Will do…please check your email (and your spam folder just in case). Thanks for your comment and please let us know how you make out; -Abi
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admin Reply:
November 19th, 2009 at 3:17 pm
Hi Jeff, Will do…please check your email (and your spam folder just in case). Thanks for your comment and please let us know how you make out; -Abi
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M&T has taken well over $2,000 in NSF fees in the last couple months. I have 3 children and live paycheck to paycheck. I am now in fear of losing my home and becoming homeless. I filed a complaint with the Fed Reserve and the BBB and wrote to my Congressman. Nothing was done. Most of these fees on debits less than $10. They just took the Christmas money I was going to spend on my children. They took my Mortgage money. They took my Utility bill money. They took my vacation money. They will not stop. My total balance does not even go negative. HELP!!!!!
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Please help me. We've been hit with over $2,000 in NSF Fees and our account total balance did not even go negative. How can I be a part of a Class Action Law suit. I am desperate. I filed a complaint with the Federal Reserve, the BBB and wrote to my Congressman. Please help me.
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admin Reply:
November 26th, 2009 at 4:08 am
Hi John, Thanks for your comments–and I'm sorry to hear you've gone through so much; best thing I can suggest given the complaints you indicate you've already filed would be to submit your information here so that your case can be reviewed by an attorney.
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admin Reply:
November 26th, 2009 at 4:08 am
Hi John, Thanks for your comments–and I'm sorry to hear you've gone through so much; best thing I can suggest given the complaints you indicate you've already filed would be to submit your information here so that your case can be reviewed by an attorney.
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I recently had my overdraft fees reversed, supposely they over turned the decision to apply fees to my account because the company states they had information from my card that only the card hold could have and since I did not pay the overdraft fees, I am charged original $37.00 fees on two items and then $10 every 5 days I don't pay. So, now I am up to $300 plus in free money to the bank, that already can afford to be happy this holiday season.
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I am furious with PNC bank. They decided to "freeze" my overdraft protection fund (which still has money available to cover overdrafts) but did not alert me. A 7.72 charge actually bounced and i was charged a hefty $36 which had a terrible effect and caused over six checks to bounce. I was charged twice for each transaction—$36 for the overdraft and then another $36 for the return. I have documentation and have been charged over a thousand dollars in fees. When I told them I had not idea they had frozen the account. They researched and said they sent a letter to a very old address they had on file for me and it was returned to the bank as "undeliverable." However, I receive mail at my new address for all my other accounts with PNC Bank. I was told that when I moved, I did not call and "change" that particular account's, alerting them to my current address, but my bank has my current address and sends me statements regarding my checking account and also another personal loan account set up the same day as the overdraft protection account. It does not make sense. I feel really burned and politely shuffled around by the Branch Manager who refuses to reimburse me. Please advise. Please help.
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admin Reply:
January 27th, 2010 at 6:05 am
Hi Kymberly, Thanks for sharing your PNC experience. While I don't have all the information regarding you situation, something doesn't sound quite "right" here. If you've already gone to the branch manager to no avail, your next step may be to start "climbing the ladder". It's just a matter of how much energy you have–but for what you say is "over a thousand dollars in fees", well, that would be worth my energy! So you need to track down who the branch manager reports into. Of course, you can always skip a few levels and go straight to the top–you'll find the executive team for PNC on their website (usually under the "about us" or "corporate" links). Sadly, when there seems to be no real resolution on a legitimate complaint, the "squeaky wheel" approach is what one has to resort to–and many times it's what gets results. If you've truly tried to resolve the issue with the bank itself–and you have all your documentation–that's key–you can file a complaint with your local Better Business Bureau office–they work with consumers to resolve various consumer complaint issues. It's no guarantee, but it's another option for help. The BBB's website is bbb.org and you can simply follow the instructions for your specific location. Finally, while PNC is not one of the banks listed here as being involved with excessive overdraft fees, lawyersandsettlements.com does track this issue and report on updates, so you may want to read this information and bookmark the page for further updates.
