Our Lawyers Defend Your Rights

Class Action

In 2004 and 2006, we filed a Class Action lawsuit against certain financial institutions that issue credit cards.

In November 2006 and October 2007, Justice Clément Gascon of the Québec Supreme Court authorized Class Action lawsuits against the following financial institutions:

	Increased limit	Charges for exceeding limit
Amex Canada		X
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce	X	X
Citibank Canada	X	X
HSBC Bank Canada	X	X
MBNA Canada	X	X
Bank of Montréal	X	X
National Bank of Canada	X
Bank of Nova Scotia		X

These financial institutions are in contravention of the Consumer Protection Act because they unilaterally increase their customers’ credit limit and allow them to carry out purchases exceeding the credit limit for which they were initially authorized; they sometimes then impose "overlimit charges.” The purpose of the Class Action is to obtain repayment of the amounts obtained illegally plus exemplary damages.

Members
You are a member of this Class Action if you were granted, without express request on your part, an increase in your credit limit and that have you used this increased credit:
with your Bank of Montreal card between January 9, 2001 and December 31, 2009. (Class action n° 500-06-000221-040)
with your Royal Bank of Canada, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, National Bank of Canada, Citibank Canada or MBNA Canada card between January 12, 2001 and December 31, 2009. (Class action n° 500-06-000372-066)

You are a member of this Class Action if you paid charges because you exceeded your credit limit:
with your Citibank Canada card between January 9, 2001 and September 30, 2010. (Class action n° 500-06-000221-040)
with your Bank of Montreal, Royal Bank of Canada, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Bank of Nova Scotia, Amex Bank of Canada, Citibank Canada or MBNA Canada card between January 12, 2001 and September 30, 2010. (Class action n° 500-06-000372-066)


If you wish to be excluded from the class action, you must advise the Clerk of the Superior Court, District of Montreal, by courier or registered mail. The Clerk’s address is 1,Notre-Dame Street East, Suite1.01, Montreal (Quebec) H2Y1B6, and the Clerk must be informed no later than January 10th, 2011 that you are a member of the group described in the class action bearing docket number 500-06-000221-040 or in the class action bearing docket number 500-06-000372-066 and that you wish to be excluded from these proceedings.

Progress of the Class Action
The Superior Court has authorized us to sue certain financial institutions. This lawsuit could take a few years. We recommend that you follow the progress of this case by consulting the newspapers and our Web site.

We suggest you keep all the documents, (letters and account statements), that show that you were subjected to one of the problems referred to in this Class Action. In addition, we invite you to fill out this form.