Consumer Banking Lawyer Interviews

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.

Washington, D.C. A new report from Pew Charitable Trusts released on December 20, 2017 documents the burden overdraft fees continue to place on the shoulders of consumers. Although the banking industry has made some voluntary changes regarding overdraft fees Pew reports that American consumers are still paying $14 billion annually in overdraft fees.

New York, NY: The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been relentless in its pursuit of wrongdoers in the financial industry. Since 2011 it has recovered $975 million in enforcement actions ranging from elaborate investment schemes to financial advisors that work to benefit themselves rather than investors.

St. Louis, MO A group of seven farmers are the lead plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit that claims “corporate greed” and “a rush to market” by some of the world’s biggest makers and promoters of agricultural chemicals caused farm crops to wither and die costing farm operators millions of dollars in lost revenue and possibly forcing them to switch all their seed stock to herbicide resistant Monsanto seed in the coming years whether they want to or not.

Washington, DC: Consumers who frequently write checks know there are NSF fees charged when there are insufficient funds in their account to cover a transaction. What they may not know is that instead of their check simply being declined, it can be sent to a check re-presentment (also known as check recovery) company for processing, and the company might be illegally charging them re-presentment fees. Tycko & Zavareei LLP is investigating a possible lawsuit against some companies involved in the re-presentment process, for charging fees without adequately notifying consumers.

Philadelphia, PA Got to hand it to attorney John Narkin. He's got this foreclosure crisis thing figured out—well, near as anyone can figure it out. The 113-page class-action suit on behalf of distressed homeowners filed by Narkin's firm, BHN Law in Philly, lays out the whole sorry story in amazing detail, complete with links to video clips.

New York, NY If attorney Susan Chana Lask is right, she has hit on class action suit that will go down in history as one of the critical features of the foreclosure crisis that has ruined the lives of millions of Americans. "It is disgusting," says Lask, a smart and feisty New York City lawyer. "I am really starting to hate banks. They are messing with our lives."