Chase Hit with Class Action Lawsuit Over Monthly Service Fee
February 9th, 2009 by Kenneth Long
A class action lawsuit was filed by Giskan Solotaroff Anderson & Stewart of New York on behalf of cardholders that incurred a monthly service fee and/or interest rate hike by Chase. The suit cites alleged violations of the Truth in Lending Act in regards to changes made to cardholders that had taken advantage of low interest (2.99-4.99%) rates for the life of the loan.
I originally featured the changes that Chase made to raise minimum payments while adding a service fee. This was one of the more hotly debated issues that we have covered in some time.
Several of the cardholders felt betrayed by the changes and expressed frustration and anger over the new terms. Many anticipated a class action lawsuit as early as December of 2008, and actively sought information regarding such a suit.
According to the law firm that has filed the class action suit against Chase, anyone who has incurred the $10 monthly service fee is eligible to join the lawsuit. It is being filed as a violation of the Truth in Lending Act.
If successful, it is possible that the lawsuit could reimburse cardholders for the total service fees and higher interest charged due to the changes. It would likely not include higher interest rates for cardholders that violated their original cardholder agreement. This would include those who were unable to make their increased minimum payment as a result of the new 5% minimum payment requirement.
In other words, anyone that can afford the changes but feels they should not pay higher interest and fees could benefit from the suit if Chase loses in court. However, anyone that is in real financial trouble probably will not benefit.
Therefore, if you have struggled to make your payments and are in danger of falling behind, you should not wait for a lifeline from this class action lawsuit. It will not save you even if it succeeds. Instead, get help from a qualified credit counseling organization so that you can reduce your monthly payments and avoid interest rate hikes.
Related Links
Giskan Solotaroff Anderson & Stewart Class Action Lawsuit–Investigation of Monthly Service Fee on Chase Credit Cards
This entry was posted on Monday, February 9th, 2009 at 11:39 am and is filed under Consumer Protection, Credit Cards, Credit Cards: Chase. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
February 9th, 2009 at 6:44 pm
What firm filed the suit? How can someone join the suit?
February 17th, 2009 at 12:47 pm
Class action lawsuit agains Chase through the following URL: http://www.gslawny.com/lawyer-attorney-1383679.html
February 21st, 2009 at 12:21 pm
Hi,
There are at least 5 class action suits filed now. For links, see http://www.changeinterms.com (not my site). The site (a protest site designated to create a grass roots movement against Chase) also contains many suggestions on where to file complaints, fow to contact your representatives in congress etc.
March 16th, 2009 at 10:01 pm
I never looked at my bill…I just paid a certain amount, month after month. One day, I saw that they had added a little over $10 over and above my monthly payment. I called, they said it was a service fee. I told him I will just pay it off. The rep told me that even if I do pay it off, I will still have to pay the monthly fee. I was so mad, that I closed the account. I am sure my credit score will go down. Why should I pay $120/year for a service fee if I won’t be using the card?
March 30th, 2009 at 1:52 pm
I got an unannounced $20 credit on my closed account. Like Lori above, I was mad enough to take money out of savings to pay off the balance of my card and close it because they told me I’d have to pay the $10 a month even with a zero balance. I wrote them several times and told them that the $20 was nothing compared to what they’ve already stolen from the American public with the bailout money and I hoped they’d go down in flames. I was a 15 year customer with a perfect payment record and have a credit score of way over 800. But, will I come back after this fiasco? Never. They notified people just before Thanksgiving and literally stole a lot of people’s Christmas with the increased demand of 5% minimum payment. I’m lucky I had the money, but so many people didn’t. They are evil and classic examples of why we should let some banks just fail.
April 18th, 2009 at 9:25 am
I got hit with these increases as well. First they upped minimum payments on TWO accounts I had from 2% to 5%. And added the $10 monthly service fee as well. Then I was told I could avoid those terms by allowing them to increase the interest rate from 2.99 or 3.99 to 7.99%
I told them where to stick it. Luckily I have an excellent credit score, I transferred both the Chase account balances to Bank of America. Granted it cost me 3% of each to make the transfer but I refused to give one more dime to Chase, for any reason whatsoever.
Like Connie I’m a long term customer with a spotless credit record. My only fault was that I borrowed money as a balance transfer when Chase offered it to me. I would also note that I always made MORE than the minimum payment every month.
June 23rd, 2009 at 11:57 am
[...] Chase Hit With Class Action Lawsuit Over Monthly Service Fee [February 9, 2009] [...]
June 25th, 2009 at 4:03 am
Why is it that banks and credit cards can change the terms of an agreement whenever they feel like it, but consumers have no recourse?
I just now was notified that my monthly minimum was going to 5%. I’ve had my cards for 25 years, never missed a payment and only in the last couple of years was put in a situation where we had to carry a balance…but at the 2.99 and 3.99 APR offers. We are paying down other bills that had higher interest rates and when they were done we would divert more money to the Chase cards and finish off the balances. Now, with a 5% minimum, we have seen our monthly payment go from 700 to 1700. I don’t know about you but that is staggering for us. Personally, I think they are trying to force us to miss our minimum payments so they can use that as a pretext for cancelling the promotional APRs. I am in disbelief. How can they change the rules to what has already been agreed? A consumer can’t just mail out a notice to their bank announcing that they will change the amount that they are willing to pay each month. That would be seen as absurd, but the institutions are allowed to do that to the consumer. Ridiculous. We didn’t author the deals, they did. They should eb made to live with them as we have. We have paid in good faith and now are being royaly screwed!
July 17th, 2009 at 11:47 am
[...] consumers have also seen their credit limits cut, which in turn hurts their credit scores. Many Chase credit card customers even saw their minimum payments more than double, causing some to become delinquent on their [...]
July 28th, 2009 at 2:00 am
We have a new problem with Chase can we file a class action lawsuit? Seems as though they have cancelled alot of our cards without notice and we dont find out until we try to use them…how humiliated I was… then when you try to call and find out why youre told it was because of your credit report which was not true..what can be done……?
Thank you!
March 16th, 2011 at 4:12 am
CHASE IS THE WORST BANK EVER!!