I remember hoping, praying, that even one law firm would notice this site and file a class action lawsuit. I contacted numerous firms, all of which ignored me and what I thought were reasonable presentations about facts.
Yesterday, ChangeInTerms.com announced class action lawsuit #10, putting the number of lawsuits in the double-digits. Now we present #11, filed by Milberg LLP. Quoting from the Milberg LLP site:
Milberg LLP filed a class action lawsuit against Chase Bank, N.A. (“Chase”) and its parent company, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (“J.P. Morgan”) alleging the bank deceptively marketed promotional interest rates on credit cards and then breached agreements with consumer who accepted the offers. The action was filed on behalf of Chase customers, after the bank more than doubled minimum monthly payments and imposed monthly fees of $10, changing the terms of promotional offers that represented that the low rate was for the life of the loan.
“The case seeks to hold Chase to its promises and advertising. Consumers have kept up their end of the bargain. Chase has not,” said Andrei Rado, a partner at Milberg LLP’s office in New York. Jeff Westerman, a partner at Milberg’s Los Angeles office, added that, “Chase’s conduct is particularly galling because J.P. Morgan took billions as one of the biggest recipients of taxpayer bailout money, ostensibly to free up credit and stimulate the economy, then turned around and made credit more expensive and created greater financial hardship for consumers already suffering from recession by changing the terms it used to lure consumers with for years.”
The action is pending in federal court in the Central District of California. The complaint alleges that Chase offered balance transfer loans, cash advances, and “convenience check” loans with annual interest rates of 3.99%, which Chase expressly promised would be “for the life of the loan.” The loans were popular with consumers, who paid non-refundable fees, such as balance transfer or cash advance fees, in order to take advantage of the offered APR. The complaint alleges that earlier this year, despite charging consumers for the deal and promising that the APRs were “for the life” of the loans, Chase unilaterally told customers they had to either pay off the loans within 30 days, accept a “service charge” on the loans (on which it charged interest), or pay a higher APR of 7.99%. The complaint seeks action status, and alleges that Chase, by its actions, has breached its contract with customers and violated state consumer protection laws.
About Milberg LLP - Milberg LLP has been representing consumers in actions for over 40 years and serves as lead counsel in federal and state courts throughout the United States. Please visit the Milberg website (http://www.milberg.com) for more information about the firm. If you wish to discuss this matter with us, or have any questions concerning your rights and interests with regard to this matter, please contact the following attorneys:
California Office: Jeff Westerman or Sabrina Kim
New York Office: Andrei Rado
Milberg LLP
Phone number: (800) 320-5081
Email: contactus@milberg.com
Principle Office:
One Pennsylvania Plaza
New York, NY 10119
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on Mar 6th, 2009 at 12:42 pm
“I remember hoping, praying, that even one law firm would notice this site and file a class action lawsuit. I contacted numerous firms, all of which ignored me and what I thought were reasonable presentations about facts.”
Yes, thank you and congratulations to all of us.
on Mar 6th, 2009 at 6:14 pm
I was recently blindsided by Chase, feel totally set up, and am glad to hear that someone is doing something about thier outrageous business practices.
GO GET ‘EM
on Mar 6th, 2009 at 9:00 pm
What a great website!!!
I have been checking back daily for several weeks now, and it has become obvious to me that even if the action by Chase only affected one/half of one percent of its customers, it was definitely the wrong one/half of one percent.
People who took advantage of these rates are NOT your average credit card user. I personally used them to finish my yard at a better interest rate than available in any other loan program.
Chase was looking at the short term 3% transaction fees to pad their bottom line.
Just an update on my situation. When I learned about this change-in-terms it could not have happened at a worse time. We had just sold our home, had moved into a rental, and were finalizing plans to build a new home. Literally days before turning in my loan application, I was finalizing my debt ratios when I discovered a sudden jump in my monthly payment along with the $10 per month finance charge. I have two accounts with Chase and my qualification status would be in Jeopardy if both were at the 5%, and not 2% minimum payment. I have enough income to easily pay 5%, but had always directed any additional funds to other things. I immediately called and went beserk on the phone. If it hadn’t been for my special circumstances of applying for a construction loan, I would have probably been calmer, but it was absolutedly maddening.
A few hours later, after thinking through things logically, I called back and talked with another representative. I told him that I did not want to accept the 7.99% rate, but that my current circumstances of building a new home, and needing a lower minimum payment to meet debt to income ratio left me NO CHOICE!
As I stated earlier, the $10 service charge was removed, but my latest statement did not raise my rate to 7.99%, which makes me suspicious. I have read one other example on another site where someone else had the $10 finance charge removed, along with keeping their promotional rate.
One other thing! I requested a copy of the change-in-terms policy to be sent to me. She said it would take 7 to 10 days. I have still NOT received that notice.
Anyway, good luck to everyone. If Chase has a brain in their head, they will reverse this STUPID change-in-terms Crap.
on Mar 7th, 2009 at 12:47 pm
http://www.portfolio.com/resources/company-profiles/JPM/press/2009/03/05/green-welling-files-class-action-lawsuits-on-chase-bank-credit-cards
on Mar 7th, 2009 at 12:53 pm
Thanks for the link, Brent. I am familiar with Green Welling’s efforts, and it’s great to see that some of their work is being announced publicly (in the media). Take care.
on Mar 9th, 2009 at 6:06 pm
Could it be that Chase is actually showing a bit of “lender’s remorse” regarding their unethical (if not illegal) change in terms?
In late December/early January, I received a voicemail “reminding” me of Chase’s recent change in terms. Not having a clue as to what this was about, I immediately called them and was told of my two available options. After a few minutes of ranting, including the fact that I never received the change in terms notice in writing (and I DO read that stuff when I actually get it), I told the customer service agent that I wanted to choose the 7.99% rate. Then I started googling to find pertinent info and eventually landed on this, Dr. Lahm’s excellent site.
