check for the sum of “Zero and 49/100 Dollars.” I wasn’t even aware I was part of this. No, seriously, I wasn’t. But that’s okay, ‘cuz I’m sure I can find a use for this money. I wonder what $0.49 will buy me anyway? Let’s see… Back in my dad’s day, $0.49 would buy you a ticket to the movies, get you sodapop and popcorn, and still leave you with change. Today it gets me… diddly. If I add another $0.50 of my own money, I can get a can of soda from the corner store, or maybe a pack of chewing gum. Yes, I’m rich now because some lawyers sued Bank of America for billions of dollars. Here’s the text of the letter: The class action settlement has been approved in the matter of Edell v. Bank of America, N.A. (USA), Case No. C-20010051, Superior Court of the State of Arizona, County of Pima. The attached check is your settlement payment from Edell vs. Bank Of America Settlement Fund. This check is being sent to you because you have or had a Bank of America, N.A. (USA) credit card and paid at least one overlimit fee between January 5, 1995 to December 31, 2003, your account was closed and your account did not have a deciciency balance. Please cash this check no later than November 22, 2005, because after that date the account will be closed. What the hell? So I get charged $35 for an overlimit fee during that time, and I get a whole flippin’ forty-nine cents??? I’d REALLY like to know what the lawyers got when they setteld this case. I’m CERTAIN that they got in the tens of millions EACH. Yeah, ya gotta love these class action guys. Real smooth talkers they are. Must be a nice way to make a living, too. I’m not jealous, not by any stretch of the imagination. Nor am I angry. I find this whole business rather humorous and ironic. Hell, I got a bigger check in the CD Price-Fixing class-action suit, and at least I was able to use that $11.23 to go buy me a new CD. I can’t very well pay an overlimit charge of $35 with a $0.49 check. Oh, I gotta love “The System” in this country. Always looking out for the little guy… or not. Anyway, that’s all from me for today. Enough ranting. I’m gonna put this money to good use and worry about whether or not I’m actually gonna get the job I’ve interviewed several times for. Keep your fingers crossed – I know I’m the best guy for this job, I just hope they can see that, too. Thanks for visiting and Keep Coming Back!!!]]>
i received one of these checks also. a check worth slightly more than the cost of mailing it. assholes!
http://www.cosc.co.pima.az.us/record_search/casesearch.asp?casenum=C20010051
you can see where the attorneys made certain to get they’re fees prior to judgement release. Slime. haven’t delved deep enough to find out exactly who the attorneys are though i suspect they’re mentioned on the dockets. i really wanna know how much they got.
I just got one of those today too. I thought it was a joke at first. What a waste of paper.
I also got a 49? check. I Googled for info to find out how much this cost BofA and how much the lawyers got away with, but your site was the main thing that came up. Can you find a source for more info on this thing?
Thanks!
I haven’t the foggiest. Although I did get an email from somebody with the URL listed in the first comment and this one:
http://www.strangeandcarpenter.com/profiles.html
Which is apparently the profile page for the lawyers who did the case…
I haven’t decided what I’m gonna do with this check yet. I’m not even sure I’m going to deposit it. Kinda silly, I think, to deposit a CHECK for $0.49.
I received a $0.49 check, too. (The smallest settlement I’ve ever received was $0.23! I never knew I was a participant in any of these suits.) Here’s a link with a bit more detail:
http://accounting.smartpros.com/x43785.xml
Looks like it was a $4.2 million settlement with about 1 million cardholders involved. At 49 cents per cardholder, that’s half a million dollars total. Do the lawyers pocket the remaining $3.7 million? Also, if I do not cash the check, does the money go back to the lawyers? i.e. if we don’t cash the checks, do the lawyers win even more?
Hey, thanks for the URL. Yeah, I’m guessing that if we don’t deposit our settlement checks, it goes back to the lawyers.
typically 1/3 goes to the attorney or $1.5 million. A couple of % would go to a bank or accounting firm to handle the disbursement. There are other expenses travel, court filing fees and don’t forget stamps. So the attorneys did ok and we get $0.49.
Add me to the list. This case is a classic. Are we going to get charged any more. I note that it was an out of court settlement, so we will not find out much more.