In re Checking Account Overdraft Litigation
| Decision Date | 11 March 2010 |
| Docket Number | Case No. 09MD02036JLK. |
| Citation | 694 F. Supp.2d 1302 |
| Parties | In re CHECKING ACCOUNT OVERDRAFT LITIGATION, MDL No. 2036. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of Florida |
Robert Cecil, Miami, FL, for Checking Account Overdraft Litigation.
Jeremy William Alters, Kimberly Lynn Boldt, Alters, Boldt, Brown, Rash & Culmo, P.A., Miami, FL, Barry Rodney Davidson, Hunton & Williams, Miami, FL, William Charles Hearon, Miami, FL, for Milanie L. Garcia.
Bruce S. Rogow, Bruce S. Rogow PA, Fort Lauderdale, FL, Burton H. Finkelstein, Tracy D. Rezvani, Finkelstein Thompson LLP, Washington, DC, Rosemary M. Rivas, Finkelstein Thompson LLP, San Francisco, CA, Kimberly Lynn Boldt, Robert Cecil Gilbert, Alters, Boldt, Brown, Rash & Culmo, P.A., Miami, FL, Barry Rodney Davidson, Hunton & Williams, Miami, FL, William Charles Hearon, Miami, FL, for Ralph Rornes, April Speers, Estella A. Lopez, John C. Stone, Charles Reed, Jr., Linda McDaniel, and Andrea Luquetta.
Barry Himmelstein, Jordan Elias, Michael W. Sobol, Mikaela Berstein, Roger Norton Heller, Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Berstein, San Francisco, CA, Jae Kook Kim, Richard D. McCune, Jr., McCune Wright LLP, Redlands, CA, R. Scott Erlewine, Phillips & Erlewine & Given LLP, San Francisco, CA, for Celia Spears-Haymond, Mike Amrhein, Steve Yourke, Kristine Richards, Willyum Waters, Frank Smith, Faith Gordon, and Cynthia Larsen.
Edward Adam Webb, G. Franklin Lemond, Jr., Webb Law Group LLC, Atlanta, GA, for William W. Powell, Jr., Jeffrey Buffington, Jeanette Buffington, Lawrence D. Hough, and Pamela H. Hough.
John Matthew Geyman, John Wentworth Phillips, Phillips Law Group PLLC, Seattle, WA, Ari U. Brown, Hagens Berman Sobel Shapiro LLP, Seattle, WA, for Alex Zankich and William Rucker.
Denyse Clancy, Baron Budd LLP, Dallas, TX, for Vada Mitchell and Daisy Webb.
Stephen P. Willison, Willison & Hellman PC, Grand Rapids, MI, Richard D. McCune, Jr., McCune Wright LLP, Redlands, CA, for Michelle Gulley.
Bonny E. Sweeney, Lerach Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins, San Diego, CA, for Donald Kimenker.
James Jason Hill, Jeffrey James Geraci, Coheian Khoury & Singer, San Diego, CA, for John D. Kirkland.
Joshua L. Ross, Stoll Stoll Berne Lokting & Shlachter, Portland, OR, for Dolores Gutierrez.
Chaim S. Setareh, Law Office of Shaun Setareh APC, Beverly Hills, CA, Marcus J. Bradley, Marlin & Saltzman, Agoura Hills, CA, for Sandra Quarles.
Genessa A. Stout, Ari Y. Brown, Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP, Seattle, WA, for Marc Martinez.
Miriam Zakarin, TEVA North America, North Wales, PA, Norah Hart, Treuhaft & Zakarin, LLP, New York, NY, for Angela Walsh-Duffy, Brett Freeman.
Alan M. Mansfield, The Consumer Law Group, San Diego, CA, Howard Weil Rubenstein, Aspen, CO, Marian S. Rosen, Marian S. Rosen & Associates, Houston, TX, for Katherine Anne Williams.
Alisha A. Martin, James R. Patterson, Harrison Patterson & O'Connor, San Diego, CA, for Josh Naehu-Reyes.
David M. Given, Nicholas A. Carlin, Phillips & Erlewine & Given LLP, San Francisco, CA, for Maxine Aarons Given.
Steve W. Berman, Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP, Seattle, WA, Jeffrey F. Keller, Keller Grove LLP, San Francisco, CA, for George Burke, Robert Lowe, Lori Aldana, Shane Parins and Kara Parins.
Alexandria Rose Kachadoorian, Lisa M. Simonetti, Stroock & Stroock & Lavan, Los Angeles, CA, for Citibank FSB.
Barbara J. Dawson, Robert Matthew Kort, Snell & Wilmer LLP, Phoenix, AZ, Brian J. Meenaghan, Ronald E. Beard, Rudy Albert Englund, Tara N. Gillespie, Lane Powell PC, Seattle, WA, Bryanne J. Schmitt, David M. Jolley, Margaret G. May, Sonya Diane Winner, Steven Duane Sassaman, Covington & Burling LLP, San Francisco, CA, Dori Katrine Scott, Fox Rothschild LLP, West Palm Beach, FL, Emily Johnson Henn, Covington & Burling, Washington, DC, Jay Earl Smith, Smith Larsen & Wixom, Las Vegas, NV, Tracy L. Ashmore, Holme Roberts & Owen LLP, Denver, CO, for Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. and Wells Fargo & Company.
Ashley F. Cummings, Jason M. Beach, Lawrence J. Bracken, II, Hunton & Williams, Atlanta, GA, James R. McGuire, Morrison & Foerster, San Francisco, CA, Leda Dunn Wettre, Robinson Wttre & Miller LLC, Newark, NJ, Tracy Thomas Cottingham, III, Hunton & Williams, Charlotte, NC, for Wachovia Bank, N.A.
