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Case ID: 4554 | Credit / Debt | 11/29/2005
Hundreds of thousands of former BankBoston customers have yet to claim $25 payments they are entitled to under a $12.5 million class-action settlement with Bank of America.
Court documents indicate only about 58,000 account holders have filed claims so far, or less than 10 percent of the total. The precise size of the class is unknown, but it is estimated to be 584,000 to 1 million account holders. If the number of people filing claims stays at the current level, it would be a bonanza for three nonprofit groups -- City Year National, Greater Boston Legal Services, and the National Consumer Law Center. Under the terms of the settlement, the $12.5 million would be split between former BankBoston customers, the attorneys who brought the suit, and the three nonprofits. As it stands now, the former BankBoston customers who have filed claims would receive a total of $1.5 million. The plaintiff attorneys are seeking court approval to recover more than $3 million for costs and fees. The balance of the funds, about $8 million if claims remain at the current level, would be split among the nonprofits. The lawsuit, settled earlier this year, alleged that former BankBoston customers in 68 Eastern Massachusetts communities were notified too late by Fleet Financial Corp. about merger-related changes to their accounts involving fees and minimum balance requirements. Fleet agreed to the settlement after an appeals court cleared the way for a court case against the bank. Bank of America was forced to pick up the settlement cost after it acquired Fleet last year. Neither Fleet nor Bank of America admitted any wrongdoing in agreeing to the settlement. Anyone who had a BankBoston checking, savings, money market, or NOW account at one of the bank's branches in the 68 communities in 2000 would be eligible to file a claim. People who filed claims are entitled to $25 for each account. Attorneys involved with the case declined comment, but one of the lawyers is quoted in court documents as saying that a claim rate of 5 to 10 percent is fairly typical in cases where the misconduct occurred five years ago and the claimants are difficult to crack down. Bank of America sent claim forms to close to 1 million current account holders who hold the type of accounts covered by the settlement, but any customers who went to another bank after Fleet acquired BankBoston would not have received the forms. Notice of the settlement was also published in a variety of Massachusetts newspapers. At Lawcash.com, it is our goal to keep you informed about important legal cases, class actions and settlements. Our lawyers offer free legal evaluations in tort cases, class actions, personal injury, and other lawsuits because we are dedicated to helping you resolve your legal complaints. Other Credit / Debt Cases of Interest A class-action suit was filed in the U.S. District Court of Arizona alleging that CareMark Rx, Inc. intentionally concealed revenue in order to avoid paying certain commissions owed to consultants who marketed and sold its services. An anti-trust class-action lawsuit has been filed against Visa, Mastercard and several major U.S. banks on behalf of merchants, alleging the fixing of credit card fees. In addition to the multiple companies suing Visa and Mastercard over excessive processing fees, two more retail groups announced that they have filed class action suits against Visa USA, MasterCard Inc. and a number of major banks over the fees they charge for processing credit card transactions.
The latest cases, filed in the U.S. Court for the Eastern District of New York, were brought by the American Booksellers Association and the National Grocers Association and several of its members, including Affiliated Foods Midwest, Coborn's Inc., D'Agostino's Supermarkets and the Minnesota Grocers Association.
A national class action has been filed against New York City's Interfaith Medical Center on behalf of all consumers who have received, since November 6, 2002, a collection letter from either South Side Collection, Inc. or National Revenue, Ltd in an attempt to collect a debt for Interfaith. The consumers allege that these letters are actually generated by Interfaith itself and therefore violate the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Consumers are seeking actual damages, statutory damages, and injunctive and declaratory relief.
If a telemarketer asks you for money up front, you should question the wisdom of paying. The Federal Trade Commission has reached a $3.9 million settlement with the Electronic Financial Group, Inc. on behalf of consumers who were taken advantage of by the defendants in advance-fee debit card marketing scams. Persons eligible to take part in the settlement should contact the FTC for more information. Buying a home is a momentous (and stressful) process under the best of circumstances. It can be a nightmare when closing costs and settlement fees push the price of home ownership even higher. A class action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of home buyers against mortgage lender HSBC Mortgage Corp. The suit alleges that HSBC charged home purchasers settlement fees that were not fully earned or were marked up past their real value in violation of federal lending laws. The plaintiffs seek financial and other damages from HSBC.
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