Rip off! banks exploiting consumers

Author / Creator

Hatch, Karney

Available as

Online

Summary

This film is an exposé of how the banking industry harvests billions of dollars from consumers in the form of overdraft and other fees. In actuality, these fees are loans and consumers are charged ...

This film is an exposé of how the banking industry harvests billions of dollars from consumers in the form of overdraft and other fees. In actuality, these fees are loans and consumers are charged usurous rates. In Washington, D.C., Ralph Nader discusses the predatory lending practices of the major national banks and how individuals can fight against the unfair fees -- by organizing campaigns against the banks, by joining organizations like the Consumers Union and by suing the banks in small claims court. The Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney wrote and sponsored the Overdraft Protection Fair Practices Act in 2003 and she is still fighting for the bill's passage. Also interviewed are Gail Hillebrand of the Consumers Union, a class action attorney whose $1.5 billion class action case against Bank of America went to the California Supreme Court; and a loan shark whose rates are better than the banks. The film also looks at the larger issue of corporate dominance of our culture by speaking with author and filmmaker Joel Bakan ("The Corporation"). The filmmaker used his debit card to make small purchases costing $60, spending more money than he had in his account, relying on the bank's automatic overdraft protection. When he opened his next bank statement, he saw that he was charged $80 on top of the $60. The happy ending: the filmmaker recouped his overdraft fees from Wells Fargo by following Nader's advice and filing a case in small claims court.

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