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I wrote a check for $160 and in error forgot to caluculate in another bill. The account had $111 in it the day the check was approved and cashed, causing me to recieve charged $351 worth of NSF fees. When I asked my bank about it they said I had to do a stop payment but that would not guarantee the fees to stop. I told the person who had the check it would bounce and to hold it. They agreed, however, my bank decided to process the check as a "courtsey". I've asked for this courtsey to not be, however, they claim that they cannot control the systems. I want to bring a class lawsuit agianst them, because I'm finding that alot of this is going on to prey on the poor. I think we should have an option to have our cards declined. Do I have a case?
HelloCustomerand welcome to JustAnswer.I'm not clear on how this single check resulted in $351 in NSF fees. Perhaps if you give me some additional details, that would help.However, the fact that you forgot to calculate in another bill, which resulted in your account being overdrawn when this check was presented does not make for a very good case against the bank.How would putting a stop payment on the single check cause "the fees to stop"?I think you are right that banks are taking advantage of people whose accounts are marginal. They are generating a huge profit out of NSF fees. Once again, however, if they charge a fee because the account is actually overdrawn, that does not make for a very good case.How does having your cards declined play into this situation? Did you have other NSF fees that resulted from using a debit card? If so, I don't see that making a very good case against the bank, either.Thanks for asking your question here on JustAnswer. If you have any other questions, please let me know.
The account was not overdrawn when the check posted. The check was $160 I had $111 in my account. I had pending transactions that posted after the check was cashed, which made for the pending transactions to come through and cause $351 to be charged. The bank first cashed my check rather than the smaller ones which would have only given me a returned check fee of $35. Does that help with me attempting to bring a class action lawsuit agianst them?
Hello againCustomerOkay, I see the specific point you are driving at now -- your primary complaint is about the order in which the debits are posted, such that they post the largest first in order to make a larger number of overdrafts by posting multiple, smaller amounts later and charging a fee for each.To the extent that smaller items would have cleared (which is your case, sounds like it might be all of them) if they were posted first, I think you may well have a good argument that the banks are taking advantage of their customers. You are not the first customer to be burned by this process -- nor the first to think of filing a class action lawsuit.See this webpage for an article about one such lawsuit that has already been filed against US Bank:http://www.hagens-berman.com/usbankBank of America recently agreed to pay $35 million to settle a similar lawsuit. It is mentioned in this USA Today article about the issue:http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/banking/2009-03-22-bank-overdraft-fees_N.htm?loc=interstitialskipAlso, see this website for an excellent discussion of the things you can do to try to get the bank to reverse the NSF fees:http://www.ehow.com/how_4679731_overdraft-fees-refunded.htmlIt would make any possible lawsuit stronger if you make serious efforts to get the bank to reverse the fees first.Thanks again for asking your question here on JustAnswer. If you have any other questions, please let me know.
Attorney
California lawyer 35 years, including criminal & business law, PI and general litigation.