National City Settles Class Action

National City Settles Class Action
Double late charges, partial payment rejection at issue
December 30, 2008

National City Mortgage Inc. has settled a West Virginia class-action lawsuit. The lender is accused of illegally returning partial payments and charging multiple late fees on rolling 30-day delinquencies.
The lawsuit was originally filed in July 2007 by James A. Muhammad in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia. Included in the class are West Virginia borrowers whose loans were serviced by National City between July 2002 and July 2007.
Muhammad originally purchased his Charleston, Va., residence in December 2003, according to the complaint. The property was financed by National City — which also services the loan.
The plaintiff claims that he was late on one payment at some point prior to February 2005. But even though he was only late on a single payment, he alleges that National City continued to charge late fees. The borrower, however, remained one month delinquent for multiple months.
Then, in October 2005, Muhammad was short $28.48 on his monthly payment. Although the deficiency was added to the next payment, National City returned the original short payment — leading to more ongoing late charges.
Muhammad alleges the actions by the Miamisburg, Ohio-based lender violated its good faith obligations and the West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection Act.
“The defendant has failed to credit payment against amounts due, rejected payments, assessed improper late fees and unnecessarily placed accounts in default,” the complaint states.
Borrowers on 747 West Virginia loans were charged multiple late fees on 2,763 occasions, according to court records. In addition, borrowers on 85 loans had their partial payments rejected on 96 occasions.
Without admitting any wrongdoing, National City agreed to a $700,000 settlement — which was approved by U.S. District Judge John T. Copenhaver Jr. on Dec. 19.
The settlement works out to $244.84 per occurrence of partial payment rejections and double late charges.

JAMES A. MUHAMMAD, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated, Plaintiff, v. National City Mortgage Co., Defendant.
Civil Action No. 2:07-CV-0423, July 6, 2007 (U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia)

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