Capital One Financial Corporation issues credit cards. If account holders pay their bills late, Capital One may charge up to $40 as a late fee. During the economic distress caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, Capital One promised “assistance” to customers, the complaint for this class action alleges, such as waiving fees, deferring payments, and the like. But the complaint claims that Capital One has reneged on these promises and denied assistance to customers.
The Nationwide Class for this action is all Capital One credit card holders in the US who, after March 23, 2020, asked for assistance from Capital One but were subsequently charged late fees or interest on unpaid credit card balances. A similar Alternative California-Only Class has been proposed with the difference that it covers only Capital One credit card holders in California.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, many people lost their jobs or income they needed to pay their bills. Some banks, including Capital One, announced they were willing to help customers suffering hardship.
The complaint alleges, “In an online article glowingly titled America’s Banks are Here to Help, the American Bankers Association … proclaimed that Capital One is ‘[o]ffering a number of different concessions to help customers … including minimum payment assistance, deferred loan assistance, and fee suppression.’” According to the complaint, NBC News also reported that Capital was “offering to do more…”
The complaint quotes Capital One as telling Forbes that “all customers will be eligible for assistance, which will vary on the type of product they have and their individual needs.” Capital One also “encourage[d] customers who may be impacted or need assistance to reach out to discuss and find a solution for you[,]” the complaint alleges.
However, the complaint claims that Capital One did not keep its promises.
The plaintiff in this case, Tanya Fitzpatrick, was a merchandiser whose work was dramatically reduced during the pandemic. Because of this, she missed credit card payments. Each time, the complaint alleges, she called Capital One, as it had encouraged customers to do, and spoke to three different customer service representatives, and told them she had missed the payment because of the financial hardship caused by the pandemic.
But the complaint alleges, “Despite the public promise by Capital One’s CEO that the bank’s ‘frontline associates are well-trained and well-prepared to serve customers in times of financial stress or hardship,’ each Capital One representative denied her request without any further investigation, and each told her that there was nothing they could do.”
“The statements by each of these Capital One representatives[,]” the complaint claims, “led Ms. Fitzpatrick to believe that Capital One had no process or program for considering or granting relief for its credit card customers during the pandemic, despite the explicit promises Capital One had made.”
The complaint alleges that Capital One’s behavior “directly contradicted its representations in the media and online” and that exercised its discretion over fees “in bad faith because it never meaningfully considered her request for assistance at all.”
Article Type: LawsuitTopic: Unfair Competition
Most Recent Case Event
Capital One Did Not Offer Covid-19 Assistance as Promised Complaint
February 18, 2022
Capital One Financial Corporation issues credit cards. If account holders pay their bills late, Capital One may charge up to $40 as a late fee. During the economic distress caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, Capital One promised “assistance” to customers, the complaint for this class action alleges, such as waiving fees, deferring payments, and the like. But the complaint claims that Capital One has reneged on these promises and denied assistance to customers.
Capital One Did Not Offer Covid-19 Assistance as Promised ComplaintCase Event History
Capital One Did Not Offer Covid-19 Assistance as Promised Complaint
February 18, 2022
Capital One Financial Corporation issues credit cards. If account holders pay their bills late, Capital One may charge up to $40 as a late fee. During the economic distress caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, Capital One promised “assistance” to customers, the complaint for this class action alleges, such as waiving fees, deferring payments, and the like. But the complaint claims that Capital One has reneged on these promises and denied assistance to customers.
Capital One Did Not Offer Covid-19 Assistance as Promised Complaint