This class action on the purported waiver of credit card late fees, says in its Introduction, “The deadly Covid-19 pandemic created the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.” During this crisis, Bank of America, NA (BANA) promised to refund credit card late fees for customers in difficulty, but the complaint alleges that it rarely did so and had no Covid-19 program at all.
The Nationwide Class for this action is all BANA consumer credit card customers in the US who, after March 12, 2020, were charged late fees by BANA after BANA promised to consider waiving such fees due to the pandemic, attempted to obtain refunds, but were not given refunds. A similar Alternative California-Only Class has been proposed, only for BANA consumer credit card customers in California.
The complaint claims that when BANA credit card customers do not pay their bills, BANA charges them late fees of up to $40.
BANA does not have to charge such fees, the complaint alleges: “In its contract of adhesion with its customers, BANA has discretion to require customers to pay their minimum payment balance by a date certain, or to allow customers to omit a payment or make a reduced payment during a federally-declared disaster.”
The complaint then adds, “In order to obtain good publicity and thereby attract more business and investors, as well as ensure that current customers did not move to a friendly credit card company, BANA promised consumers that it would refund punitive late fees and interest that hurt its most vulnerable customers during the pandemic.”
The plaintiff for this class action, Laverne Simmons, made a living from her work as a mobile notary and through a rental property she owned. During the pandemic, her work dried up and the tenant of her property was unable to pay the rent. With very little income, the complaint alleges, she began to incur late fees on her BANA credit card.
The complaint claims that when Simmons called BANA, its “customer service representative allowed her to temporarily defer her payment, but told her that this deferral was a one-time program and was their standard hardship program, not related to the Covid-19 pandemic.”
Simmons continued to have problems with her income. After the one-time deferral, the complaint claims, she called BANA a number of times, but “the BANA customer service representatives all informed Ms. Simmons that they had no Covid-19-related relief, and that she was only entitled to the standard one-time deferral that had existed since prior to the pandemic. BANA did not refund any late fees or allow Ms. Simmons to defer any payments after the one-time deferral period ended around June or July 2020.”
The complaint alleges that BANA did not keep its promises and did not actually establish any program to help people with difficulties due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Article Type: LawsuitTopic: Unfair Competition
Most Recent Case Event
Bank of America Did Not Refund Credit Card Late Fees as Promised Complaint
February 18, 2022
This class action on the purported waiver of credit card late fees, says in its Introduction, “The deadly Covid-19 pandemic created the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.” During this crisis, Bank of America, NA (BANA) promised to refund credit card late fees for customers in difficulty, but the complaint alleges that it rarely did so and had no Covid-19 program at all.
Bank of America Did Not Refund Credit Card Late Fees as Promised ComplaintCase Event History
Bank of America Did Not Refund Credit Card Late Fees as Promised Complaint
February 18, 2022
This class action on the purported waiver of credit card late fees, says in its Introduction, “The deadly Covid-19 pandemic created the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.” During this crisis, Bank of America, NA (BANA) promised to refund credit card late fees for customers in difficulty, but the complaint alleges that it rarely did so and had no Covid-19 program at all.
Bank of America Did Not Refund Credit Card Late Fees as Promised Complaint