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(WFAA) Obvious Bank of America loses $410 million overdraft class action lawsuit. After attorneys' fees, the average customer can expect a $27 check. In other news, BofA announces $30 "Overdraft Award Fee"   (wfaa.com) divider line 32
More: Obvious, Bank of America, overdrafts, class-action, JPMorgan Chase & Co., named plaintiff  
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1355 clicks; posted to Business » on 07 Nov 2011 at 11:39 PM   |  Favorite    |   share:  Share on Twitter share via Email Share on Facebook   more»   |    Get this fabulous T-Shirt and impress the methane out of your friends! shirt it!



32 Comments   (+0 »)
   
 
ZAZ [TotalFark]
2011-11-07 06:04:29 PM
One of the predecessors to Bank of America did more or less what the Fark headline says. The bank and class action lawyers made a deal where attorney's fees would be deducted from customers' accounts. Because the bank wasn't liable it didn't contest a fee that was greater than the benefit to class members. Some customers ended up losing money for winning the suit. This case was one that led to the "Class Action Fairness Act." It's not about protecting companies from consumers, it's about protecting both sides from lawyers. (link)
 
2011-11-07 06:58:42 PM
Lawyers are c*nts.
 
2011-11-07 07:04:33 PM
Cubansaltyballs: Lawyers are c*nts.

Yeah, they should work for free, like doctors and plumbers.
 
2011-11-07 07:42:53 PM
kronicfeld: Cubansaltyballs: Lawyers are c*nts.

Yeah, they should work for free, like doctors and plumbers.


No. They just shouldn't be c*nts.
 
2011-11-07 09:21:59 PM
whut he gonna do?
he gonna focus.
BofA us?
 
2011-11-07 11:50:07 PM
What Cubansaltyballs said.
 
2011-11-07 11:55:32 PM
Sweet, I'll take a $27 check.
 
2011-11-08 12:11:37 AM
Even with that $27, I bet you'd still be ahead if you'd signed up for a credit union. Those BofA fees and insanely low savings rates don't work in your favor.
 
2011-11-08 12:34:58 AM
kronicfeld: Cubansaltyballs: Lawyers are c*nts.

Yeah, they should work for free, like doctors and plumbers.


At least doctors and plumbers provide a useful service.

/lawyers = glorified Librarians.

//no offense to the Librarians out there.
 
2011-11-08 12:42:35 AM
Still waiting on my paltry settlement money of the foreign transactions exchange rate on credit card purchases. Probably arrive a week after my demise
 
2011-11-08 12:47:26 AM
One of the few times I've felt ashamed of my work was implementing the "courtesy overdraft" system at the bank where I worked.
 
2011-11-08 01:15:46 AM
BoA is a terrible place. That is all.
 
2011-11-08 01:22:03 AM
Average fee:$35
Average settlement:$27

Estimated gross for BofA: $4.5b
Amount of settlement: $410

Yeah, that sounds fair.
 
2011-11-08 02:32:07 AM
Snapper Carr: Average fee:$35
Average settlement:$27


Keep in mind the $35 fee was for -each- overdraft. They had a lot of programming cleverness to make sure that people were charged the maximum number of overdrafts by conveniently 'rearranging' the order on which their charges were processed so that the more expensive charges were processed first.

I encountered it very early in my college career when I was walking the $10 in checking balance line. It cost me something like $90 dollars to buy a lunch and a couple snacks in one day. Because the last charge pulled me into overdraft. Hard lesson learned early and luckily in a place where I could benefit from it. It's good that they should be paying awards, but it will never cover the pain and stress that I'm sure they caused low income families who got caught in their trap.

Why can't they just reject charges if you go over your balance? I'd much rather have my payment rejected then get charged 300% extra for it.
 
2011-11-08 03:13:28 AM
And they'll still post profits even after this and the rest. 'BUT we need more fees!'
 
2011-11-08 04:51:04 AM
Well, it's a settlement. The whole point of a settlement is that it's more than what they'd have to pay if they won (nothing) and less than what they'd potentially have to pay if they lost.

It's about 10% of the average fees accumulated by class action members, which isn't horrible.
 
2011-11-08 04:55:29 AM
SusanCreature: Snapper Carr: Average fee:$35
Average settlement:$27

Keep in mind the $35 fee was for -each- overdraft. They had a lot of programming cleverness to make sure that people were charged the maximum number of overdrafts by conveniently 'rearranging' the order on which their charges were processed so that the more expensive charges were processed first.

I encountered it very early in my college career when I was walking the $10 in checking balance line. It cost me something like $90 dollars to buy a lunch and a couple snacks in one day. Because the last charge pulled me into overdraft. Hard lesson learned early and luckily in a place where I could benefit from it. It's good that they should be paying awards, but it will never cover the pain and stress that I'm sure they caused low income families who got caught in their trap.

Why can't they just reject charges if you go over your balance? I'd much rather have my payment rejected then get charged 300% extra for it.


Because banks are not your friend and want your money.
 
2011-11-08 06:38:34 AM
Sanic123: SusanCreature: Snapper Carr: Average fee:$35
Average settlement:$27

Keep in mind the $35 fee was for -each- overdraft. They had a lot of programming cleverness to make sure that people were charged the maximum number of overdrafts by conveniently 'rearranging' the order on which their charges were processed so that the more expensive charges were processed first.

