Wells Fargo Settles Foreclosure Frauds Suit
USAA has recently sued Wells Fargo for supposedly ripping off its customers through an illegal scheme known as predatory lending. In its attempt to be fairly compensated for making various investments in and retaining various patents for RDC technologies, USAA recently filed two lawsuits against Wells Fargo. The lawsuits allege that Wells Fargo used predatory lending practices to rip off its customers, which resulted in the closing of credit accounts and damaging the company’s credit rating. As previously stated by USAA, Wells Fargo has already taken measures to correct its wrongful acts. However, this does not resolve the question of whether or not the bank was grossly negligent in its lending practices.
Wells Fargo has also been accused of violating intellectual property laws in its handling of patents.
Specifically, USAA is asserting that Wells Fargo acted in a manner that is in clear violation of seven United States patents that it held for seven years. According to USAA, one of the patents, entitled” KNOWLEDGE OF THE ART OF SHIELD BRAND,” contained terms that the company illegally used to “trick customers” into paying unreasonable royalties. In addition to these patents, USAA is seeking damages on its patent infringement claims based on the following patents: “Claims regarding security, storage devices, apparatus and personal digital assistant (PDA) technology,” “claims regarding a system for electronic money transfer based on proof of transactions using virtual money,” and “unauthorized access.”
In the fall of 2009, USAA sued Wells Fargo again, this time over allegations that it had illegally blocked credit unions from gaining direct access to funds through an allowance program.
This allowance program, according to USAA, was designed to allow credit unions to obtain additional cash through direct debit at their offices. According to USAA, Wells Fargo violated the patent law by preventing the credit unions from accessing the funds they needed. Additionally, USAA contends that the company deliberately mis-branded its Forex automated trading system to “dazzle” customers into thinking it was more sophisticated than it actually was, a tactic-and-deception that USAA says made the bank guilty of “misleading statements and deceptive advertising.”
Wells Fargo is not the only corporation in business today that faces patent infringement lawsuits.
Last year, Bank of America was hit with a patent suit that claimed the company illegally abused the Patentech technology that was supposed to give it an advantage over other mortgage processors. Bank of America, however, has already settled the lawsuits-for a purported amount that is believed to be in the region of $200 million. In fact, Bank of America has been sued once before over its use of the same FX EMR practice that was decried by the US Patent and Trademark Office. A suit was also filed against Citibank, but later withdrawn.
One other lawsuit against Wells Fargo has been brought on behalf of individual personal bankers.
Two class action lawsuits (one brought by a New York State Comptroller) have been pending against Wells Fargo Bank, and both plaintiffs are seeking class action lawsuit funding in an attempt to obtain compensation for their losses as a result of the bank’s poor performance during the period leading up to the lawsuit. A class action lawsuit provides funds to individuals who are represented by a legal counsel and are interested in pursuing a claim at trial. Class action lawsuits are particularly helpful because they allow plaintiffs to seek damages on a more individual basis.
A number of lawsuits have been lodged against Wells Fargo Bank. However, as detailed above, Wells Fargo has already settled the lawsuits in question.
If you would like to learn more about filing a complaint in either case, please visit the website cited below. The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York has authority over fraud claims and can give you important information about this matter.