how to fight overdraft fees with a lawyer

by Hollie Feeney 10 min read

If they were, you can sue your bank to recover the overdraft fees you paid. Banks often disguise fees, which can confuse the customer and increase the bank’s revenue. Our lawyers can help you examine your fees and determine whether or not you were unnecessarily charged.

Full Answer

Are there any lawsuits for excessive bank overdraft fees?

Oct 04, 2018 · Join a Free Bank Overdraft Fee Class Action Lawsuit Investigation If your bank and credit union has engaged in deceptive overdraft fee practices, you may have a legal claim. Fill out the form on this page now to find out if you qualify! An attorney will contact you if you qualify to discuss the details of your potential case.

What do I do if I'm charged an overdraft fee?

If your bank or credit union charged you excessive fees for insufficient funds, you should contact our lawyers immediately for a free case consultation. Please use the form below to contact our Class Action Litigation Group or call toll free 24 hours a day at (866) 920-0753.

Can a bank force you to have overdraft protection?

Opt Out. Avoiding overdraft fees is as easy as opting out of the service provided by your bank. While many people don’t even remember signing an overdraft agreement in the first place, turning off the service is as easy as making a phone call or visiting your bank.

How much did you pay for overdraft fees due to bounces?

Select the merchant you want to appeal fees for and enter the details of your transaction, including an associated account if you have one. Submit your case! DoNotPay will generate the best argument for your case and make sure your fee waiver request gets sent to the merchant for processing. And that's it!

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Can you get overdraft fees waived?

Make Your Request Let the bank know that you'd like to have the overdraft fee waived. You can say something like, "I noticed I was charged an overdraft fee on [date] and I'd like to have it removed." It may help to give the bank some background on what led to the overdraft.

Can I argue an overdraft fee?

Additionally, if the overdraft is the result of your bank's slow processing or another issue, then point this out, too. The argument works best if you are a loyal customer, and you have been with the bank for a while. Banks make more money off of you being an account holder than by charging you random fees.

How can I overturn my overdraft fees?

Yes, it's possible to get your bank to refund overdraft fees. It's often as simple as contacting your bank and asking them to refund the fees, though it likely helps to have a good relationship with the bank, such as making your payments on time and rarely having overdraft fees.Sep 9, 2021

How do I reverse overdraft fees Bank of America?

How to Get the Bank of America Overdraft Fee Refund on Your OwnContact the bank on the phone.Request a refund in person.Write a letter to the bank.Send the bank an email.

Introduction

You’ve had a great month. You went to your friend’s wedding. You remembered your mom’s birthday and bought her flowers. You paid your rent. And after all that, you put away $100 in your savings account. You notice that your checking account is a little low — ok, really low. There’s $7 left. But you get paid in two days, so no problem. Phew.

History

Overdraft fees made sense a long time ago. Let’s say you had to write a check for $600 in rent, but you didn’t have the money. Your friendly local banker would front you the $600 by not “bouncing” the check. In exchange, your banker would charge you a relatively small fee for the service.

Why Now?

Overdraft fees are starting to attract attention from regulators like the CFPB, which has an ongoing investigation.

Dispute Overdraft Fees With Trim!

Trim is an AI-powered financial assistant. We find ways to save you money and then actually do them for you – like canceling your old subscriptions. Recently we’ve started contesting overdraft fees on behalf of our users.

What banks have sued for overdraft fees?

Excessive bank overdraft fees lawsuits have been filed and/or settled against a variety of banks, including Wells Fargo, Bank of America, M&T Bank, HSBC, UMB Bank and Wachovia. The lawsuits allege that banks charge excessive overdraft fees when customers' accounts go into overdraft. They further allege that the banks use a number of unethical practices to push their accounts into overdraft, such as misrepresenting customers' account balances and reordering debits and credits to accounts.

What is the tactic banks are accused of using to increase their profits from overdraft fees?

Reordering Transactions. One tactic that banks are accused of using to increase their profits from overdraft fees is reordering transactions on accounts. That means that regardless of what order transactions occurred in on a single day, some banks process the largest transactions first.

What is irregular deposit?

Irregular Deposits. Another complaint is that banks have been irregularly posting debits and deposits on customers' accounts. For example, banks are required by law to make a check deposit available to a customer within a certain number of days. However, they can choose to make the deposits available sooner.

How do banks push customers into overdraft?

Another practice that banks are alleged to have used to push customers into overdraft is authorization holds . Authorization holds occur between the time a bank card purchase is made and the time the merchant settles the transaction. Prior to the merchant settling the transaction, the amount of the purchase is held, but it has not actually been withdrawn from the buyer's account yet. Once the merchant settles the account, which can occur a few days after the purchase is made, the funds are transferred to the merchant and the customer no longer has the money in his account.