Aaron Schur, Sharon D. Mayo, Arnold & Porter LLP, San Francisco, CA, Barbara Viniegra, James Randolph Liebler, Liebler, Gonzalez & Portuondo, PA, Miami, FL, Christopher Scott Tarbell, Laurence J. Hutt, Arnold & Porter LLP, Los Angeles, CA, Sonya Diane Winner, Covington & Burling LLP, San Francisco, CA, Barry Rodney Davidson, Hunton & Williams, LLP, Miami, FL, for Bank of America, N.A., Bank of America Corporation and Bank of America, California.
Ann Marie Mortimer, Hunton & Williams, Los Angeles, CA, Barry Rodney Davidson, Hunton & Williams, LLP, Miami, FL, James R. McGuire, Morrison & Foerster, San Francisco, CA, Tracy Thomas Cottingham, III, Hunton & Williams, Charlotte, NC, for Wachovia Corporation, Wachovia Bank, N.A., Bank of America, N.A., and Bank of America Corporation.
A. Stephen Hut, Jr., Michelle Ognibene, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr LLP, Washington, DC, Alan E. Schoenfeld, Christopher R. Lipsett, David Sapir Lesser, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr, New York, NY, Andrew Benjamin Grossman, Matthew D. Benedetto, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr LLP, Los Angeles, CA, Mark D. Flanagan, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr LLP, Palo Alto, CA, for J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.
Rita Lin, Morrison & Foerster, San Francisco, CA, for US Bank N.A. and US Bank Corp.
C. Marie Eckert, Cody J. Elliott, Miller Nash LLP, Portland, OR, Sylvia Rivera, Morrison & Foerster, Los Angeles, CA, Sonya Diane Winner, Covington & Burling, LLP, San Francisco, CA, Barry Rodney Davidson, Hunton & Williams, LLP, Miami, FL, James R. McGuire, Morrison & Foerster, San Francisco, CA, for U.S. Bank, N.A.
Constance Melissa Ewing, David B. Darden, Eric Jon Taylor, Nancy H. Baughan, William J. Holley, II, Parker Hudson Rainer & Dobbs, Atlanta, GA, for Branch Banking and Trust Company.
Jan T. Chilton, John B. Sullivan, Mark Douglas Lonergan, Peter H. Bales, Severson & Werson, San Francisco, CA, for Union Bank, N.A. d/b/a Unionbancal Corporation.
Alan S. Kaplinsky, Martin C. Bryce, Jr., Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, Philadelphia, PA, Bruce W. Neckers, John M. Lichtenberg, Paul A. McCarthy, Rhoades McKee PC, Grand Rapids, MI, for Huntington Bancshares, Inc. and Huntington National Bank.
Lindsey Elisa Brown, Lynette Eaddy Smith, William N. Withrow, Jr., Troutman Sanders LLP, Atlanta, GA, for SunTrust Banks, Inc.
ORDER RULING ON OMNIBUS MOTION TO DISMISS
The Defendant Banks1 moved for dismissal or judgment on the pleadings of each of the fifteen Complaints pending in this multi-district litigation proceeding, pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6) and 12(c), on December 22, 2009. Coordinated oral argument on all Motions to Dismiss were held February 25, 2010 (Oral Arg. Tr. pp. 1-167).
On June 10, 2009 the United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation transferred five actions to this Court for coordinated pre-trial proceedings, establishing this multi-district litigation proceeding known as In re Checking Account Overdraft Litigation, MDL No. 2036. Actions against SunTrust Bank and Huntington National Bank were subsequently transferred to this Court and made part of this Multidistrict litigation proceeding. New actions continue to be filed against these, and other, Banks alleging basically the same cause of action. The transfer and consolidation of those actions to this Court by the Multidistrict Panel is anticipated.
Amended Complaints against Bank of America, Citibank, Chase, Union Bank, U.S. Bank, Wachovia and Wells Fargo were filed in October and November 2009.2 Plaintiffs, are current or former checking account customers of the Defendant federally chartered banks who seek to recover (for themselves and all other customers similarly situated) alleged excessive overdraft fees for charges made to their accounts on debit card transactions. The alleged common nucleus of specific facts pled assert a common practice by Defendants, to enter charges debiting Plaintiffs' accounts from the "largest to the smallest" thus maximizing the overdraft fee revenue for themselves. In addition to the allegations about posting order, the Complaints set forth a number of other alleged agreements, policies and practices, contended by Plaintiffs to unlawfully damage them. Plaintiffs' asserted claims rely upon the legal theories of breach of contract and breach of a covenant of good faith and fair dealing, unconscionability, conversion, unjust enrichment, and violation of the consumer protection statutes of various states.
The Banks rely, as the legal basis for their omnibus motion to dismiss all claims: (1) the doctrine of federal preemption barring state regulation of the activities of national bank pursuant to the National Bank Act; (2) the contracts with the banks explicitly authorizing Defendants to post from "high to low" and overdraft fee assessment; (3) the legal argument that common law unconscionability claims are defenses only, not subject to affirmative causes of action for injury; (4) that conversion will not lie since the depositor does not have title to the money deposited; (5) that an adequate remedy at law exists for unjust enrichment; and (6) that state consumer protection laws are inapplicable.
Each of the fifteen Complaints in these lawsuits is filed against a single bank. Five of the fifteen Complaints were filed by California Plaintiffs seeking to represent classes of California customers.3 Eight Complaints were filed by non-California Plaintiffs seeking to represent nationwide classes excluding California customers, but with (in some cases) subclasses limited to residents of particular states.4 Finally, Larsen v. Union Bank,...
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