A group of lawsuits over unfair overdraft fees and practices by TD Bank was consolidated into multidistrict litigation. The South Carolina federal judge overseeing the litigation recently cut one overdraft fees lawsuit from the multidistrict litigation against TD Bank.

The overdraft fees lawsuit alleged that TD Bank charged customers $20 overdraft fees as illegal interest charges, but the plaintiff had filed a similar claim in the same MDL more than two years ago which was subsequently tossed out.

The judge, U.S. District Judge Bruce Howe Hendricks, noted in her ruling that she had tossed the plaintiff’s first claim out from the MDL years ago, and the new claim is “nearly identical.” In that overdraft fees lawsuit and in this one, the $20 overdraft fees are not considered interest, so in both cases, the claims were invalid.

“The law is still clear that sustained overdraft fees are not interest, and that assessing such fees cannot violate the usury provision of the NBA,” said Judge Hendricks in a 22-page opinion.

The overdraft fees lawsuit MDL was first centralized in South Carolina back in April 2015. Consumers alleged in their consolidated complaint that TD Bank illegally counts customers’ accounts as overdrawn when in fact transactions are pending, and there is still money in the account to cover the transaction.

A growing number of consumers are turning to litigation in response to unfair or deceptive overdraft fees and practices. Filing an overdraft fees lawsuit can help to recover compensation for financial damage caused by overdraft fees.

Unfair Overdraft Fees and Policies

Overdraft protection programs are now considered standard at banks and credit unions across the country, helping to prevent customers from being unable to make a transaction when they’ve hit the bottom of their account. Money is transferred to cover the transaction in exchange for an overdraft fee.

There are several ways a bank can levy excessive overdraft charges. Customers may never have been given the full details of the bank’s overdraft program when they originally signed up for their account, and others may not even be informed that they could opt out of the program in the first place and thus avoid overdraft fees altogether.

Some banks reportedly make a practice of deliberately reordering transactions to collect more in fees from highest to lowest rather than chronologically, making each successive transaction increasingly more likely to overdraw the account, allowing the fees to compound.

Filing an Overdraft Fee Lawsuit

Several banks and credit unions across the country are currently under investigation for deceptive or unfair overdraft fees and policies, and some, like TD Bank, have been hit with an overdraft fee class action lawsuit in response.

If you have been affected by deceptive overdraft charges or practices from TD Bank, or another bank or credit union, you may be able to file a lawsuit or join a class action lawsuit. Some lawsuits have been consolidated into multidistrict litigation.

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