All About Bank of America Lawsuits

According to the Rochester Beacon, a federal judge in a class action lawsuit against Bank of America has ruled that Bank of America was not complicit in a Ponzi type scheme:

Former Citizens Bank and Bank of America branch manager Derline Cunningham’s alleged complicity in Perry Santillo’s $100 million Ponzi scheme does not make the banks liable for Santillo’s crimes, U.S. District Judge David Larimer has ruled.

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If Bank of America and Citizens Bank could be held liable, defrauded investors would stand to recover more. But Larimer’s ruling would seem to pose a significant barrier to the class action. 

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“Because plaintiffs have failed to plausibly allege that the defendant banks and individual defendants had an agreement to engage in fraud, or that the defendant banks took overt actions in furtherance of that agreement, plaintiffs’ conspiracy claims must be dismissed,” the judge wrote in a decision handed down in October.

In 2013 Bank of America agreed to a $10 billion settlement with Fannie Mae for mortgages it sold to Fannie Mae during the housing bubble. This story from CNN Business outlines the case:

BofA (BAC) will pay $3.55 billion in cash to Fannie as part of the deal. It will also repurchase 30,000 questionable mortgages that are likely to produce losses, paying Fannie $6.75 billion for the loans. The loans had been bundled into mortgage-backed securities, and then were bought and guaranteed by Fannie Mae.

The purchase of bad home loans by Fannie Mae led to massive losses, a government takeover in 2008 and a $116 billion bailout to keep it functioning as a major source of home loans.

The loans were originated between 2000 and 2008 by Countrywide Financial, a leading mortgage and subprime home loan lender that BofA purchased for $4 billion in 2008. The loans covered by the settlement had an original value of $1.4 trillion. 

The complaint says that CenturyLink “routinely fails to live up to its promises about the total prices consumers will pay for its services,” and worse, wouldn’t honor the agreed-upon prices with consumers when challenged. “Shopping for internet and cable TV service isn’t easy if companies don’t give straight answers about the prices they will charge,” Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson said in a statement.

As reported by Consumer Affairs, Bank of America was sued in 2018 by a group of consumers that alleged that Bank of America sold their personal information when applying for credit cards without their consent:

“Plaintiffs’ [personal financial information] is valuable to Defendants,” contends the plaintiffs.

“They regularly enter into agreements with third parties to provide this [PFI: personal financial information] in exchange for money and other financial benefit. Under these agreements, Defendants have profited greatly from the sale of Plaintiffs’ PFI to third parties.”

The plaintiffs feel that their personal profile is of value to the banks and that the banks have profited off that data without the user’s permission without sharing part of that profit with the credit card holder.

“Plaintiffs have a property interest in their own PFI regardless of what Defendants may do to or with it once Defendants have it in their possession, however it may be de-identified and/or aggregated for sale,” alleges the suit.

According to American Banker, Bank of America was sued in 2018 for naming its virtual assistant “Erica” as an alleged violation of a registered service mark:

Underwood says he registered the service mark E.R.I.C.A. with the state of Georgia in 2010 but that his filing applies nationally. The name is an acronym that stands for “electronic repetitious informational clone application.” The name also corresponds to the birth name of Underwood’s twin sister, Erika.

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Bank of America disputes the lawsuit and has filed a counterclaim. The bank says Erica is based on the last five letters of its name. The virtual assistant is a feature within its mobile banking app that answers customers’ questions about their accounts.

In his lawsuit, Underwood accuses the bank of unfair competition. Bank of America’s use of the name Erica, “if allowed to continue, [is] likely to create confusion and reverse confusion. … Because of the defendant’s size and resources, consumers are likely to believe that it is Underwood and My24 that are the junior users and that it is Underwood and My24 that are unfairly competing.”

A 2018 lawsuit accuses Bank of America of alleged fair housing violations under the federal Fair Housing Act for treating bank-owned houses in minority neighborhoods differently than bank-owned houses in white neighborhoods. This story from Housing Wire covers the case:

The suit, filed in June 2018, accuses the two companies of intentionally failing to provide routine exterior maintenance and marketing for Bank of America-owned homes in African American and Latino neighborhoods across 37 metro areas, while consistently maintaining similar bank-owned properties in white neighborhoods.

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“The facts pled raise a reasonable inference that the defendants violated anti-discrimination provisions of the Fair Housing Act,” the judge wrote. “The threshold and legal arguments for dismissal are not persuasive.”

NFHA CEO and President Lisa Rice said the group is pleased with the judge’s ruling and looks forward to seeing the lawsuit through.

“Bank of America and Safeguard must be held accountable for their discriminatory actions, must make substantial changes to their policies and practices, and must make the communities they have harmed whole,” Rice said. “Their inaction and refusal to maintain properties in communities of color has created a dangerous and harmful environment.”

See our other Bank of America article discussing other Bank of America Lawsuits here.Even if you aren’t able to cash in on these listed lawsuits, your complaint may fit arbitration with Bank of America. We can help you file a claim and get compensated – learn more here.