Returned check fees and statement retrieval fees lawsuit investigation

Returned check fees and statement retrieval fees: Who’s affected?

Were you charged a fee after trying to deposit a check that bounced? Or were you charged a statement retrieval fee after requesting a copy of your bank statements? If so, you may be eligible to join a returned check fees and statement retrieval fees investigation.

Banks make a large portion of their profits by charging various penalty fees. One fee you may encounter is a returned check fee. These fees are charged to a customer who tries to deposit a check that bounces, and they can range from around $10 to $19. According to a recent communication by the Bureau of Consumer Protection, these fees may be unjust. They may be part of a broader effort by banks to increase their profits by charging frequent and costly fees to consumers at every turn. Lawyers are launching a returned check fees investigation and are looking for consumers who have been financially affected by returned check fees.  

Another fee you may encounter is a statement retrieval fee. But again, according to the Bureau of Consumer Protection, these fees may be unlawful.

What are returned check fees?

Banks charge many different fees to consumers, including account and penalty fees. Returned check fees are charged to a customer who deposits a check that bounces. This fee is charged in addition to an NSF fee (non-sufficient fund fee), which happens when that deposited check is returned because of insufficient funds in the account of the person who wrote the check. Banks can potentially generate close to $50 in fees from one check.

Keeping track of these different fees, a major source of revenue for banks, can be overwhelming. Bank fees have increased dramatically since the 1980s, explains Investopedia.

Are returned deposit fees legal?

The Bureau of Consumer Protection posted a bulletin in June 2022 stating that many returned deposit fees may violate the Consumer Financial Protection Act. The bulletin does not explicitly state that the fees are always illegal but cautions financial institutions that charge these fees that they may come into conflict with consumer protection law.

Are returned deposit fees fair?

According to the bulletin, these fees are likely unfair because banks make blanket policies of charging them to anyone who tries to deposit a bad check regardless of the circumstance. The bulletin explains that consumers cannot reasonably avoid depositing a bad check because they generally have no way of determining if a check is valid. Because bank policies rarely take into account these circumstances and customers’ lack of control, these fees are likely unfair. 

According to the bulletin, the fees may also be unfair because they do not represent a penalty to the person responsible for the bad check and are charged to people who do not benefit from trying to deposit a bad check. The Bureau of Consumer Protection explains that beyond examining the fairness of a fee to the person charged, it also examines how the fee affects other consumers. While a bank might say it charges returned deposit fees to prevent processing costs being passed off to other consumers, the bureau says this would not have been the case, making the fee unfair in many ways. 

Join a returned check fee and statement retrieval fee lawsuit investigation

If you were hit with a bank fee after trying to deposit a check that bounced, or if you were hit with a statement retrieval fee after requesting a copy of your statements, you may have a legal claim. The federal government has stated that many returned deposit fees may be unfair under federal law. Now, lawyers are taking the next step to protect consumers by launching a returned check fee and statement retrieval fee lawsuit investigation. Joining the investigation may be one way to hold banks accountable for charging unfair fees and may enable you to gain some compensation for fees that you incurred.

If your financial institution hit you with a returned check fee or statement retrieval fee, you may qualify to join a returned check fee and statement retrieval fee investigation.

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