Collins v. Provident Bank

The Notice describes rights you may have in connection with the settlement of a lawsuit.

The Superior Court of New Jersey, Hudson County, authorized the Notice.  This is not a solicitation from a lawyer.

• Provident Bank (“Provident”) has agreed to pay $1,850,000 into a fund from which eligible persons will receive Cash Awards.  The fund also will be used to pay settlement Administrative Expenses, and any Court-awarded Service Award, attorneys’ fees, and costs.
• The settlement resolves a lawsuit brought against Provident Bank regarding its purported use of the so-called “Authorize Positive, Settle Negative” methodology to assess Overdraft Fees; specifically, the individual who brought this case alleges that Provident Bank breached its customer agreements and related obligations by charging Overdraft Fees on transactions in which a customer’s available account balance was positive at the time the transaction was authorized at Provident Bank,
  but the customer’s available account balance was negative at the time the transaction settled due to intervening transactions (“Challenged Fees”).  
• If you were assessed any Challenged Fees during the Class Period by Provident Bank, you are eligible to receive a cash payment from a settlement fund.
• Court-appointed lawyers for the Settlement Class (“Class Counsel”) will ask the Court for a payment of up to $616,666.67 from the fund as attorneys’ fees, which is equal to one-third of the Settlement Amount.  Class Counsel also will ask the Court to reimburse them for the out-of-pocket expenses they paid to investigate the facts and litigate the case.
• The named Plaintiff will also seek approval of a $5,000 Service Award from the Court.
• The two sides disagree on whether the named Plaintiff and the Settlement Class could have won at trial.
• Your legal rights are affected whether you act or don’t act.  Read this Notice carefully.
• The foregoing description of the Settlement Agreement and Release does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the full text of the Settlement Agreement and Release, a copy of which is available on this website.  In the event of a conflict between the foregoing description and the provisions of the Settlement Agreement and Release, the provisions of the Settlement Agreement and Release prevail.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION REGARDING THIS SETTLEMENT, OR FOR INFORMATION ON HOW TO REQUEST EXCLUSION FROM THE SETTLEMENT CLASS OR FILE AN OBJECTION, PLEASE CONTACT THE SETTLEMENT ADMINISTRATOR AT 1-888-837-5932.  Please do not call or write the Court, the Court Clerk’s office, Provident, or Provident’s Counsel for more information.  They will not be able to assist you.

BASIC INFORMATION

The purpose of this Notice is to let you know that a proposed settlement has been reached in a proposed class action case entitled Collins v. Provident Bank, Case No. HUD-1429-22, pending in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Hudson County.  Plaintiff has alleged that Provident Bank breached its customer contracts and implied duty of good faith and fair dealing by charging Overdraft Fees on transactions in which a customer’s available account balance was positive at the time the transaction was authorized at Provident Bank, but the customer’s available account balance was negative at the time the transaction settled due to intervening transactions (“Challenged Fees”).  The Court has not decided who is right.

You have legal rights and options that you may act on before the Court decides whether to approve the proposed settlement.
Because your rights will be affected by this settlement, it is extremely important that you read this Notice carefully.  This Notice summarizes the settlement and your rights under it.