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Pathfinder Bank is bilking customers with the ‘abusive and predatory practice’ of repeatedly charging insufficient fund fees, a class action claims.
In a proposed nationwide class action lawsuit filed in the Northern District of New York on April 2, lead plaintiff Chryl Clafin alleges the bank routinely charges customers multiple overdraft or insufficient fund fees (NSF) on the same item, “driving account balances deeper into negative territory.”
According to the lawsuit, Pathfinder’s policy says the bank only charges one $32 fee if an account balance drops too low to cover a single “item,” such as a check, withdrawal, or service charge.
However, Clafin claims the bank is going against its word, routinely charging multiple fees on the same transaction.
If you believe you were incorrectly charged NSF fees by your bank or credit union, you may qualify to join this NSF fee charge class action lawsuit investigation.
Clafin claims in her lawsuit that on July 16, 2015, she was charged $32 for having insufficient funds to cover an AT&T payment – a charge she doesn’t dispute.
But then, Pathfinder attempted to process the same payment four days later without her consent and charged Clafin another $32. The same thing happened again two days later, when Pathfinder attempted to complete the transaction without her request, and charged her another $32.
Altogether, Clafin was charged $96 on one item, the class action says.
“It was bad faith and totally outside Plaintiff’s reasonable expectations for Pathfinder to use its discretion to assess two or three NSF Fees for a single attempted payment.”
Clafin says the same thing happened to her numerous times while she was a Pathfinder account holder, and she wants to end the bank’s “abusive and predatory practices and force it to refund all of these improper charges.”
“Pathfinder’s customers have been injured by the Bank’s improper practices to the tune of millions of dollars bilked from their accounts in violation of Pathfinder’s clear contractual commitments,” the class action lawsuit states.
Clafin is seeking to represent any Pathfinder account holder nationwide who was charged multiple fees on the same item, and she is also representing a subclass of New York residents.
She is suing the bank for breach of contract; breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing; violation of state consumer protection law; and unjust enrichment, and is seeking certification of the Class, restitution, damages, injunctive relief, and a jury trial.
Pathfinder is not the only bank facing a lawsuit over its overdraft and NSF fees.
In March, Credit Union New Jersey was hit with a class action lawsuit over allegedly charging customers $30 overdraft fees, despite accounts having ample money to cover transactions. Meanwhile, Bank of America was accused of making a “dishonest dollar” off of account holders by charging deceptive transfer fees, in a proposed class action lawsuit filed earlier in March.
Have you faced an overdraft or insufficient fund fee from your bank that you think was unfair? Let us know in the comments section!
Clafin is represented by Jeffrey D. Kaliel and Sophia G. Gold of Kaliel Gold PLLC.
The Pathfinder Bank NSF Fee Class Action Lawsuit is Clafin v. Pathfinder, et al., Case No. 5:21-cv-00380-TJM-ML, in the U.S. District Court Northern District of New York.
Read About More Class Action Lawsuits & Class Action Settlements:
- New Jersey Bank Charging Overdraft Fees on Well-Funded Accounts, Class Action Lawsuit Claims
- Do You Qualify: American Airlines FCU, Axos Bank, BankUnited, Others | Overdraft, NSF Fees Lawsuit Investigation
- Do You Qualify: NSF Fee Charge Class Action Lawsuit Investigation
- Bank & Credit Union Overdraft Fee Class Action Lawsuit Investigation
