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Credit Unions Hit with Seven Overdraft Fraud Class Action Lawsuits
By Mike Holter
As more and more banks reach class action settlements in the massive overdraft fee litigation pending against 30 banks nationwide, seven credit unions were hit with their own overdraft fraud class action lawsuits last week.
Seven class action lawsuits were filed between June 21 and June 26 against SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union, Star One Credit Union, Kern Schools Federal Credit Union, Educational Employees Credit Union, Alliant Credit Union, Alabama Telco Credit Union and America’s First Federal Credit Union alleging the credit unions charged improper overdraft fees.
Plaintiffs accuse the credit unions of deceptive business practices that involve “the systematic manipulation and re-ordering of electronic debit transactions from the highest dollar amount to the lowest dollar amount … to maximize the amount of overdraft fees collected.”
The credit union overdraft class action lawsuits also accuse the credit unions of publishing inaccurate and unreliable account balance information online, by phone and by ATM; delaying posting transactions; charging exorbitant overdraft fees’ failing to disclose overdraft practices’ and engaging in deceptive advertising campaigns.
The charges are nearly identical to those made in the case In re: Checking Account Overdraft Litigation pending against dozens of banks nationwide. Several banks have reached class action settlements in the case, including Bank of America ($410 million), JPMorgan Chase Bank ($110 million), Citizens Bank ($137.5 million) and PNC Bank ($90 million).
The credit union overdraft fee class action lawsuits are seeking damages for consumers for alleged fraud, negligent misrepresentation, unjust enrichment, breach of fiduciary duty and violation of the Unfair Business Practices Act and Professions Code. Conferences on the cases are scheduled for late August and early September if the parties fail to reach an early class action settlement.
Updated July 4th, 2012
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12 thoughts onCredit Unions Hit with Seven Overdraft Fraud Class Action Lawsuits
First Florida Credit union is also guilty of this crap. I have overdrafted almost every 2 weeks when i get my pay. i keep a register, and its funny that it was off by $20+ when comparing to online. i have had pending transactions show up dissapear then show back up and then get charged an overdraft fee when i have more than enough money to cover a charge. This causes everything else to bounce and they charge more fees. i have checks that should have cleared already, a week later and they still havent cleared. i would sue them but i have no job and any way to do it. so i would like them to be added to this suit.
Advia credit union does the same thing. Once a purchase is in pending your balance shows correctly. Then when it come out of pending it should come out of your account balance yet it gets added back to the account balance and taken out at a later date.