Yu v. Signet Bank/Virginia, et al.

Alameda County Superior Court Case Number H-184674-8

Case Type: Unfair and Unlawful Business Practices

Status: Settled on behalf of all victims for in excess of $6 million

The Sturdevant Law Firm is lead counsel for the plaintiffs in this lawsuit alleging that Signet Bank and its successor, Capital One Bank, engaged in a long-term illegal practice of suing California credit card customers in municipal courts in the State of Virginia. Knowing that most consumers would not be able to defend themselves against such lawsuits, the banks obtained unconstitutional default judgments against them and used those judgments to garnish their wages or intimidate the customers into paying the unlawful judgments.

During the litigation the trial granted two different motions by the banks to dismiss the case. On both occasions plaintiffs appealed the trial court’s decision and won. The decisions of the Court of Appeal can be reviewed at Yu v. Signet Bank 69 Cal. App. 4th 1377 (1999) and Yu v. Signet Bank/Virginia 103 Cal. App. 4th 298 (2002). In the second decision, the Court of Appeal held that plaintiffs had sufficiently alleged claims for abuse of process and unfair business practices based on the banks’ practice of suing California consumers in Virginia. After that decision, the case settled under an agreement which allowed credit card customers who had been victimized by the practice to claim and recover the full amount of money that had been collected from them. The potential value of the claims under the settlement was estimated to be in excess of $6 million. The defendant banks also agreed to pay $3.7 million in attorneys fees.