Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled in favor this week of upholding a $66.6 million class action settlement involving Bank of America fees.
In a split decision, the majority of the three-judge panel decided on Wednesday that the settlement over extended overdraft fees the bank had been charging on overdrafted accounts should go ahead. The dissenting judge took issue with the amount of money the plaintiff’s lawyers are slated to get and the level of compensation earmarked for the plaintiffs themselves.
The class action lawsuit was filed in February 2016 by lead plaintiff Joanne Farrell on behalf of herself and an estimated Class of as many as 7 million other customers who Bank of America had charged $35 for having an overdrawn account in addition to an initial $35 in overdraft fees.
Lawyers for Bank of America fought to get the case dismissed, but U.S. District Judge M. James Lorenz ultimately sided with the plaintiffs in 2016 and cleared the path for the case to proceed.
In his ruling, Judge Lorenz said the concept behind the extra Bank of America fees was akin to charging interest on a line of credit – the fees were triggered when a customer’s account become overdrawn and the overdraft protection provided by the bank kicked in.
Unsatisfied with that interpretation, Bank of America’s legal team appealed Judge Lorenz’s decision to the Ninth Circuit. Meanwhile, representatives on both sides of the class action lawsuit had been negotiating and, in October 2017, announced they had reached a tentative settlement agreement that would have Bank of America paying out $66.6 million.
The terms of the settlement would have Bank of America paying $37.5 million to reimburse customers who paid the fees in question between Feb. 25, 2014 and Dec. 30, 2017. The bank would also pay $29.1 million to customers whose accounts were closed as a result of the overdraft fees.
In addition to providing reimbursement, the bank agreed to stop charging the extended $35 fees until 2023 – unless the U.S. Supreme Court took the matter up and decided differently than Judge Lorenz that such fees should not be considered the same as interest.
The judge granted approval to the settlement deal in September 2018.
Still, the case was not over. Class Members Estafania Osorio Sanchez, Amy Collins and Rachel Threatt objected to the settlement, arguing the financial relief the Class Members stood to get was too little and the $14.5 million in legal fees awarded to the plaintiffs’ lawyers was too much.
The majority of the Ninth Circuit panel hearing their appeal disagreed on all counts.
“In short, neither the settlement nor the fee award raises an eyebrow,” the six-page majority opinion said.
U.S. Circuit Judge Andrew Kleinfeld was the lone dissenting voice. In his opinion, which supported the objecting Class Members, he said most of the plaintiffs will end up getting $1.07 per $35 fee paid. The judge also noted that those whose accounts were closed, and who suffered credit score damage because of it, would only receive $35 no matter how many of the $35 overdraft fees they had paid.
Regarding the amount of legal fees awarded to the plaintiffs’ attorneys, the majority judges affirmed the lower court’s method of calculating them based on a percentage of the total settlement award.
In his dissenting opinion, which was three times as long as the majority’s ruling, Judge Kleinfeld noted the lawyers for the Class Members reported working 2,158 hours on the case. This meant they would be compensated at a rate of $6,700 an hour – much more than their stated billing rate of $250 to $800 per hour. Had the Bank of America fees settlement be calculated based on the going rate, the legal team would have been awarded $1.42 million.
“That amount of money is not an insubstantial incentive,” Judge Kleinfeld wrote in his opinion.
Were you charged extended fees by Bank of America? Tell us about it in the comment section below.
Collins is represented by Robert Clore of Bandas Law Firm PC. Sanchez is represented by Paul S. Rothstein and N. Albert Bacharach Jr. Threatt is represented by Theodore H. Frank, Hamilton Lincoln Law Institute. The Class Members are represented by Deepak Gupta of Gupta Wessler PLLC.
The Bank of America Fees Class Action Lawsuit is Joanne Farrell, et al. v. Bank of America NA, Case Nos. 18-56272, 18-56273 and 18- 56371, in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Read About More Class Action Lawsuits & Class Action Settlements:
Kanye West Cannot Appear on Arizona Ballot, Judge Rules
Are Juul Pods Safe If You Have a History of Seizures?
122 thoughts onBank of America Fees Class Action Settlement to Stand
There should be a list of things that they can charge you for and every
bank should have to go by the same list of bank rules and regulations
11/2021, I took out a balance transfer to save a lot of money. The transaction fee was paid and the transaction completed. The debit/cc itself had a zero balance.
12/2021, I paid $1,000 more than the ‘minimum due’ before the due date.
01/03/2022, again I paid $1,000 more than the ‘minimum due’ and before the due date.
01/20/2022, I had a charge to the debit/cc and paid it off in full 4 days later.
02/01/2022, again I paid $1,000 more than the ‘minimum due’ before the due date.
02/03/2022, I had a <$20.00 charge to debit/cc.