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admin Reply:
January 27th, 2010 at 6:05 am
Hi Kymberly, Thanks for sharing your PNC experience. While I don't have all the information regarding you situation, something doesn't sound quite "right" here. If you've already gone to the branch manager to no avail, your next step may be to start "climbing the ladder". It's just a matter of how much energy you have–but for what you say is "over a thousand dollars in fees", well, that would be worth my energy! So you need to track down who the branch manager reports into. Of course, you can always skip a few levels and go straight to the top–you'll find the executive team for PNC on their website (usually under the "about us" or "corporate" links). Sadly, when there seems to be no real resolution on a legitimate complaint, the "squeaky wheel" approach is what one has to resort to–and many times it's what gets results. If you've truly tried to resolve the issue with the bank itself–and you have all your documentation–that's key–you can file a complaint with your local Better Business Bureau office–they work with consumers to resolve various consumer complaint issues. It's no guarantee, but it's another option for help. The BBB's website is bbb.org and you can simply follow the instructions for your specific location. Finally, while PNC is not one of the banks listed here as being involved with excessive overdraft fees, lawyersandsettlements.com does track this issue and report on updates, so you may want to read this information and bookmark the page for further updates.
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I am looking into starting a class action lawsuit against the banks. I would like to start getting a list of names and emails at first, eventually they will require more information. I have an account at Bank of America. They changed they system or policies most likely their systems and I have incurred $200 worth of overdraft fees. My favorite part is when they charge you the $10 overdraft transfer fee then another $35 nsf fee when that transfer amount isn't enough. Also I wrote a couple of checks i forgot about, but there was a fee that was pending the day before, so instead of 2 fees they charged me 3 fees. But according to their new terms they start charging fees based on pending wd that come in and cause the balance to go into a negatiave "available" balance. That being the case, the charge that was pending had enough funds, it wasn't until the 2 checks that cleared did my account get overdrawn so I should have received 2 fees not 3. I'm tired of banks making up the rules as they go along and just like the credit card companies the banks should have fairer rules. I found one case but haven't really looked at the particulars, actually there have been many class action suits that get settled before they get too far.
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I switched from Bank of America to Wells Fargo because of this issue hoping it would be better somewhere else, not so. Apparently this is a total scam that all of the banks use to steal from the poor and give to the rich Finance guys. In the past week and a half, they've managed to charge me $700 in fees, mostly for charges less than $5. I hadn't used the account and my wife didn't realize that we were overdrawn. If everything is tracked in a database and always updated, why is it that the charges weren't just declined? Well, it seems they allow the charges through just so the banks and Finance guys can fill their pockets. It's just not right. For those of us struggling already, this hurts. It affects our ability to put food on the table and pay our mortgage. If I was rich yeah I could afford to pay the fees, but I'm not, so why not make a big problem worse for us struggling folks? This is the type of issue the lawmakers should be looking at, instead of wasting our tax money on non-important things!!
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I have had similar problems that Kimberly had involving PNC bank. While they did not freeze my overdraft protection, they were holding deposit's and transactions. Because they were holding check card transactions, some for several days, which I felt was odd, it was causing overdraft fees.
They were taking out larger transactions leaving smaller ones sit. The smaller transactions would then catch up with their "magical" banking date causing a negative balance which in turn would cause the overdraft fees.
The deposit's that were made prior to the overdrafts the never seemed to work on the same system. For what ever reason the deposits were held until after the overdraft. Some transactions would snowball causing more fees.
I did attempt to rectify the problem and regain the fees that were taken with PNC employees, including employees which they told me were higher in authority then them, however none of them wanted to hear it or refund the fees. I have stopped trying.
I just find it really odd that we live in a society that is instant until it comes to the banking system benefitting from your money being taken from you. Truly a legal way to steal. I have always closely monitored my banking online to avoid such fees, however I feel they make that just as confusing which in turn caught me into their fee trap on three occasions.
I did find that if you use you pin number at stores that accept MAC/Visa Check Card, the money is taken from your account "instantly" which shows up online. Bank employees never told me this, WHY? Why can't this happen with a visa check card transaction that show up days after the transactions? Why can't this happen with your deposits that aren't available until days after it is made? Fees were over $150.00 for 3 transactions in one day that totaled less then $12.00.
On another note, the reason why I'm posting this is because I also have a loan with PNC. This loan is automatically paid every month by auto draft and it has been that way for the past 5 years, never late, no problems, no late fees.
Sometime in February my wife called to suspend the the auto payment for one month for fear of our deposits being held to avoid overdraft fees. Now February had 28 days and the payment was always scheduled on the 30th of each month.
PNC wanted their money which in turn caused a late fee for the loan payment. I want to add my wife is not named on this loan, don't get me wrong, I do not have a problem with her involvement in our finances. What happened was she had suspended the payment and then called sometime after to have PNC take the payment out, however she was too late, thus the late fee.
