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overdraft fees class action lawsuitA group of three Bank of America customers have filed a lawsuit against the banking giant, alleging that unfair and deceptive overdraft fees and practices were used to wring billions from customers annually.

Indeed, the overdraft fees class action lawsuit alleges that Bank of America regularly tagged single transactions with multiple $35 nonsufficient funds and overdraft fees—even though the bank had allegedly agreed under contract not to charge more than a single fee per transaction.

The overdraft fees class action lawsuit also claims the bank agreed not to try more than one time to attempt to process a transaction that had been declined. However, the bank would make this attempt multiple times, incurring further fees, the overdraft fees class action lawsuit argues.

Though Bank of America has moved for the overdraft fees class action lawsuit to be dismissed, the account holders who filed the suit argued that the court not dismiss their claim.

“[Bank of America] seems to assert that each time an electronic payment is re-submitted, even though the consumer does nothing to facilitate this re-submission, it becomes a new, unique transaction worthy of new and multiple NSF [nonsufficient fund] and OD [overdraft] fees,” noted the account holders. “The problem with this argument is that neither [Bank of America’s] deposit agreement, nor its online banking agreement, contain this language,” they argued.

“[Bank of America] has offered no justification for its decision to re-submit plaintiffs’ payments two times, when the [online banking agreement] said it ‘may’ only do so a maximum of once,” according to the overdraft fees class action lawsuit.

The overdraft fees class action lawsuit was filed in March by plaintiffs from California, Georgia, and Oklahoma.

Overdraft Protection Programs: The Basics

So what exactly is overdraft protection? Overdraft protection programs are advertised as a method of ensuring that consumers can make transactions, even when they do not actually have the money in their account. This is known as “overdrawing” their account.

In return for allowing these transactions to go through, either by transferring money from another account or loaning money from the bank, banks charge customers a set overdraft fee.

While the convenience of being able to make these transactions successfully certainly seems helpful, overdraft programs can actually be extremely detrimental for many consumers, and could end up penalizing them excessively—especially for those who can least afford it.

Indeed, in some cases a bank or a credit union may use deceptive practices to wring the highest amount in bank overdraft fees out of their consumers. Bank overdraft programs and fees bring in billions of dollars every year to the banks; these programs have become a feature of the industry.

Deceptive Overdraft Fee Practices

Banks have been accused of using a number of questionable methods of increasing the amount they bring in in overdraft fees. Firstly, customers may find when they sign up for a bank account that they are not fully informed of how overdraft programs work, and so are basing their decision on incomplete information—for instance, they may not know all the details of overdraft fees or how they’re charged.

Overdraft programs are meant to be opt-in for consumers, but many customers do not know this.  Some consumers may not even be given the option to opt out of these programs.

A bank will even, in some cases, rearrange customers’ transactions from highest to lowest so that it will incur the highest number of fees it can. Because overdraft fees compound, customers can be left with a much higher penalty overall, since higher transactions processed earlier will push an account into overdraft earlier as well.

If you were affected by unfair overdraft fees, you may be able to join a free overdraft fees class action lawsuit investigation.

The Overdraft Fees Class Action Lawsuit is Case No. 3:18-cv-00157, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina.

You may have a legal claim if your were charged excessive overdraft fees by one of these banks or credit unions:

  • Alliant Credit Union
  • Astoria Bank
  • BECU (Boeing Employees Credit Union)
  • Nationwide
  • Pacific Western
  • Patelco Credit Union
  • State Employees Federal Credit Union (SEFCU – New York)
  • Sterling Bank
  • Educational Employees Credit Union (California)

Fill out the form on this page now for a free, immediate, and confidential case evaluation.

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Join a Free Bank Overdraft Fee Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

If your bank and credit union has engaged in deceptive overdraft fee practices, you may have a legal claim. Fill out the form on this page now to find out if you qualify!

An attorney will contact you if you qualify to discuss the details of your potential case.

PLEASE NOTE: If you want to participate in this investigation, it is imperative that you reply to the law firm if they call or email you. Failing to do so may result in you not getting signed up as a client or getting you dropped as a client.

In order to properly investigate overdraft fee claims, you may be required to disclose bank statements to overdraft fee attorneys. Please note that any such information will be kept private and confidential.

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    If an overdraft fee was incurred by a credit card, STOP. You do not qualify for this investigation.
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