NSF Fee Class Action Will Continue Against City National Bank, Judge Decides

A judge denied City National Bank of West Virginia’s attempt to dismiss a class action lawsuit claiming that the bank wrongly charges more than one “non-sufficient funds” fee on one transaction. 

According to U.S. District Judge Robert C. Chambers, the customer who filed the NSF fee class action lawsuit was not necessarily barred from filing a lawsuit because she had signed an arbitration agreement, as the bank had claimed.

What Does the Class Action Allege City National Bank Did Wrong?

The West Virginia bank class action lawsuit was filed by customer Brenda Noe, who had argued that the bank wrongly charges customers multiple NSF fees on the same transaction. Noe had said that the website, as well as the account agreements provided to customers, stated that the bank would charge customers only one NSF fee each time a customer bought something that was beyond their account balance.

However, Noe argued that the bank really charges multiple fees on one transaction that is declined. Allegedly, the bank does this by trying to run the charge multiple times, and charging the customer a fee each time the charge is run and there is still not a sufficient amount in the bank account to cover the cost.

Noe says that this practice hurts her and other customers — she said that she was charged $180 in NSF fees for just one purchase, because the bank tried to process the charge repeatedly. She also argued that the City National Bank of West Virginia’s actions constituted a breach of contract and deceptive business practices. Additionally she claimed that the bank had been unjustly enriched by this practice. 

Fighting back against these claims, the bank had argued that Noe should not be able to file a lawsuit over the issue at all. The bank had argued that when Noe opened account in 2012, the account contract had included language requiring her to settle issues with the bank in arbitration, rather than taking them to court.

Judge Chambers was not persuaded by this argument, noting that the bank had changed the terms of Noe’s account in 2017. The judge stated that Noe received a notice from the bank saying that as of the changes, the account would “be governed by the following terms and conditions.” The judge says that because there was not an arbitration clause in these new terms provided to Noe, she is not bound by an arbitration clause, and can therefore file a lawsuit.

The judge went on to say that while the bank was welcome to provide evidence to argue in court that Noe was indeed still governed by a non-disclosure agreement, their argument to that effect was not grounds for dismissal.

Judge Chambers also rejected the bank’s arguments that Noe’s claims made under state law were preempted by federal law, saying that Noe had sufficiently established that her claims are indeed not preempted by federal law.

What Other Fees Do Banks Use to Raise Profits?

Unfortunately, NSF fees are just one way in which banks make money off of customers who do not have much in their accounts — you may also incur an overdraft fee, a fee charged when you do not have enough money in your account, but the bank lets the transaction go through. Banks make large amounts of money on fees each year, and may try to wrongly charge fees to maximize their profits, as Noe and many other customers have claimed.

According to Responsible Lending, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation reported that banks with more than $1 billion in assets made over $11.45 billion from charging non-sufficient fund fees and overdraft fees in 2017 alone.

The City National Bank of West Virginia NSF Fees Class Action Lawsuit is Noe v. City National Bank of West Virginia, Case No. 3:19-cv-00690, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia.

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:

• Bancfirst
• Bell Bank
• Busey Bank
• Center Bank
• CenterState Bank
• Flagstar Bank
• Glacier Bank Wings Federal Credit Union
• Hudson Valley Credit Union
• Midwest One
• NBT Bank

Learn More