Did Your Bank Charge You an Unfair Return Item Fee?

Some banks may be using unfair practices to charge their customers more in fees, doubling up charges.

If you have been hit with more than one return item fee for the same transaction, your bank may be using unfair practices to charge you more. If you have been hit with an unfair return item fee, you may be able to join this class action lawsuit investigation.

What is a Return Item Fee?

A return item fee, sometimes called an NSF (non-sufficient funds) fee, is a charge that banks make against an account when a customer attempts to make a transaction and it does not successfully go through or it is returned.

This may sound similar to another common kind of bank fee, known as an overdraft fee. However, overdraft fees are only charged if a customer is part of the bank’s overdraft protection program. In those cases, the bank covers the transaction, and the customer is charged an overdraft fee as a result. Some banks are accused of using unfair overdraft policies designed to wring the most money they can out of customers, and the same can be true of return item fees.

In some cases, banks may use unfair practices to charge more than one return item fee for a single failed transaction. How is this possible? After the transaction fails to post and after charging one return item fee, a bank may attempt to process the transaction again, despite knowing that there are insufficient funds to do so. Thus, the bank is able to charge a second return item fee, making the customer pay double.

Return Item Fee Lawsuit

A class action lawsuit was filed in March of this year by an Oklahoma woman who alleges that Bank of America uses unfair return item fee practices, charging her and other customers far more than they should be.

The plaintiff, Lisa M., alleges that when a payment was rejected on her account on May 4, 2016, she was hit with a $35 returned item fee. The next day, she says Bank of America resubmitted the transaction, which was rejected again, charging Lisa yet another $35 return item fee. In short, Bank of America allegedly charged her twice for the same issue. Unfortunately, she claims this same problem occurred a couple of months later, when the bank resubmitted a failed transaction two days in a row and thus unfairly charged more than one return item fee.

According to Lisa’s class action lawsuit, Bank of America has the “contractual discretion to reject transfer attempts. There is absolutely no reason to attempt a transaction it knows will fail—except to maximize its fee revenue.”

Lisa filed her class action lawsuit on behalf of herself and all others in a similar situation who have been hit with an unfair return item fee because of these or similar practices.

Filing a Return Item Fee Lawsuit

If your bank charged you more than one return item fee for a single transaction by Bank of America or another bank, you may be able to file a lawsuit and pursue compensation.

The Return Item Fee Lawsuit is Case No. 3:18-cv-157, in the U.S. District Court for the Charlotte Division of the Western District of North Carolina.

Join a Free Returned Item Fee Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

If you were charged multiple returned item fees (also known as NSF fees or insufficient funds fees) on the same transaction by your bank, you may be entitled to compensation.

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