Who filed a lawsuit against the Credit Union of New Jersey?

Camden, NJ Laronda Hickmond filed a bank overdraft fees lawsuit against Credit Union of New Jersey in New Jersey District Court on March 17. Hickmond v. Credit Union of New Jersey alleges that the credit union repeatedly charged Ms. Hickmond $30 overdraft fees even though, according to the monthly account statements prepared by the credit union, her account balance never dropped into the negative. She seeks class action status for the lawsuit on behalf of herself and all similarly situated accountholders.

Do credit unions have overdraft fees?

Credit unions, which are not-for-profit organizations run cooperatively by members, operate differently than banks but may still face similar legal issues as banks such as lawsuits claiming excessive overdraft fees. According to the Credit Union Times, a wave of overdraft lawsuits has struck credit unions across the country.

Does TD Bank charge overdraft fees?

Consumer protection attorneys are investigating claims that TD Bank charges excessive overdraft fees through a trick called ordering. Anyone with a TD Bank checking account who has been charged multiple overdraft fees on the same day may have been charged these fees improperly and may have claims against TD Bank.

How to get overdraft fees refunded?

There are four basic steps to get your overdraft fees (and any other bank fee) refunded quickly: 1. Summarize the fees - Count up all of the overdraft fees and other bank fees you've been charged that you can find on your statements . You will need to have this information for your negotiation with the agent. It is important to get the type of fee, ...

What if an agent refuses to refund my fees?

If you have extenuating circumstances or other reasons besides customer loyalty , you can also use those in the negotiation. If all else fails, escalate to a supervisor to see if they can help or you can also try again in a week or so as it a lot of times it just comes down to speaking with the right agent.

How many times can you withdraw from a savings account?

If you're linking a savings account, withdrawing from the account more than six times a month typically results in an excess activity fee, regardless of whether that withdrawal was for a overdraft or a transfer. While this may sound ideal, overdraft protection comes with its own caveats.

What is low balance alert?

Low balance bank alerts are extremely helpful when it comes to avoiding overdraft fees. You can often set the threshold yourself so that you won’t be alerted needlessly, whether that means setting the bar at a couple thousand dollars or ten dollars.

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Introduction

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You’ve had a great month. You went to your friend’s wedding. You remembered your mom’s birthday and bought her flowers. You paid your rent. And after all that, you put away $100 in your savings account. You notice that your checking account is a little low — ok, really low. There’s $7 left. But you get paid in two days, so no p…
See more on asktrim.com

History

  • Overdraft fees made sense a long time ago. Let’s say you had to write a check for $600 in rent, but you didn’t have the money. Your friendly local banker would front you the $600 by not “bouncing” the check. In exchange, your banker would charge you a relatively small fee for the service. Effectively, this is a payday loan from your bank. Banks knew they could provide an ultra-short-te…
See more on asktrim.com

Why Now?

  • Overdraft fees are starting to attract attention from regulators like the CFPB, which has an ongoing investigation. Especially after the Wells Fargo scam — in which bank employees created millions of unauthorized, fee-charging accounts that their customers didn’t know about— consumers and regulators are increasingly aware that big retail banks might not be acting in the …
See more on asktrim.com

Dispute Overdraft Fees with Trim!

  • Trim is an AI-powered financial assistant. We find ways to save you money and then actually do them for you – like canceling your old subscriptions. Recently we’ve started contesting overdraft fees on behalf of our users. If you’re a Trim user, and you get hit with an overdraft fee, we send you a text with an alert. You can reply to that text with the word “refund,” and we’ll send a templa…
See more on asktrim.com

Takeaways

  1. Banks make $23 billion from scammy overdraft fees per year. That’s more than the cost of subprime auto loans and nearly three times as much as payday loans.
  2. The typical overdraft fee is $35. According to Trim data, nearly one-third of fees are incurred by transactions that are less than the amount of the fee itself.
  3. Trim is helping consumers to fight overdraft fees by automatically sending an appeal to your …
  1. Banks make $23 billion from scammy overdraft fees per year. That’s more than the cost of subprime auto loans and nearly three times as much as payday loans.
  2. The typical overdraft fee is $35. According to Trim data, nearly one-third of fees are incurred by transactions that are less than the amount of the fee itself.
  3. Trim is helping consumers to fight overdraft fees by automatically sending an appeal to your bank when you get hit with a fee. We’ve had a 30% success rate so far.