Hawaii AG Files Lawsuit Against Seven Major Credit Card Companies

The Attorney General of the State of Hawaii announced Thursday that he has filed lawsuits in First Circuit Court against seven major credit card companies, alleging that the companies improperly charged their Hawaii customers for products not requested or for products that did not provide the benefits claimed.

The suits are being brought by the State of Hawaii by Attorney General David M. Louie, with the State of Hawaii being represented by local attorney Rick Fried in association with two mainland firms, Golomb & Honik of Philadelphia, and Baron & Budd of Dallas.

An example of an alleged improper charge is where a credit card company bills a consumer for something called “payment protection” or something similar, which supposedly pays the cardholder’s required minimum monthly payments in certain circumstances. The consumer is not told of the numerous restrictions, and often the consumer doesn’t qualify for the product in the first place. Solicitations for these products are often telemarketing calls using predatory tactics to sign up customers for services they either don’t want or don’t qualify for. The suits point out that, unlike other telemarketers, these credit card companies already have their customers’ credit card information and therefore are able to charge their customers for products without their knowledge or consent.

The seven credit card companies that have been named as defendants are Bank of America, Barclays, Capital One, Chase, Citi, Discover, HSBC, and their subsidiaries.

The State has requested injunctive relief to stop the alleged illegal practices, full restitution for all affected consumers, and penalties, which could subject the credit card companies to up to $10,000 per violation. If awarded, restitution funds would go directly to consumers and penalties would go to the state’s general fund.