Personal Injury Law

Bank Overdraft Fees?Consumers Fighting Back

By William Eadie

Most people have been charged a bank fee at some point or other, and when it comes to a bank overdraft fee, you can get sticker shock at the $30-40 per overdraft. Add multiple overdraft charges and the bill skyrockets. To add insult to injury, some banks intentionally re-order your drafts—whether checks or debit charges—so that the largest items come out first. Guess what? You're now facing multiple overdrafts based on charges for which that you might have had the funds.

Another practice that we've seen involves charging overdraft fees in situations where the bank customer has not actually overdrawn their checking account, charging overdraft fees in situations where the bank, in fact, did not pay out funds in excess of the customer's checking account balance, and failing to provide accurate account balance information on the bank's website, or at the point of sale.

Consumers are fighting back. A California court recently ordered Wells Fargo to pay $203 million for unfair charges, and there is litigation pending in Florida. My firm—Ohio's Spangenberg Shibley & Liber—is investigating unfair and deceptive overdraft practices in Ohio's banks. Ohio overdraft victims should contact us to learn more about becoming involved, in a free consultation. We would like to hear from you if you have been charged multiple overdraft fees by:

• First Merit Bank
• First Financial Bank
• Park National Bank
• First Place Bank

Not an Ohioan? Some simple sleuthing should uncover potential lawsuits in your state. Have you had overdraft fees? Do you think they are unfair, or just part of normal business? Share your story in the comments section below!

Full post as published by Cleveland Personal Injury Lawyer on September 30, 2010 (boomark / email).