Morris v Bank of America Settlement HOW much will I get

Bank of America, NA (BANA) is paying $75 million to settle a class action alleging that it improperly charged insufficient or non-sufficient funds fees (and/or overdraft fees) involving the timing of actions in several situations, including for Retry Transaction Fees, for Intrabank Transaction Fees, and for Fee Accrual Claim Fees. The complaint alleged the bank breached its customer agreements and violated state consumer protection laws.

3:18-cv-157-RJC-DSC

Company: Bank of America

Filing Deadline: January 1, 2100

Class Period: July 1, 2014 to July 29, 2021

Objection Deadline: November 11, 2021

Exclusion Deadline: November 11, 2021

Final Approval Hearing: January 18, 2022

You do not have to do anything to receive a payment.

You may be eligible if you belong to any of the three classes below. The class period for each is between July 1, 2014 and July 29, 2021.

- The Retry Transaction Fee Class is holders of a BANA consumer checking or savings account who, during the class period, paid and were not refunded a Retry Transaction Fee. The Retry Transaction Fees are non-sufficient funds (NSF) or overdraft (OD) fees charged on an automated clearinghouse (ACH) transaction from a consumer checking account that was resubmitted for payment to BANA by a merchant after the merchant’s first request for payment was rejected.
- The Intrabank Transaction Fee Class is all holders of a BANA consumer checking or savings account who, during the class period, paid and were not refunded one or more NSF or OD fees on an ACH payment from the checking account or another BANA account, such as a mortgage or credit card.
- The Fee Accrual Claim Fee Class is all holders of a BANA consumer checking or savings account who, during the class period, paid and were not refunded an NSF or OD fee on a consumer checking or savings account transaction that would not have been charged if BANA had delayed the posting of previously-assessed NSF or OD fees.

The net settlement fund will be divided among all settlement class members on a pro-rata basis. Current customers will receive their payment as a credit in their BANA accounts; former customers will receive a check from the Settlement Administrator.

MIAMI (AP) — A federal judge on Monday gave final approval to a $410 million settlement in a class-action lawsuit affecting more than 13 million Bank of America customers who had debit card overdrafts during the past decade.

Senior U.S. District Judge James Lawrence King said the agreement was fair and reasonable, even though it drew criticism from some customers because they would only receive a fraction of what they paid in overdraft fees. The fees were usually $35 per occurrence.

"It's really undisputed that this is one of the largest settlements ever in a consumer case," said Aaron Podhurst, a lead attorney for the customer class.

The settlement became final a week after Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America backed off a plan to charge a $5 monthly fee for debit-card purchases. The outcry prompted other major banks, including JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co., to cancel trial tests of their own debit card fees.

Bank attorney Laurence Hutt said 13.2 million Bank of America customers who had debit cards between January 2001 and May 2011 would get some payment. Those who still have accounts would get an automatic credit and the others would get a check mailed to them. No one would have to take any action or fill out any paperwork.

Barry Himmelstein, an attorney for customers who objected to the deal, said he calculated that the bank actually raked in $4.5 billion through the overdraft fees and was repaying less than 10 percent. He said the average customer in the case had $300 in overdraft fees, making them eligible for a $27 award — less than one overdraft charge — from the lawsuit.

"It's $4.5 billion that's gone missing from people's accounts," Himmelstein said.

Hutt said only 46 customers filed formal objections to the settlement and 350 decided to opt out, meaning they could take separate legal action on their own.

"It's very easy for people to say on the sidelines, 'I could do better,'" Hutt said. "Never is a settlement at 100 percent of what somebody thinks they can receive at trial. It's always a compromise."

Customers will receive a minimum of 9 percent of the fees they paid through the settlement, Hutt added. The bank has already paid the money into an escrow account.

The lawsuit claimed that Bank of America processed its debit card transactions in the order of highest to lowest dollar amount so it could maximize the overdraft fees customers paid. An overdraft occurs when the account doesn't have enough money in it to cover a debit card transaction. Similar lawsuits have been filed against more than 30 other banks.

Despite the settlement, Bank of America insists there was nothing improper about the processing sequence. New regulations enacted following the recent financial crisis prohibit banks from charging overdraft fees on debit cards without first getting customer permission.

Many of the objections concerned the fees for the team of class-action attorneys, which would amount to about $123 million. Lawyers for people opposed to the settlement said that amount should be cut down by at least $50 million, with the money going back to the wronged customers.

"The best use is to provide compensation to the class members," said Elliott Kula, who represents some of the objectors.

But King sided with the plaintiffs' attorneys, noting that they spent thousands of hours on the case and achieved "a superb result" for the customers.

"I don't see anything about this case that's simple or garden variety," the judge said.

Another complaint concerned missing records for customers from 2001 through 2003, which has made them impossible to identify. The settlement will take about 14 percent of the total — representing an estimate for the fees paid by those customers — and put the money into nonprofit financial literacy programs.

In addition, the 32 original named plaintiffs who represented the larger class will get bonuses of up to $5,000 each, $2,500 each if both plaintiffs are a married couple.

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