Gutierrez v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.

944 F. Supp. 2d 819, 2013 WL 2048030, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 69287
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedMay 14, 2013
DocketNo. C 07-05923 WHA
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 944 F. Supp. 2d 819 (Gutierrez v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gutierrez v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., 944 F. Supp. 2d 819, 2013 WL 2048030, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 69287 (N.D. Cal. 2013).

Opinion

ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART MOTION FOR JUDGMENT FOLLOWING REMAND

WILLIAM ALSUP, District Judge.

Introduction

After a bench trial in this certified consumer class action, certain overdraft practices by Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. that imposed hundreds of millions of dollars in overdraft fees on depositors were held unfair and fraudulent. Our court of appeals affirmed in part and reversed in part. On remand, plaintiffs now move to reinstate the prior judgment on narrower grounds and request injunctive relief, restitution, and interest. For the reasons explained below, plaintiffs’ motion is Granted in Part and Denied in Part.

Statement

Plaintiffs brought this class action to challenge a Wells Fargo bookkeeping device known as “high-to-low” posting. In practice, processing account debits received by the bank each day in high-to-low order multiplied the overdraft fees collected by the bank by depleting the account as fast as possible and turning what might otherwise be a single overdraft into as many as ten. Following a two-week bench trial, the Court made the following rulings on class claims relevant to the instant motion:

(1) Wells Fargo’s decision to use high-to-low posting (along with certain allied practices) was made in bad faith with the sole object being to increase the overdraft fees charged to customers. This violated the “unfair” prong of Section 17200 of the California Business and Professions Code.

(2) Wells Fargo failed to disclose (or to do so adequately) the challenged .resequencing practice. This violated the “fraudulent” prong of Section 17200.

(3) Wells Fargo made misleading statements to consumers regarding its resequencing practice in violation of the “fraudulent” prong of Section 17200.

(4) The deceptive conduct under the “fraudulent” prong of Section 17200 also established liability for plaintiffs’ false ad[821]*821vertising claim under Section 17500 of the California Business and Professions Code.

(5) Wells Fargo was enjoined and thereby ordered to (a) cease the high-to-low posting practice, (b) reinstate an alternative posting method for all class members, (c) file a declaration on any new posting system so that it could be vetted by the Court prior to implementation, and (d) conform all agreements, disclosures, websites, online banking statements, and promotional materials provided to class members to the new system.

(6) Wells Fargo was ordered to pay restitution for its unfair competition under Section 17200. Using a measurement method that tracked class members’ most likely expectations that debits would have been posted in chronological posting order, Wells Fargo was liable for restitution to class members totaling $202,994,035.46 (as specified in the final judgment, Dkt. No. 498 at 1). This was based on the difference between the high-to-low method versus the chronological posting method.

The Findings did not reach the class claims for negligent misrepresentation and fraud because the injunctive relief sought thereunder would be duplicative.

On appeal, the above-numerated rulings 1-2 and 5-6 were reversed; rulings 3-4 were affirmed. Gutierrez v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., 704 F.3d 712, 725-30 (9th Cir.2012).

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Related

In re Checking Account Overdraft Litigation
307 F.R.D. 630 (S.D. Florida, 2015)
Ellis v. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.
950 F. Supp. 2d 1062 (N.D. California, 2013)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
944 F. Supp. 2d 819, 2013 WL 2048030, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 69287, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gutierrez-v-wells-fargo-bank-na-cand-2013.