District Court approves $1.8 million overdraft settlement

Courts Class Action Overdraft Settlement Consumer Finance

On January 14, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California granted final approval to a $1.8 million class action settlement to resolve allegations that a credit union (defendant) improperly charged members overdraft and insufficient fund fees (NSF). The class members alleged they had wrongfully incurred more than one NSF fee on the same transaction when it was reprocessed again after initially being returned for insufficient funds. The class also alleged that the defendant’s contracts did not authorize such charges. The settlement allocated $715,500 to class members who were charged certain fees between May 2016 and October 2020, and $874,500 to class members who were charged certain fees between May 2016 and February 2020. The amount allocated to each class member is based on the former fees assessed against them. As part of the nearly $1.8 million settlement, the defendant must pay $1.59 million in cash, and must waive roughly $176,000 in uncollected at-issue fees.