Anne Bucher  |  May 24, 2016

Category: Closed Class Actions

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This settlement is closed!

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Citizens-Bank-Logo

Citizens Bank has agreed to settle a class action lawsuit that alleges the bank breached borrowers’ Home Equity Lines of Credit (HELOC) agreements and violated consumer protection laws by not calculating minimum payments by using a level amortization method.

If approved, the proposed settlement will resolve a class action lawsuit that alleges Citizens Bank miscalculated borrowers’ minimum payments during their 15-year repayment periods. According to the plaintiffs, Citizens Banks calculates their minimum payments by accelerating the repayment of principal, resulting in higher minimum payments during the first seven years of the repayment period.

According to the HELOC minimum payment class action lawsuit, Citizens Bank should have used a level calculation method to calculate borrowers’ minimum payments. Citizens Bank disagrees and contends that it calculated the borrowers’ minimum payments according to the borrowers’ HELOC agreements, and that borrowers pay less over the life of their repayment period under the current method of calculation.

Citizens Bank denies any wrongdoing but agreed to settle the HELOC class action lawsuit to avoid the expense and uncertainty of ongoing litigation.

Class Members who wish to opt out of the Citizens Bank settlement must do so no later than July 5, 2016.

Who’s Eligible

Class Members of the Citizens Bank settlement include anyone who meets the following criteria:

  • You are a current Citizens Bank customer who obtained a HELOC from a Citizens Bank branch in Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania or Rhode Island before July 8, 2006; a Charter One branch in Illinois or Indiana between June 24, 2005 and July 8, 2006; or a Charter One branch in Ohio or Michigan between July 22, 2005 and July 8, 2006;
  • Your HELOC was open as of Apr. 26, 2016, meaning you are in either the draw period or repayment period and have not paid off your outstanding principal balance and you have not received a notice from Citizens Bank indicating its intent to foreclose; and
  • If you are a borrower in the repayment period, you did not elect the fixed rate conversion option in your HELOC agreement upon entering the repayment period.
Potential Award

A minimum of $20.

If the settlement is finalized, Class Members will be able to choose how their minimum payment is calculated during the repayment period, and can choose to have their minimum payments calculated under the level payment method instead of the existing payment method. Claimants will receive a payment of at least $20.

More details about how the payments will be calculated, including the pros and cons of both methods, are available in detail  here.

Proof of Purchase

N/A

Claim Form Deadline

11/22/2016

Case Name

DiCicco, et al. v. Citizens Financial Group Inc., et al., Case No. 2:15-cv-00267-TON, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

Final Hearing

08/16/2016

Settlement Website

www.CitizensHELOCMinimumPaymentSettlement.com

Claims Administrator

Citizens Bank HELOC Settlement
P.O. Box 43413
Providence, RI 02940-3413
844-830-5233

Class Counsel

Ronald Jay Smolow

Marc H. Edelson
EDELSON & ASSOCIATES LLC

Defense Counsel

Robert A. Nicholas
Joseph J. Mahady
REED SMITH LLP

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2 thoughts onCitizens Bank HELOC Minimum Payment Class Action Settlement

  1. steveo says:

    hi whats going on with this claim .thanks

  2. Big_Banks are Awful says:

    Citizens Bank is THE most predatory financial institution ever. If you bank with these crooks, you should have your head checked. Transfer to a local Credit Union.

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