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Bank of America starts overdraft rebate outreach
Headline Legal News |
2011/08/09 07:15
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If you had a Bank of America account with a debit card between January 2001 and May of this year, you may be due some cash.
The nation's largest bank has started contacting customers who may be entitled to a refund. It recently reached a class-action settlement over the way it charged overdraft fees. Most of the other suits are continuing to work their way through federal court in Florida.
Bank of America agreed to set up a $410 million fund to settle the lawsuit. The money will be used to pay back customers who were charged overdraft fees as a result of the company's policy of processing debit card transactions based on the size of the transaction, rather than when the purchases occurred.
The bank is one of about three dozen named in a series of class-action lawsuits over the practice of "reordering." A policy that became widespread in the 2000s, reordering involves deducting purchases from an account starting with the largest dollar amount first. That means a customer may end up paying additional overdraft fees.
For instance, someone with an account balance of $95 and who made three purchases in one day, the first for $5, the next for $25 and the last for $75, would be charged two overdraft fees, rather than one.
The suits claim that reordering was done to intentionally increase the number of overdraft fees collected. Banks took in about $39 billion in overdraft fees annually before the Federal Reserve put new rules in place last year. Now banks are required to obtain a customer's written permission before providing overdraft protection.
To inform customers that they may be eligible for a refund of some overdraft fees, Bank of America is sending postcards to customers with a brief explanation of the settlement and the address of a website where more information is available. |
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Immigrants Sue Alabama Over Immigration Law
Headline Legal News |
2011/07/28 08:32
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Alabama’s new immigration law will subject all immigrants to harassment, says a lawsuit filed in Montgomery County Circuit Court.
The lawsuit is filed on behalf of five plaintiffs, who include two undocumented immigrants, two Mexican immigrants who are U.S. citizens and the spouse of an undocumented worker. The lawsuit maintains that the law violates provisions in the Alabama Constitution that encourage immigration.
"Our point is these people have individual rights that cannot be tread upon by the Alabama Legislature," said Thomas Drake, a Cullman attorney representing the plaintiffs.
A statement from Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange's office said they were reviewing the complaint and would defend the law "vigorously."
Signed by Gov. Robert Bentley on June 9, the new immigration law makes it a crime to be an undocumented immigrant in Alabama and allows law enforcement to detain individuals they have a "reasonable suspicion" of being in the country illegally.
The law also makes it illegal to give undocumented immigrants rides and requires school districts to check on the immigration status of students who enroll.
The law is modeled on Arizona's immigration law, parts of which have been blocked by federal court.
The American Civil Liberties Union, the Southern Poverty Law Center and the National Immigration Law Center filed suit earlier this month to overturn Alabama’s immigration law. |
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Iowa insurers get more time on new health law
Headline Legal News |
2011/07/25 08:17
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Iowa insurance companies have been given more time to comply with a new federal rule designed to curb insurers' profits.
The regulation that went into effect this year calls for insurance companies to spend at least 80 percent of premiums on medical care and quality assurance. For employer plans covering more than 50 people, the requirement is 85 cents. Insurers that fall short of the mark are required to issue their customers a rebate.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services told the state on Friday that Iowa insurers will be given have to reach the 80 percent mark by 2013, but will be required to meet interim goals until then, the Des Moines Register reported.
The Iowa Insurance Division had requested extra time to comply with the law, citing fears that insurers would leave the state in droves. Six pulled out of Iowa after the law was passed.
Steve Larsen, director of HHS' Center for Consumer Information and Oversight, said in a letter to the state that implementing the law in Iowa in 2011 could cause turmoil in the insurance market. So, he laid out a timetable for compliance that calls for Iowa insurers to spend 67 percent of premiums on medical care this year, 75 percent in 2012 and 80 percent in 2013.
Iowa insurance commissioner Susan Voss said she wasn't displeased by the decision. The state had sought even more time for companies to comply, but, "I don't think we'll see companies exit as a result of this," Voss said.
Of those particularly hard-hit by the law are insurers who sell individual policies because those premiums are more volatile. Employers or large groups can negotiate for better premiums, and the risk in those plans are spread among the group.
There are 56 insurance companies in Iowa that offer individual policies. Seven of those account for 95 percent of the market, with Wellmark holding onto almost 84 percent. Wellmark spent 92 percent of premiums on care but none of the state's other top insurers met the 80 percent standard in 2010.
Federal regulators said that had the law gone into effect this year, Iowa consumers would have received $6.5 million in rebates over three years. |
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Paralegal accused of stealing from law firm
Headline Legal News |
2011/07/20 09:40
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Authorities say a South Florida paralegal stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from her Fort Lauderdale law firm.
Miami-Dade officials on Tuesday charged 53-year-old Brenda Wilcott-Kelly with more than 80 felonies, including grand theft and forging documents. Records show she's also took money from a lawyer who was on his deathbed.
Employees of Hermelee & Geffin were in court Tuesday as Judge Dennis Murphy set Wilcott-Kelly's bond at $116,000.
Defense attorney Morgan Cronin said his client is innocent.
According to the arrest affidavit, Wilcott-Kelly took $82,472 from the firm to pay off her husband's credit cards. She is also accused of stealing $31,050 from lawyer Steven A. Schultz, while he was in the hospital. Schultz leased space from the firm. |
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Ex-law firm office manager sentenced for theft
Headline Legal News |
2011/07/11 00:50
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The former office manager of a northern New Jersey law firm has been sentenced to seven years in prison for stealing more than $400,000 from her employers.
The firm's owners say the thefts Beth Friedland committed between 2003 and January 2010 caused serious financial problems and forced them to lay off staff and associates. The Roxbury Township resident pleaded guilty in March to theft by unlawful taking, admitting she stole $448,721 from the Chatham-based firm of Maloof, Lebowitz, Connahan &Oleske.
The firm, though, claims Friedland took $1.1 million overall and has sued her to regain those funds.
Friedland must serve about 17 months of the sentence imposed Friday before becoming eligible for parole. Her husband, Alex Cruz, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy, was sentenced Friday to three years probation. |
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