Thursday, August 27, 2009

NSF, OD, INF Bank Charges are all illegal

While I have seen numerous blogs and websites (even purportedly from attorneys) stating that NSF, OD and INF bank charges are okay, they are not.

Contract Laws do not permit anyone to charge fees, fines and penalties for breaching contracts. Clauses in contracts that purport to do so are void, voidable and unenforceable in court.

Somehow the banks have convinced everyone they are apart from and above the law. Perhaps it comes from the $100 parking meter tickets that used to be $5 twenty years ago (these are set by ordinance, so yes, they are legal--you need to vote out your alderman), but I'm not sure where this comes from.

Believe me, if fees, fines and penalties were legal, I'd be charging one on every overdue bill, every day, like the banks do, but the Illinois ARDC would never let me do that.

In any case, what I've decided to do is to sue JP Morgan Chase and see what happens.