Wells Fargo class action claims company overcharged active duty military

Wells Fargo military overcharge class action lawsuit overview: 

• Who: Plaintiffs Carmin Nowlin, Tamika Haley and Jesus Rodriguez filed a class action lawsuit against Wells Fargo Bank N.A. 
• Why: Nowlin, Haley and Rodriguez claim Wells Fargo is violating the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act by, among other things, allegedly charging active duty military members interest rates and fees that are too high. 
• Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in North Carolina federal court. 

A new Wells Fargo class action lawsuit alleges the bank overcharged active duty military members while simultaneously marketing itself as a bank “dedicated to military members, veterans, and their families.”

Plaintiffs Carmin Nowlin, Tamika Haley and Jesus Rodriguez’s class action lawsuit claims Wells Fargo charged servicemembers’ interest rates and fees that were too high, as per guidelines set by the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA). 

Nowlin, Haley and Rodriguez — all current or former active duty military service members — argue Wells Fargo also allowed unlawful charges to “improperly inflate” the principal balances of servicemembers and charged compound interest on said inflated balances. 

“Defendant breached its statutory and contractual duties to America’s fighting forces,” the Wells Fargo military class action states. 

Nowlin, Haley and Rodriguez want to represent a nationwide class of all persons who received reduced interest and/or fee benefits from Wells Fargo on an interest-bearing obligation because of an obligor’s military service at any time since Jan. 1, 2006. 

Wells Fargo class action: Bank concealed overcharges from ‘thousands’ of military families

The current and former active duty military members argue Wells Fargo concealed the alleged overcharges and that they were not discovered until the bank sent “misleading correspondence and payment checks” to some military families in 2022. 

Nowlin, Haley and Rodriguez say a subsequent investigation they conducted found the bank committed “wholesale violations of the SCRA” and other military benefits that they claim caused damages to thousands of military families. 

“These violations caused damage to servicemembers, including the miscalculation of principal, interest, payoff amounts, and improper imposition of interest, fees, and other charges,” the Wells Fargo overcharge class action states. 

In addition to allegedly violating the SCRA, Nowlin, Haley and Rodriguez allege Wells Fargo is guilty of negligent misrepresentation, negligence and breach of contract, among other things, and of violating the Military Lending Act and Truth in Lending Act. 

The plaintiffs demand a jury trial and request declaratory and injunctive relief, as well as an award of statutory, compensatory, consequential, and punitive damages for themselves and all class members. 

The complaint is just one of several class action lawsuits that have recently been filed against Wells Fargo, with other claims involving financial and insurance products, overdraft fees and bad check fees. 

Are you a current or former active duty military member who has been overcharged by Wells Fargo? Let us know in the comments.

The plaintiffs are represented by Paul J. Puryear, Jr., Matthew D. Ballew and Robert E. Zaytoun of Zaytoun & Ballew, PLLC and Knoll D. Lowney, Claire Tonry, Marc Zemel and Alyssa Koepfgen of Smith & Lowney, LLC. 

The Wells Fargo military overcharge class action lawsuit is Nowlin, et al. v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., Case No. 5:24-cv-00179, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina.

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