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In the last decade, many factors coincided to produce a nationwide problem. Due to the general building boom and reconstruction from major hurricanes like Katrina and Charley, the U.S. was in short supply of drywall or gypsum board for homes.

To fill the demand, builders and suppliers imported drywall predominantly from a Chinese firm known as Knauf-Tianjin. Drywall from this and other Chinese manufacturers was used in both new and existing construction between 2001 and 2008.

Homeowners affected by the Chinese drywall have complained of several ailments, including migraines, nose bleeds and respiratory problems among other things. Copper tubing in A/C units and electrical wiring has turned black in homes with the tainted drywall. Some even link 11 deaths to the toxic mold but the Centers for Disease Control say the deaths had nothing to do with toxic Chinese drywall.

Problems stemming from toxic drywall are most prevalent in the southeastern states where there is high heat and humidity for several months out of the year. Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and southeastern Texas have seen the highest number of cases.

But other states too have toxic Chinese drywall, including Colorado. The Chinese Drywall Complaint Center, a consumer group setup to handle these claims, says many of the other problems haven’t revealed themselves because areas outside the south don’t cross the heat and humidity threshold to pose a big problem for homeowners.

While some homes are being repaired directly by Knauf-Tianjin, others are seeing their insurance policies cancelled due to this toxic drywall problem.

It’s thought that as many as 500,000 homes across the U.S. contain toxic drywall. If you’re having any of the health issues mentioned above, your home’s copper and electric wires are turning black and your home was built or remodeled between 2001 and 2008, you may have toxic drywall from China in your home.

If you do, contact the Chinese Drywall Complaint Center and if you’re in Colorado, contact Denver toxic mold attorneys at the Babcock Law Firm today to discuss what legal options you may have.

Customers of many banks across the U.S. – including many in Colorado – are complaining they are the victims of excessive overdraft fees. Many are suing for damages, including a woman in Loveland who recently sued Wells Fargo in federal court.

In fact, all of these cases spanning 23 states and 33 banks have been consolidated into a class-action lawsuit in Miami.

Continue reading for a few of the practices customers allege banks are using along with some background on what overdraft fees are. Complainants in the lawsuit(s) say these practices are designed to push their account into the red quicker so the bank can charge more in overdraft fees. Banks maintain they do some of these practices to ensure the customer’s most important expenses, like a mortgage or car payment, are paid first.

Overdraft Fees

First of all, many customers never realize they have overdraft protection, as their bank never asked if they wanted it in the first place. Many assume their debit card would simply be declined if they don’t have enough cash in their account. But dropping $10 into the red could mean a $35 or more overdraft fee. And since they’re never told about the overdraft, customers may go on and keep using their debit card and unknowingly incur the per-transaction fee for every purchase, no matter how small it is.

As of July 1st of this year, banks are now required to ask if a new account holder wants overdraft protection. This rule was expanded to include all customers effective August 15th.

Reordering Transactions

One way banks are accused of charging excessive overdraft fees is through reordering transactions. Meaning, a bank processes the largest transactions first regardless of the order they occurred.

Let’s say you spend $10, $20, $50 and $100 in that order and have $140 in your account. If the bank processes each transaction as it occurred, you will not overdraft until the last transaction. However, many banks process the largest transaction first and then work their way down, meaning overdraft will be triggered for three of the charges in this scenario.

Authorization Holds

Another practice banks are using to push an account into overdraft is the authorization hold, which occurs between the time you purchase something and the merchant settles the transaction. Before the merchant settles the transaction, the bank will “hold” but not withdraw the amount from your account.

The customer doesn’t have access to the funds but they’re still technically in the account until the merchant submits their batch of transactions.

Many bank customers complain their banks are back-dating their transactions to the date of purchase, not the settlement date. They say this pushes their accounts into overdraft because they may not have had the funds in their account on the date of purchase but did on the settlement date.

Irregular Debits and Credits

Customers also complain about the irregularity of how long it takes to post debit and deposits to an account. Banks are required by law to make a deposit available to a customer within a certain amount of days but they can choose to make them available sooner. Many customers are saying the banks are inconsistent and they never know when the funds are actually in their account.

Sometimes, they say, the bank will sometimes post a deposit immediately while other times it’s not posted until the account has gone into overdraft.

The important lesson here is pay careful attention to how your bank handles your transactions and what they charge in terms of fees. There are many situations like this across the U.S. but with our busy lives, it’s sometimes hard to keep track of various fees we’re charged for everyday things.

Prepaid debit cards that include the Visa or Mastercard logo provide a sensible alternative to regular credit cards. The concept sounds great – load your card with a certain amount of cash and you can’t overspend and get yourself into trouble with credit card debt.

Companies like Green Dot Visa though are being accused of hiding inordinate fees from their customers – examples include a $6.95 activation fee that comes off a person’s balance when they first use the card or a $5.95 monthly fee for balances under $1000.

These cards primarily appeal to lower income Americans and immigrants, those with the inability to open a bank account or apply for a credit card. Approximately 80 million Americans never interact with a bank. Green Dot and other prepaid debit card companies target these types of consumers while neglecting to mention these fees.

A Green Dot customer in Colorado recently had trouble with the balance on his card. After purchasing a card and making two deposits at his local 7-Eleven totaling just under $500, he was shocked to find that the second deposit never made it on his card.

He has tried contacting Green Dot several times to try and find the missing funds but has had no luck in getting a straight answer from the company. He has been successful in recovering the $270 from the 7-Eleven but neither he or the store has had any success in resolving the issue with Green Dot. After researching the company online, the ex-Green Dot customer found some people who are considering a class action lawsuit against the company.

“If it was $20, I probably wouldn’t care, but it was $270. That was money for Christmas presents,” comments the bewildered customer.

My suggestion is you definitely read the fine print when dealing with these cards. I certainly understand their utility but since it’s such an unregulated business, you have to take into account that there may be charges they are not going to be eager to tell you about.

If you feel you have been wronged by one of these companies or like the gentleman in Denver, you’re having trouble resolving an issue like his, please let me know.

Contact my Colorado fraud lawyer firm, The Babcock Law Firm, today for a no-risk, no-fee consultation.