02/05/2022, I was charged $1.50 fee without cause, on a zero balance due.
02/18/2022, I reported to BOA of the $1.50 charge via phone. He read the agreement and stated the charge was not disputable and non-refundable. I asked what was the charge actually for, not under what circumstances to which I can be charged. He looked and could not find an answer. He then put me on hold and reported this incident to another department. He then stated the other department also could not find a reason for the $1.50 charge as I always carried a zero balance, paid a mininimum of $1,000 more than the minimum amount due, and nothing to account for a $1.50 charge. He informed me the other department agreed to refund the $1.50, to which I was refunded the next business day. Bank of America debit/cc are making mint off of others not reporting this baseless charge.
I was charged $35.00 per overdraft plus extended fee for every five day my account was overdrawn .this is crazy how these banks pray on the poor and take our money . They need to pay us for every extended overdraft fee they took and pay us for their negligence for taking our money they knew this was wrong and felt they could get away with it . The courts need to stop this behavior from banks taking form the poor hardworking people to get rich. May God be with us and give us fair pay.
A 91 cent check for thousands upon thousands of dollars they illegally took from me through overdrafts.
I was new to manage my money and this threw me all the way off about the fees and now to compensate me you send me 91cent. Trust is earn ….smh
I got one today for 21.87 in california farrel v bank of america na settlement portland or from huntington bank
There were fraudulent charges on my account and the Bank of America dragged their feet handling the investigation and acted accusatory towards me in the matter. This is in the amount of thousands and they charged fees for these also. I filed the first claim in July, maybe at the very beginning of August. They are now in December still “researching”. The financial hit I took has ruined my credit, lost credit accounts and caused me to take ridiculous loans to get by which now have me drowning in debt. I have even become homeless with sole custody and guardianship of my 7 year old daughter. They issued temporary credits on very small amounts and also continued to k LLC etc the account be charged these fraudulent charges after the account was supposed to be frozen. My account was in good standing for 4 years with them and now I can’t get it in the black again. They even resubmitted claims at later dates which prolonged their due process even more. I have been put on hold for hours to only be disconnected too many times to count. The worst part of all this is the way they are handling it. They reimburse these 100+ fraudulent charges in random lump sums that completely eliminate the ability to cross reference and they put fees in lump sums too. They are withholding the fees until the 90 day mark and according to one rep it is a significant amount and she apologized that she saw the most disabling things in these 8-10 claims is the fees. It is also tied to 2 credit cards through them that have been maxed out due to all of this and their dismissal of responsibility for it is more than unnerving. There is also no one that you can speak with in the department responsible for researching and handling all of this either. They even withheld my tax credit check issued by the state of South Carolina. I did a mobile deposit that stated the funds will be available the following morning and then let several valid charges bounce with fees on both ends over the following week withholding the funds from the deposited check. These types of things always happen. They always delay deposits, expedite charges, and stacks the order transactions are processed in the order that pays them fees and leaves the account in a position to keep drowning, generating more fees for them.
I got a $0.91 cent December 7, 2021 from the Class Action Lawsuit of Joanne Farrell v. Bank of America Case.
It’s outrageous!
Are they doing it on purpose to make fools out of us with a $0.91 cents check?
It cost more to print the check and the stamp to mail that.
Then they fix their phone number so you can’t call to ask where’s my $35 times 10 American dollars?
This is why greed is one of the 7 deadly sins that carries a penalty of bad karma!
In other words, while that settlement steak is in the greedy ones mouth, karma strikes like Gods lightning!
It gets worse eating the potatoes and drinking the cheap wine!
I had several overdraft charges and they closed my account. I received a settlement check for $.91. The lawyers get $6700 per hour and the customers don’t get s**t! The so called justice system in this country is so corrupt. BOA still made millions for their illegal activities and we can’t even get our money back. They closed my account, shouldn’t I get $35? Or should i just be grateful for the $.91? How much did the judges get paid for allowing this to happen with so little consequence?
I got that $0.91 cent check on the 7th. of December 2021 too!
It’s outrageous! Are they doing it on purpose to make fools out of us? I’m not letting that go.
my checks got stolen and i supposedly closed my account and opened a new one then i wasnt reciving my zelle money when i checked they still had th;e account opened and the had it over drawn 888,888.88 and kept taking money out of my other accounts and putting it in that one when i tried to find out what the hell was going on they said that they only put that number because they froze my account but they kept taking my money then one day that account was gone like it never exsisted but I kept records of it they are the devil in suits this just isnt fair all they say is ;they can understand why i am upset and pass me to someone else then someone else and say i understand but theres nuthing I cAN DO.
Yo cerre la cuenta en 2016 y apenas nov 2021 recibi un cheque de .91centavos la verdad es que nose que esta pasando.