I encountered it very early in my college career when I was walking the $10 in checking balance line. It cost me something like $90 dollars to buy a lunch and a couple snacks in one day. Because the last charge pulled me into overdraft. Hard lesson learned early and luckily in a place where I could benefit from it. It's good that they should be paying awards, but it will never cover the pain and stress that I'm sure they caused low income families who got caught in their trap.

Why can't they just reject charges if you go over your balance? I'd much rather have my payment rejected then get charged 300% extra for it.

Because banks are not your friend and want your money.


Because some times they don't get the credit info of the transaction immediately for whatever made up reason. Yes I know the swipe should verify and go through right away, that is just the BS reason they gave me.

I've noticed that they don't pull that shiat when I have more than 400 dollars in my account. When it was low, I might not see a swipe appear for 2-4 days; now it shows up same day.
 
2011-11-08 06:39:58 AM
Cubansaltyballs: Lawyers are c*nts.
 
2011-11-08 07:24:57 AM
At least it is better than the Costco gas pump settlement. Apparently they were missing a temperature adjustment thing on their pumps causing some people to be shortchanged on gas by a minuscule amount.

Lawyers: 6 figure payout. Class: nada.
 
2011-11-08 07:56:40 AM
I Am The Egg Matt Drudge Smears Upon His Body: kronicfeld: Cubansaltyballs: Lawyers are c*nts.

Yeah, they should work for free, like doctors and plumbers.

At least doctors and plumbers provide a useful service.

/lawyers = glorified Librarians.

//no offense to the Librarians out there.


Only Librarians of Evil, Darth
 
2011-11-08 08:22:01 AM
zerkalo: Still waiting on my paltry settlement money of the foreign transactions exchange rate on credit card purchases. Probably arrive a week after my demise

Me too. I thought of it when I read the headline. I'd almost forgotten about it.
 
2011-11-08 08:29:00 AM
shanrick: whut he gonna do?
he gonna focus.
BofA us?


My 87-year-old grandmother told my mother that joke. Realized after she died what a cracker she was.
 
2011-11-08 09:09:42 AM
I had an overdraft problem with these farks once.

I ended up getting over $400 in overdraft fees. So I picked up the phone and biatched.

They refunded the money, and all was square. These asshats should have just picked up the phone.
 
2011-11-08 09:35:47 AM
SusanCreature: Why can't they just reject charges if you go over your balance? I'd much rather have my payment rejected then get charged 300% extra for it.

Actually due to the changes in the law, you now have to opt in to be allowed to overdraft on your debit card.

Apparently the theory was that you would rather pay the overdraft fee than be embarassed by having your card declined.
 
2011-11-08 09:57:11 AM
SusanCreature: Keep in mind the $35 fee was for -each- overdraft. They had a lot of programming cleverness to make sure that people were charged the maximum number of overdrafts by conveniently 'rearranging' the order on which their charges were processed so that the more expensive charges were processed first.

And how is this different from any other bank in the country?
 
2011-11-08 11:30:34 AM
SusanCreature: Snapper Carr: Average fee:$35
Average settlement:$27

Keep in mind the $35 fee was for -each- overdraft. They had a lot of programming cleverness to make sure that people were charged the maximum number of overdrafts by conveniently 'rearranging' the order on which their charges were processed so that the more expensive charges were processed first.

Why can't they just reject charges if you go over your balance? I'd much rather have my payment rejected then get charged 300% extra for it.


When I worked at Barnett Bank (Florida) before it became NationsBank and then BofA, they had a similar policy. The idea behind it was that the larger debits/checks were for 'important' things like rent, mortgages, utilities, etc., and therefore should be paid first.
 
2011-11-08 12:09:15 PM
Galileo's Daughter: When I worked at Barnett Bank (Florida) before it became NationsBank and then BofA, they had a similar policy. The idea behind it was that the larger debits/checks were for 'important' things like rent, mortgages, utilities, etc., and therefore should be paid first.

Yeah, just like you should put your 401k in the LifeCycle funds offered.

It has nothing to do with the much higher fees or that it's just an index fund and likely won't return sh*t.... it's better for YOU.
 
2011-11-08 12:54:20 PM
Galileo's Daughter: SusanCreature: Snapper Carr: Average fee:$35
Average settlement:$27

Keep in mind the $35 fee was for -each- overdraft. They had a lot of programming cleverness to make sure that people were charged the maximum number of overdrafts by conveniently 'rearranging' the order on which their charges were processed so that the more expensive charges were processed first.

Why can't they just reject charges if you go over your balance? I'd much rather have my payment rejected then get charged 300% extra for it.

When I worked at Barnett Bank (Florida) before it became NationsBank and then BofA, they had a similar policy. The idea behind it was that the larger debits/checks were for 'important' things like rent, mortgages, utilities, etc., and therefore should be paid first.



Why would it matter what is paid first if they let all the transactions go through anyway? If they want to use that excuse they should be declining transactions and thus not charging more than one overdraft fee.
 
2011-11-08 03:41:05 PM
Banks wouldn't have to act like this if it weren't for regulations. Eliminate any laws restricting their behavior, then legislate away the ability to sue them for it, and the free market will solve this problem.

/I'm pretty sure people actually believe this.
 
2011-11-08 06:31:14 PM
All the more reason to switch to these guys (new window), whenever they launch...
 
ZAZ [TotalFark]
2011-11-09 07:01:39 AM
Why can't they just reject charges if you go over your balance?

The law changed last year to cut back on abusive overdraft charges. The change in law is one reason banks are looking for new fees.
 
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