Citibank has agreed to settle a class action lawsuit over its practice of raising credit card interest rates without properly notifying card holders. If you had a Citibank credit card between May 5, 2002 and May 24, 2010 and your APR was raised due to a late payment or default, you may be able to claim $18 from the class action lawsuit settlement.

The Citibank Credit Card Class Action Lawsuit alleges Citibank raised interest rates for credit card holders who defaulted on their credit line or were delinquent on their payments without giving proper notice.  Retroactively increasing interest rates on credit cards is in direct violation of California’s Consumers Legal Remedies Act and Unfair Competition Law, according to the lawsuit.

Citibank isn’t the only credit card company who has raised interest rates on card members who are late on their payments. Credit card holders have seen their APRs increase by 25% - 100% or more, depending on their credit card agreement, for something as simple as three days late on a payment. That was before the new credit card law went into effect August 2009, however. The Credit CARD Act of 2009 made it illegal for credit card companies to raise rates on existing balances unless the card holder is late by 60 days or more. It also made it illegal for credit card companies to raise rates at any time for any reason on new balances without at least 45 days’ advanced notice. Under the old law, which Citibank was operating under when the class action lawsuit was filed in 2006, companies only had to give cardholders a 15-day notice of rate increases.

Interestingly, several other similar lawsuits based on the same allegations as the Citibank Credit Card Class Action Lawsuit have been dismissed based, in part, on the fact that the plaintiffs’ credit card transaction took place prior to August 2009, when the revised credit card regulations went into effect.

If you had a Citibank credit card between May 5, 2002 and May 24, 2010 and your APR was raised due to a late payment or default that occurred before August 20, 2009, you can file a claim to receive money from the class action lawsuit settlement. All claim forms must be signed and postmarked by February 11, 2011. All requests to be excluded from the settlement must be received by November 8, 2010. The final fairness hearing will be held December 13, 2010.

For more information on how to file a claim, see our Open Settlement Section.