LAWSUITS NEWS & LEGAL INFORMATION
Credit Union Excessive Overdraft Fees Legal News Articles & Interviews
Credit Union of New Jersey Hit with Excessive Overdraft Fees Lawsuit
April 6, 2021. By Anne Wallace.
Camden, NJ Laronda Hickmond filed a bank overdraft fees lawsuit against Credit Union of New Jersey in New Jersey District Court on March 17. Hickmond v. Credit Union of New Jersey alleges that the credit union repeatedly charged Ms. Hickmond $30 overdraft fees even though, according to the monthly account statements prepared by the credit union, her account balance never dropped into the negative. She seeks class action status for the lawsuit on behalf of herself and all similarly situated accountholders.
Read [ Credit Union of New Jersey Hit with Excessive Overdraft Fees Lawsuit ]
Insufficient Funds Charges Threaten Small-Balance Accountholders
March 31, 2021. By Anne Wallace.
Albany, NY Excessive bank fees that are based on insufficient funds (NSF) charges may pose a greater threat to checking accountholders than overdraft fees. Recent lawsuits recognize that, without protections based largely in state contract law, consumers have little protection from NSF fees that result when checks or electronic payments that are presented and re-presented multiple times without the accountholder’s permission.
Read [ Insufficient Funds Charges Threaten Small-Balance Accountholders ]
Texas Sues Griddy Energy for Deceptive Advertising
March 12, 2021. By Anne Wallace.
Houston, TX On March 1, the State of Texas filed a lawsuit in Texas state court, alleging that Griddy Energy LLC misled energy consumers in violation of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices—Consumer Protection Act (DTPA). In the aftermath of the massive February winter storm, Griddy customers found themselves with the astronomical electrical bills. One Houston resident complained that Griddy debited her credit card $4,677 in one week for electricity in her 800 square foot, one-bedroom apartment: “I do not have the money to pay this bill. We need help.” Griddy also auto-debited hundreds, sometimes thousands, of dollars from consumers’ checking accounts in a period of days. These massive daily withdrawals triggered cascading bank overdraft fees.
Read [ Texas Sues Griddy Energy for Deceptive Advertising ]
Ninth Circuit Sends "High-Tech Debt Trap" Lawsuit to Arbitration
February 27, 2021. By Anne Wallace.
Los Angeles, CA On February 19, the Ninth Circuit held that a borrower, who found herself in what she described as a “high-tech debt trap,” must arbitrate her claims against the lender, having waived her right to sue. Marggieh DeCarlo was trying to build credit but instead found herself entangled instead in a ruinous web of loan charges, membership fees and bank overdraft fees.
Read [ Ninth Circuit Sends "High-Tech Debt Trap" Lawsuit to Arbitration ]
Bank Overdraft Fees Lawsuit Stresses Lack of Consumer Sophistication, Unfair Process
January 6, 2021. By Anne Wallace.
Atlanta, GA On December 17, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit heard oral arguments in Garcia v. Wachovia Bank, one of the bank overdraft fees lawsuits, consolidated in In Re: Checking Account Overdraft Litigation. The checking accountholders are appealing a September 2019 District Court decision that denied them the chance to proceed through a class action lawsuit, forcing them to arbitrate their claims individually. That would effectively end their chance to dispute excessive overdraft fees that resulted from Wells Fargo’s and Wachovia Bank’s practice of reordering checks from high to low amounts in order to maximize profits.
Read [ Bank Overdraft Fees Lawsuit Stresses Lack of Consumer Sophistication, Unfair Process ]
Navy Federal to Settle Overdraft Fees Lawsuit for $16 Million
November 17, 2020. By Anne Wallace.
Alexandria, VA The Eastern District of Virginia appears poised to approve a proposed settlement in a class action bank overdraft fees lawsuit originally filed against Navy Federal Credit Union in 2019. Under the terms of the proposed settlement, checking account customers at Navy Federal who were overcharged will have a common fund of $16 million to divide among themselves. The settlement is notable because class members need not file claims to receive compensation. The settlement fund will be automatically allocated among them according to a distribution plan set out in the agreement.
Read [ Navy Federal to Settle Overdraft Fees Lawsuit for $16 Million ]
Earnin Agrees to PayBack
August 30, 2020. By Jane Mundy.
Santa Clara, CA A proposed settlement by Earnin, an app-based pay advance service, would theoretically pay up to $12.5 million to consumers who claim they were misled by Earnin and were charged bank fees they weren’t aware of before signing on with the service.
Read [ Earnin Agrees to PayBack ]
USB Checking Accountholders to get their Day in Court
August 17, 2020. By Anne Wallace.
San Diego, CA On August 10, the Southern District of California agreed to reconsider its own ruling in an overdraft fees lawsuit that forced the dispute into arbitration. On reconsideration, it reversed itself. This breathes new life into Reyna McGovern’s contention that U.S. Bank charged bank overdraft fees that were not permitted under the terms of the account agreement that she and many other customers signed. Now they get a chance to have their claims heard in court. The Order Granting the Motion for Reconsideration may have implications for other Californians who, perhaps unwittingly, signed arbitration agreements when they opened a checking account.
Read [ USB Checking Accountholders to get their Day in Court ]
California Excessive Bank Overdraft Fee Lawsuit Gets Second Wind
July 29, 2020. By Anne Wallace.
San Diego, CA For months, the law firms that represent banks and other big businesses have worried that the Ninth Circuit’s 2019 decision in Blair v. Rent-A-Center shows plaintiffs how to side-step mandatory arbitration provisions that include class action waivers. Defense counsel’s worst fear is realized in the motion for reconsideration filed in McGovern v. U.S. Bank, a California bank overdraft fees lawsuit.