My bill with a January payment due date arrived shortly thereafter with no change in my original terms, i.e., still shown at the 4.99% “life of the balance” rate with the minimum 2% payment of the balance.
My bill with a February payment due date arrived on schedule and reflected the 4.99% “life…” rate but also included the dreaded $10 finance charge and the minimum payment due of 5% of the balance. I immediately called Chase and basically said, “Hey, what happened to the 7.99% agreed upon, and oh, by the way, I have a letter from Chase that documents our agreement, and I want you to remove the $10 finance charge from my account and from now on abide by our ‘new’ agreement at the 7.99% finance rate”. As before, I ranted a few more minutes, then the csr svc rep started telling me about a 3rd option he could offer involving suspended payments for some length of time with “good cause” (examples he used were: lost job, medical emergency, etc.) and that he could send me a form to complete to qualify for that particular option. At that point, I was barely listening, as I was furious that Chase was obviously dancing around the real issue of what they had done to their good customers and trying yet another misguided ploy to “make us happy”. I told him I wasn’t interested in that option, since paying every month on time, as promised, wasn’t the problem – that the problem was I wanted Chase to honor the original terms, and that nothing short of that would make me happy.
My bill with a March due date arrived last week and lo and behold: The $10 service charge that appeared on the previous statement had been credited back to my account, the finance rate was at 4.99% (the rate had actually never changed throughout this whole process, despite the letter from Chase re: the increase to 7.99%), and the minimum payment due was back to 2% of the balance.
So, what happened here? Did someone make a mistake? Is this a one-time reprieve? Did my balance fall under some predefined threshold, e.g., low enough that they don’t want to be annoyed by more rants from me? Is my original 4.99% rate high enough that they figure they can deal with it (read: make a decent profit), vs. the lower rates some customers originally had? Or, did someone simply decide to “make me happy”?
Yes, I still had what amounts to about 1 1/2 months of extra minimum payments in February, but I’ll begrudgingly accept that if the original terms of my agreement continue going forward.
In any case, I’ll be watching and waiting until my next statement and will report back then. In the meantime, it might not be a bad idea to give Chase a call and try to get your old terms back – can’t hurt at this point.
P.S. Dr. Lahm, good luck in your efforts on behalf of all of us – I’m impressed and amazed by your energy and tenacity!
on Mar 13th, 2009 at 10:44 am
Hi Lauran,
Thank you for your phrasing, “energy and tenacity.” My wife of two decades calls it something else: “stubborn as hell.” Chase is a monster, so you’ll both need to be right. Take care.
on Mar 30th, 2009 at 7:12 pm
As referenced in my previous message, just wanted to report that I’ve received my statement with an April payment due date, and the 7.99% finance rate has now been applied to my balance. Guess I was naive to think that Chase would actually do the right thing and reinstate the original terms of our agreement.
However, I was also glad to see that they’ve been forced to reimburse the $10/mo finance charges to those customers who paid it – as you’ve said, Dr. Lahm, that’s a battle victory, but the war wages on. Thanks once again for being… “stubborn as hell”!
on Jan 5th, 2010 at 9:54 pm
Chase Bank Ripped us off too! We actually set-up our account with Circuit City, after they went down, it changed to Chase/ Best Buy (another rip off company when it comes to credit). We bought a tv and made all payments on or before due for over a year. Today they hit us with a $35 late fee on a $10 payment (which when we got the bill today and called…surprise! they just got our payment today!) They told us there was nothing they can do (another surprise!). We were told that we can leave our information, and another manager would get in touch with us in 7-10 day’s! In writing! They can’t even verify the date on the check! I think I have to start another blog (like the above) to warn people about dealing with Chase. There must legally be a way to dispute this. Anyone that is aware of a class action suit against Chase for illegally charging fee’s without allowing dispute, please let me know (arthur0424@sbcglobal.net), I feel sorry for the people that get charged and do nothing wrong, and really can’t afford it! This is nothing less than robbery.
on Dec 23rd, 2010 at 11:28 pm
Come on guys, this is small peanuts compared to the amount of money Chase is screwing people out of in the mortgage industry. It’s so obvious they are dealing in bad faith with all the failed modifications, the’re just making money hand over fist with late charges,penalties,and legal fees, which is billions more than the few million were talking about here. Not to mention we’re talking about where a person lives ! I hope all the Chase, Bof A, and other bankers realize they have now taken over the number 1 position as the lowest scum on earth. Real live Ebonezer Scrooges – Mery Christmas !
on Jan 26th, 2011 at 4:19 pm
well we did a loan mondification with chase~to lower our interest & payment amount~all they did was screw us over & forced us into bancrupcy~we have a 38acre home with a single wide trailer on it~they are now saying we dont have insurance on our place when they put it on it~& might be trying to take our place once again from us~my parents live on a fixed income~& live in our trailer not only will my family loose their home but my parents as well~my mom is on chemo for breast cancer right now & neither of our families can afford to get a new place to live~with my family being in this bancrupcy they forced us into to try to keep our home from them screwing us over with the loan modification~we will never be able to get a new place to live~so we will be living on the streets with our three teenage children & my parents~with whom~has to deal with alot of doctors bills for the chemo for the breast cancer!
on Feb 3rd, 2011 at 10:24 am
Chase has a new wrinkle on the 3.99 promotional. you are also charged as if it was a regular charge there you pay additional finance chages – even when you do not make a charge on the card – so you pay your regular interest rate at a average dail balance plus the promotional rate which in my case ends up averaging around 12% instead of 3.99%. Maybe someone will pick this up and start a class action lawsuit.