My wife figuring the payment was made after calling was watching for it to be deducted from our account but didn't think anything of it when it wasn't because as stated above transactions rarely show up immediately when they are deducted. We are talking a weeks time.
Because the payment wasn't made PNC began to call my work. After I contacted them I learned they never took the payment out, reason, my wife wasn't authorized to make the payment. HMMMMMMM. My first call was to make the payment, I did so and told them not to take the late fee out. I was angry about the late fee and wasn't going to pay it. The lady was happy take the payment and did not kick up a fuss over the late fee.
I then called my wife and learned that she had called them as stated above. I then called PNC bank a second time to inquire about the late fee. I felt they were too easy to accept the payment less the late fee and my concern was were they going to charge me interest on the late fee. In a nut shell after them telling me they kept logs and calls were recorded and because my wife had suspended the payment the fee would not be retracted.
Several transfers later, because nobody can seem to answer easy questions or pull information from the almighty computer system unless it benefits them, a male who was throwing dates of conversations out at me stated my wife was authorized to make decisions on the account. At that point I asked him to look at his computer for the date that request was made.
You see, I added my wife as an authorized user when I called the first time to make the payment. After the male realized this he provided a lame excuse and still advised me he was unable to waive the fee. The male added he only saw the fee waived 2 times during his time working there. He did feel if I called the bank, which I thought I was talking too, again only when it benefits them, they would waive the fee.
I then asked him if I didn't pay the late fee would I be charged interest; he replied yes. I then asked him why the the lady didn't tell me that when I made the payment; he stated she should have. I paid the late fee and refuse to call anybody else at PNC bank. Late fee $67.14.
I don't normally post blogs, as a matter of fact this is the first one, but I am tired of banks, credit card companies, utility companies, and cell phone companies taking advantage of the people that made them successful. It needs to stop.
Not to get political here but these are things that should be regulated and I'm sorry when they do regulate some of them it should take effect immediately and not allow them 8 months to figure more ways to suck more money from you. I do believe in strength in numbers I and hope my post will add to the similar posts in an attempt to change the way the banks do business. Bob.
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admin Reply:
March 25th, 2010 at 1:56 pm
Hi Bob, Thank you for your comment–and for explaining your experience with bank overdraft fees (and late fees) with PNC Bank. As you've seen, you are certainly not alone. While some banks have begun to change their policies (and practices) regarding when and how they post transactions, it has not been universally addressed–and should be.
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admin Reply:
March 25th, 2010 at 1:56 pm
Hi Bob, Thank you for your comment–and for explaining your experience with bank overdraft fees (and late fees) with PNC Bank. As you've seen, you are certainly not alone. While some banks have begun to change their policies (and practices) regarding when and how they post transactions, it has not been universally addressed–and should be.
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Hey there: Got a really BIG beef with M & T bank for over $5000 in overdraft fees over a two year period. Resulted in us ruining a travel trip, falling behind on our lease and having to go to charity sources to literally replace the rent monies the bank stole from us. I'm in….we could even be class rep with these facts.
Moved to TD Bank and what they do is take a business check deposit, fail to show the deposit, lock up your account for over four months and get fees out of you that way. Called Canada where bank is Inc.; still no resolve; DO NOT GO TO TD BANK; they are just here in the states for the "big get" until they get "caught" and then will scoot back over the Northern border.
Check out NYU Stern School of Business; they have the info on TD Bank; they are "politically" connected on the Hill (DC) via Harvard (Obama; hey, I voted for him, not against him, just the gig) AND that TD is currently under "investigation" in DC. Somebody do something; I have the records proving my claims.
Kim and Richard
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Can someone send me info on the class action suit, I had 6 NSf fees last week 5 on Redbox $1.06 overdrafts and one on a $.99 I tunes….Due to the overdraft fees it spiraled into this week, sending me in to 2 days of 6 fees each then they pushed off the 2 transactions that were over the 6 NSF limit to the next day so that I would incurr 2 more. UGHGHGHGHGHG The ones last week, I actually had a balance of negative one cent, and was charged!!!! Even the neighborhood grocery store will lend me a damn penny out of the give a penny take a penny!!!!!
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I say M&T stands for Money Takers!!!!!!!
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I am interested. Although they've changed their practices, those fees of 37 are excessive – and the way they continue to order the debits still sucks. I've had hundreds "stolen" from me in overdraft fees with never a clear explanation as to how it happens. The overdraft fees pushed me into further overdrafts on the account. some months the debits are arranged as they occurred; others, they go from highest to lowest.
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