ODESSA, Texas – An Arizona man will receive cash in exchange for settling civil charges First Basin CU over absence of a fee disclosure outside its ATM, the 12th credit union or bank agreeing to settle with the so-called ATM vigilante.
Lawyers for the credit union said they are barred under the confidential terms of the agreement from disclosing how much they are paying Nicholas Pavle to settle charges of violation of the Electronic Funds Transfer Act. But a separate settlement Pavle entered into with Arizona Central CU paid the suit-happy Arizonan $1,000 and lawyers’ fees.
Pavel, who has also settled suits with Complex Community CU and nine banks, is one of a number of people who have been filing series of suits under the EFT Act. An elderly Michigan women has collected tens of thousands of dollars in more than three dozen suits filed under the ATM law; and a New Yorker has filed another dozen, mostly regarding ATMs in Texas.
Randall Rouse, a Midland, Texas, attorney representing First Basin CU, told the Credit Union Journal this morning the credit union was successful, however, in limiting its liability by getting the judge in the case to deny it class action status, which would have made its financial exposure significantly greater. The settlement was not enough for the $170 million credit union to file for an insurance claim.
In the Arizona Central CU case the Phoenix credit union agreed to create a $46,425 settlement fund to settle claims that two of its ATMs in Tucson did not have the proper disclosure for non-member fees charged posted on the outside of the machine, as required under the EFTA. Claimants who could prove they used one of the ATMs between April 23, 2009 and April 23, 2010, are entitled to $100 for each transaction. Pavle was paid $1,000 for his services as class representative and his lawyers’ fees, not to exceed $10,685.
Numerous other credit unions have opted to settle, rather than fight similar suits, including Michigan’s ELGA CU; Houston’s JSC FCU; Jamestown Area Community FCU in New York; Credit Union One of Illinois; Tennessee’s Resource FCU and LA Financial FCU.
