Debit Card Overdraft Class Action Lawsuit

New York - New Jersey

Trief & Olk is currently participating in class action litigation against most major national banks for improperly debiting consumer accounts by charging excessive overdraft fees.

News stories in major publications have reported on this practice and it has been scrutinized by consumer groups and been the subject of governmental action.

New York Times: November 13, 2009
USA Today: September 09, 2009
Wall Street Journal: November 17, 2009
Federal Reserve System Press Release: November 12, 2009
Center for Responsible Lending Report: October 06, 2009

Instead of assessing charges made with a debit card in chronological order, the banks have re-ordered them to post the largest transaction first in order to incur the greatest number of overcharges.

As a result of this practice, the banks have unfairly collected billions of dollars from their customers in overdraft fees.

Here’s how it works: assume a bank customer has a checking account with a $100 balance and in chronological order makes four purchases of $10, $25, $35, and $101. If the charges are assessed to the account in this order, one overdraft fee would result.

However, by debiting the charges from largest to smallest, four overdraft fees are charged.

In this class action, Trief & Olk is part of a team that is seeking to recover these unfair and deceptive charges for consumers.

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