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Class action lawsuit settled against First Premier by NY Attorney General

May 14th, 2008 · 7 Comments · Credit Cards

Kristy Welsh

by Kristy Welsh

Think the “stimulus package” checks are sweet? One board member just got a check for $750 from a class action lawsuit filed against First Premiere Bank, a sub-prime credit card company.

Link to Discussion.

Usually checks from class action lawsuits net you around $30 – sometimes not worth the paperwork you have to fill out to file your claim in the award. But $750 is pretty sweet. :smile:

This is the way First Premier worked its program:

In reality, most consumers received a $250 to $300 credit line at a 9.9% interest rate that could more than double without notice. Even before consumers had a chance to activate or use their credit card, First Premier billed $178 upfront fees for processing the credit card application. As a result, consumers’ found themselves with $70 – $120 in available credit, perilously close to the credit limit, and strapped with bills most believed they were obligated to pay. Additionally, most consumers reported their balance ballooned within a few months, sometimes from $20 to $400 as a result of hidden fees.

It’s too late unfortunately if you haven’t filed a claim for your money – you needed to do it within 90 days of 8-15-07.

Link to Court Ruling.

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7 Comments so far ↓

  • Ed

    Then why wait till May 2008 to tell us?

  • admin

    My bad. I just found out myself. I was really marveling that someone got more than $25 from this suit.

  • peaved ex-cardholder

    I just hung up with these jerks at First Premier after asking for a annual fee refund on both of our cards that we just closed yesterday but there is a 30-day timeframe to request a refund. So of course we are 15 days late. Talk about piss me off. I then research more on them and find that nothing can be done as lawsuit is closed. Now what do I do?

  • TJ

    they can’t report you “late” to the credit bureaus until your payment is at least 30 days late – so if you’re at 15 days right now, you’re still okay, but may not be in another 15 days. I’d advise checking back with them in about a week to see if they’ve resolved the issue and zeroed out your balance. If not, you have a couple of options: 1) pay only the very minimum payment on the balance to avoid the 30 day late and the credit report hassle. 2) file in small claims court in your county. You need to log on to your state’s attorney general’s website and research the name and address of who accepts lawsuit summons on First Premiere’s behalf. Then, although you will name First Premiere Bank as the defendant, you need to be sure you serve the papers on the agent for service I just mentioned. The agent then forwards the suit and summons to the proper person at First Premiere. Generally, it costs only about $25 to $40 to file a small claims suit and you get the back in the award if you win. Also, neither they or you can be represented by an attorney, so this really saves costs. What I’ve found whenever I sue a jackas* company like this is they will contact you and resolve the issue, remove anything negative on your credit report, etc. in return for you dropping your suit. It works like a charm usually because they don’t want the expense and hassle of having to send someone to your county to represent them in a suit worth a few hundred bucks. And, they also know that if they don’t show up and you win by default or you win with them there, they will have to pay FCRA violations fines, usually $1,000 per occurence. Not sure what violations are proper in your exact situation, but you can find out through research… Hope this helps.

  • Arthur Thomas

    Capital One is the best credit cards for those with no credit history or who have cleaned up thier bad credit. Like First Premier, Capital One will start you off with a low credit limit, but unlike First Premier, Capital will not charge you huge upfronts fees. There is even a no annual fee card.

  • Anthony

    Hi i had a first premier bank credit card in 2002
    i had a master card,visa i had a line of $250 on both accounts and when i inrolled i was charge with fees and could not pay off this account at all
    i will pay one time and all
    i got sick and these account i had insurance on both n never got paid by the insurnce company
    till this day i had to pay it anyway .

  • first credit card

    when you are planning to acquire a credit card you have to understand the policies of the banks. You should consider the interest rate, credit limit, benefits and rewards.

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