Melissa LaFreniere  |  October 13, 2015

Category: Consumer News

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Finance concept: Painted green text Overdraft on Digital Paper background with Binary CodeCredit union and banking customers paid more than $35 million in overdraft fees last year alone and many Americans have started filing overdraft fee class action lawsuits based on claims that financial institutions intentionally apply transactions out of order so they can charge overdraft fees. 

Millions of U.S. consumers are charged an overdraft fee when they take out more than their available balance of their credit union account.

However, plaintiffs filing overdraft fee lawsuits claim that not only are the overdraft fees unreasonably high but the practice of applying larger transactions before smaller ones is simply unfair.

Legal experts advise credit union customers to consider filing overdraft lawsuits as a way to recover any unreasonable overdraft fees you may have paid.

How Overdraft Fees Are Assessed

Credit union customers across the country allege that paying an average of $34-$35 per overdraft fee is outrageously high. However, many are concerned with the way financial institutions decide to asses a non-sufficient funds fee.

For example: A credit union customer with a balance of $1,000 may have the following transactions in a single day.

  • Morning: Breakfast ($8)
  • Afternoon: Gas ($12)
  • Evening: Rent ($1,000)

Credit unions have been reportedly taking out the $1,000 rental payment first which would create a insufficient funds or overdraft fee for the other transactions that day.

Customers who are charged $35 per transaction would have to pay $70 in this scenario because the credit union applied the transactions out of order. Had the financial institution processed the transactions in the correct order, the customer would have only been charged for one $35 fee.

Overdraft fee lawyers state this is an unfair practice because the overdraft fees were unfairly applied. In most situations, credit union customers simply have to present their banking statements to an attorney to find out if they have legal claim.

Credit Union Overdraft Fee Lawsuits

While some overdraft lawsuits are filed by plaintiffs who allege credit unions process transactions out of order to obtain overdraft fees, other lawsuits claim that customers are not fully informed about how fees are calculated.

In general, plaintiffs allege credit union overdraft programs cause confusion due to the fact that assessing a fee on the available balance may cause an overdraft fee to occur even if the actual balance did not go negative. In addition, some plaintiffs claim that they are not informed of their available balance prior to transactions that lead to overdraft fees.

Since 2010, financial institutions including credit unions are not legally allowed to charge an overdraft fee unless the customer has opted-in to the overdraft protection or an overdraft coverage program.

Some of the credit unions facing overdraft fee class action lawsuit investigations include:

  • Digital Federal Credit Union, Marlborough, Mass.
  • Bethpage Federal Credit Union, Bethpage, N.Y.
  • Alaska USA Federal Credit Union, Anchorage, Alaska
  • Vystar Credit Union, Jacksonville, Fla.
  • Citizens Equity First Credit Union, Peoria, Ill.

Contact an overdraft fee attorney to find out how you can join a credit union overdraft fee class action lawsuit.

Do YOU have a legal claim? Fill out the form on this page now for a free, immediate, and confidential case evaluation. The attorneys who work with Top Class Actions will contact you if you qualify to let you know if an individual lawsuit or class action lawsuit is best for you. Hurry — statutes of limitations may apply.

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Join a Free Credit Union Overdraft Fee Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

If your credit union charged you overdraft fees, you may have a legal claim. Fill out the form on this page now to find out if you qualify!

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