SEATTLE – An angry ATM customer who has been suing credit unions and banks across the country the past three years over fee disclosures has struck again, filing suit yesterday against Bellingham’s North Coast CU for allegedly failing to post on the outside of the machine fees charged to non-customers.
The ATM customer, a New Yorker named Don Anderson has so far sued 32 credit unions and banks in Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Nevada over the disclosure provisions of the Electronic Funds Transfer Act, but yesterday’s suit is the first West Coast institution targeted.
The new suit, filed in federal court in Seattle, comes as credit unions and banks are asking for Congress to pass legislation that would prevent these kind of ATM suits.
Anderson is one of a growing number of self-proclaimed ATM vigilantes who have been exploiting a loophole in the law that requires ATM owners to post the fee disclosures twice-once on screen and once on the outside of the machine—in order to file a flurry of suits. One such plaintiff, a Michigan retiree named Nancy Kinder, has filed more than 40 such suits.
Anderson has been filing the suits since 2009 and added half a dozen new suits in the past month, including the new credit union one. Numerous credit unions have chosen to settle claims by Anderson, which typically amount to a $1,000 payment for him and lawyers fees, rather than fight it out through court.
Among the credit unions entering into settlements with the prolific plaintiff are: Nevada FCU, Centric FCU, Coastal Community FCU and Firestone Community FCU in Texas.
Lawyers representing Anderson in Texas, Louisiana and in California have declined to return phone calls seeking comment.
