Abraham Jewett  |  January 11, 2022

Category: Fees

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PNC Bank Branch.
(Photo Credit: Jonathan Weiss/Shutterstock)

PNC Bank Gap Fees Class Action Lawsuit Overview: 

  • Who: Vincent I. Ratulowski filed a class action lawsuit against PNC Bank, N.A.
  • Why: Ratulowski claims PNC keeps unearned Guaranteed Automobile Protection fees after a customer has paid off their financial agreement early.
  • Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in Indiana federal court.

PNC Bank knowingly collects millions of dollars in fees each year that it has not earned from customers’ who sign finance agreements with Guaranteed Automobile Protection (GAP) addendums and pay them off early, a new class action lawsuit alleges.

Plaintiff Vincent I. Ratulowski claims PNC includes fees in the payoff amount that it knows are not — and cannot be — earned when a customer pays off their auto dealer retail installment sales contracts early. 

PNC then refuses to reimburse consumers for the unearned GAP fees even though the company is “contractually and legally obligated to do so,” according to the class action lawsuit.

“PNC routinely collects and keeps tens of millions of dollars of unearned money each year that rightfully belongs to its customers and should be refunded to them after their early payoff,” the class action lawsuit states. 

Ratulowski claims he entered into a financial agreement with a GAP addendum in 2015 that was sold to PNC. 

PNC, he argues, will inform a customer of a total payoff amount without including unearned finance charges, but instead with unearned GAP fees. 

“At the time of the early payoff, PNC charges customers for GAP coverage through the original end date of the finance agreement, even though the contracts are being paid off early,” the class action lawsuit states. 

Plaintiff Claims PNC Keeps Fees Unless Customer ‘Affirmatively Requests Refund’

Ratulowski claims that PNC, instead of refunding the unearned GAP fees, will instead keep them for themselves unless the customer “affirmatively requests a refund.” 

Ratulowski claims PNC is guilty of breach of contract. He is demanding a jury trial and requesting declaratory and injunctive relief, along with actual damages, restitution and disgorgement of unearned GAP fees for himself and all class members. 

Ratulowski wants to represent a class of individuals in automatic refund states who entered into and paid off early finance agreements with GAP addendums that were assigned to PNC without receiving a credit or refund for unearned GAP fees. 

Included in the proposed class are eligible residents from Alabama, Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oregon, Texas, Vermont, Wisconsin and Wyoming. 

PNC was able to get a separate class action lawsuit dismissed last month that unsuccessfully claimed the bank had aided and abetted an alleged Ponzi scheme

Did PNC Bank fail to refund you your unearned GAP fees after you paid off your auto financial agreement early? Let us know in the comments! 

The plaintiff is represented by Robert W. Rock and Franklin D. Azar of Franklin D. Azar & Associates, P.C.; Jason M. Frank, Andrew D. Stolper and Scott H. Sims of Frank Sims & Stolper LLP; and Robert A. Clifford and Shannon M. McNulty of Clifford Law Offices, P.C. 

The PNC Bank Gap Fees Class Action Lawsuit is Ratulowski v. PNC Bank, N.A., Case No. 2:22-cv-00004, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana.


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4 thoughts onPNC Class Action Claims Bank Keeps Unearned Guaranteed Automobile Protection Fees For Themselves

  1. Camachp says:

    OMG this happened to me in Indiana and I was totally unaware.

  2. Anita Adams says:

    Toyota in rutland vermont has 2000k of my money . they added it on my purshase agreement even though i told them i am already covered with GAP through my nationwide auto ins . They wont get rid of it or give it back or reduce my payment . I paying everybody twice

  3. Venancia Lozano says:

    KIA dealership in San Antonio TX did the same thing. Paid my loan early and when I spoke to them they stated I had used all my GAP coverage.

  4. Heather says:

    Add me

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