A class-action lawsuit was filed July 11 in circuit court in Jacksonville against VyStar Credit Union alleging that VyStar is violating its account contract with members by routinely assessing multiple non-sufficient-funds fees on the same item.
VyStar spokeswoman Judy Walz told WJCT News partner the Jacksonville Daily Record that the credit union does not comment on litigation.
According to the complaint, the Deposit Agreement in VyStar's membership booklet allows it to take certain actions when a member attempts an Automated Clearing House transaction but does not have sufficient funds to cover it.
The agreements and disclosures in the booklet filed with the lawsuit indicate that VyStar may authorize the transaction and charge a single $32 overdraft fee or it may reject the transaction and charge a $32 NSF fee.
The Deposit Agreement indicates that only a single NSF fee will be charged per “item” no matter how many times that item is reprocessed with no request from the customer to do so, the lawsuit states.
Heather Washington contends that in November 2018, she attempted an electronic payment to AT&T that VyStar rejected because she didn't have enough money in her account to cover the payment, an action by the credit union that Washington does not challenge.
However, she states that VyStar, without her request or knowledge, attempted to process the payment two more times and charged her two more NSF fees for a total of $96 in penalty.
An expanded version of this story is at JaxDailyRecord.com.
Photo used under Creative Commons license.