Read [ California Excessive Bank Overdraft Fee Lawsuit Gets Second Wind ]
TD Bank Hit with Excessive Bank Overdraft Fees Lawsuit
July 9, 2020. By Anne Wallace.
Camden, NJ On June 24, Judith Jimenez filed a class action bank overdraft fees lawsuit claiming that TD Bank, NA re-opened her checking account, which the bank had previously closed, for the express purpose of charging her an overdraft fee. Mission accomplished, the bank then closed her account again – all without her authorization. The lawsuit further claims that TD Bank had a routine practice of opening accounts in the names of consumers without lawful authority. If this sounds familiar, it should.
Read [ TD Bank Hit with Excessive Bank Overdraft Fees Lawsuit ]
- District of Columbia Sues Elevate Credit, Inc. By Anne Wallace (Jun-24-20)
- Federal Court Sends Excessive Overdraft Fees Plaintiffs to Arbitration By Anne Wallace (Jun-9-20)
- Excessive Overdraft Fee Lawsuits Hit the Heartland By Anne Wallace (May-29-20)
- Mandatory Arbitration Amendments Thwart Excessive Overdraft Fee Lawsuits By Anne Wallace (May-22-20)
- Wells Fargo Fake Account Scandal Grinds On By Anne Wallace (Apr-23-20)
- Three litigation theories of excessive bank overdraft fee lawsuits By Anne Wallace (Apr-10-20)
- Defendant 'Grateful' for Credit Union Overdraft Fee Lawsuit By Anne Wallace (Dec-13-19)
- Philadelphia Federal Credit Union Accused of “Gouging” Consumers with Multiple NSF Fees By Anne Wallace (Nov-11-19)
- United Federal Credit Union Settles Excessive Overdraft Fee Lawsuit for $1.75 Million By Anne Wallace (Oct-16-19)
- USAA Bank Forces Individual Arbitration of Excessive Overdraft Fee Claims By Anne Wallace (Sep-17-19)
- VyStar Credit Union Accused of Assessing NSF Fees Multiple Times for Same Transaction By Anne Wallace (Aug-8-19)
- Forced Arbitration Threatens Class Action Excessive Overdraft Fees Lawsuits By Anne Wallace (Jul-18-19)
- Georgia Court of Appeals Affirms Class Action Status for Excessive Overdraft Fees Lawsuit By Anne Wallace (Jun-7-19)
- Online Lender Settles with FTC for $3.85 Million By Anne Wallace (May-8-19)
- $24.5 Million Settlement in Navy Federal Credit Union Excessive Overdraft Fees Lawsuit By Anne Wallace (Apr-23-19)
- Cash Advance? There’s an App for That By Anne Wallace (Mar-25-19)
- Washington State Employees Credit Union Settles Excessive Overdraft Fees Lawsuit for $2.99 Million By Anne Wallace (Feb-15-19)
- Credit Unions – A Case of Shutdown Shame? By Anne Wallace (Jan-24-19)
- Trustmark National Bank Latest Defendant in Excessive Overdraft Fees Lawsuit By Anne Wallace (Dec-21-18)
- Excessive Overdraft Fees Lawsuit against DFCU Survives Motion to Dismiss By Anne Wallace (Nov-23-18)
- Digital Federal Credit Union Snared in Excessive Overdraft Fees Lawsuit By Anne Wallace (Oct-3-18)
- Landmark Credit Union Settles Overdraft Fees Lawsuit By Jane Mundy (Aug-15-18)
- Credit Union Lawsuit Cites Excessive Overdraft Fees By Anne Wallace (Jun-20-18)
- Death by Delay – CFPB Defers Credit Union Overdraft Regulations into Indefinite Future By Anne Wallace (May-22-18)
- Study Finds Consumers Complain Most About Banks With Highest Overdraft Fee Revenue By Deb Hipp (Jul-19-17)
- Excessive Bank Fees: Did We Learn Anything From the $7.8 Million UMB Settlement? By Gordon Gibb (Aug-22-16)
- Bank Faces $10 Million Fine Linked to Overdraft Fees By Heidi Turner (Aug-11-16)
- Proposed New Rules a Boon for Consumers Facing Excessive Credit Union Fees By Gordon Gibb (Jul-13-16)
- Overdraft Fees Still a Big Payday for Financial Institutions By Heidi Turner (Jun-18-16)
- Does Charging Excessive Overdraft Fees Violate Credit Union Non-profit Status? By Gordon Gibb (May-14-16)
- Wells Fargo Loses Overdraft Fee Appeal By Heidi Turner (Apr-13-16)
- Consumers Continue to Get Stung by Excessive Credit Union, Bank Overdraft Fees By Gordon Gibb (Mar-14-16)
- Panel Declines Consolidation of Credit Union Lawsuits By Heidi Turner (Feb-22-16)
- Credit Union Excessive Fees Lawsuits Could Be “Tip of the Iceberg” By Gordon Gibb (Jan-14-16)
- It’s Not Just the Banks Charging Excessive Overdraft Fees By Heidi Turner (Dec-18-15)
- “There Are Fees for Everything but Breathing the Air” By Gordon Gibb (Nov-25-15)
- Financial Institutions Told to Halt Overdraft Fees on College Cards By Heidi Turner (Oct-29-15)
- Los Angeles Credit Union Sued Over Lack of Consent, Overdraft Fees By Gordon Gibb (Sep-30-15)
- Credit Unions Not Immune to Charging Excessive Fees: Attorney By Gordon Gibb (Aug-22-15)
- Consumers Might Want to Take Note of Overdraft Fees By Heidi Turner (Jul-11-15)