According to a recent lawsuit filed against Hanscom Federal Credit Union by two members, the credit union may be charging account holders inappropriate NSF and overdraft fees.
About the Hanscom Federal Credit Union Multiple Charges Lawsuit
Plaintiffs Lindsey N. and Andrea P. filed their lawsuit against Hanscom Federal Credit Union in August 2020 after they were assessed what they claim are inappropriate fees. Hanscom Federal Credit Union is a credit union serving more than 91,000 members with assets of around $1.5 billion. The credit union is based out of Massachusetts and operates more than 20 branches within the state. According to the plaintiffs, the credit union may be routinely violating its own policies by charging members overdraft and non sufficient funds fees, even when there is an adequate level of funds in members’ accounts. Additionally, the plaintiffs claim that the credit union also habitually assesses multiple charges for a single overdrafted transaction. In addition to these fees breaching the credit union’s own contract with members, they may also be in violation of federal laws.
According to Andrea, she was assessed a $30 NSF fee on April 2, 2018 when an attempted payment to the insurer Geico was declined. However, Andrea claims that after this initial fee was assessed, she was assessed a second $30 NSF on April 5 when the credit union attempted to re-process the transaction.
Customers at many banks and credit unions have reported this practice, and claim that these multiple charges are routinely assessed even when the transactions are re-processed and declined for a second time without the authorization or knowledge of the account holder. In some cases, customers have reported being unaware that these fees were charged until they reviewed their bank statements.
Due to the high profits that banks and credit unions may be able to bring in by assessing inappropriate overdraft and NSF fees, the plaintiffs claim that Hanscom Federal Credit Union may be incentivized to continue assessing these fees. In 2019, the biggest banks and credit unions in the U.S. brought in almost $12 billion in NSF and overdraft fees. The estimate only includes financial institutions with at least $1 billion in assets, meaning that the total profits brought in by these fees may be much higher.
Credit Union May Have Charged Fees When Accounts Weren’t Overdrafted
In addition to the plaintiffs’ claims of multiple charges for NSFs or overdrafts, they also claim that the credit union may assess these fees even when an account has not actually overdrafted. According to Andrea and Lindsey, this may occur due to the way that the credit union processes debit card purchases. They claim in their lawsuit that when a member makes a purchase, the amount is immediately deducted from their account. However, this transaction may not be processed until days later. At this point, they claim that the credit union compares the cost of the transaction against the amount of money in a member’s account, even though the cost of the purchase has already been deducted. If the cost is higher than the amount in the account, they claim that the credit union assesses an overdraft fee, even though the cost of the transaction has been inaccessible to the account holder since they made the purchase. This procedure for processing transactions may make it more likely for customers to be assessed NSF and overdraft fees even when they have not actually overdrafted their account.
If you have been assessed multiple charges by your bank or have been charged an overdraft fee despite not overdrafting your account, you may be eligible to speak with an experienced attorney about your legal options. Some victims of inappropriate NSF fees may be able to file a class action lawsuit and pursue compensation and reimbursement for these fees.
Lindsey and Andrea’s Hansom Credit Union Lawsuit is Case No: 1:20-cv-11627, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
Join a Free NSF Fee Class Action Lawsuit Investigation
You may qualify to join this NSF fee class action lawsuit investigation if you were unfairly charged NSF fees by one of these banks:
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