Unauthorized Bank and Credit Card Charges: Your Rights in Florida

Someone emptied your checking account through Zelle. A stranger ran up $3,000 on your credit card. You reported it, and the bank decided the charges were yours. Federal law limits what you owe for charges and transfers you didn't make, often to $50 or nothing, and lets you sue the bank or card company that ignores the rules.

Newhart Legal represents Florida consumers against banks, credit unions, credit card companies, and payment apps that refuse to refund unauthorized charges or fix billing errors, in state and federal court.

Problems we handle

• Debit card, ATM, or online banking transfers you didn't make

• Zelle, Cash App, Venmo, or PayPal transfers by someone who got into your account

• Credit card charges you didn't make or authorize

• Fraud claims denied with a form letter, or never investigated

• Provisional credit the bank took back

• Credit card charges for things you never received

• Late fees, interest, or credit reporting on a charge you're disputing

• Loan or mortgage payments pulled from your account without permission

What the law requires

Three laws apply. The Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA) covers money taken from your bank, credit union, or payment app account by debit card, ATM, phone, or online transfer. For credit cards, the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) limits your liability for unauthorized use, and the Fair Credit Billing Act, part of TILA, sets the rules for disputing a charge.

• Credit cards: you owe at most $50 for unauthorized use, and nothing for charges made after you report the card lost or stolen (15 U.S.C. § 1643(a), (d))

• Debit cards and bank accounts: if your card or PIN was lost or stolen, your share is capped at $50 when you tell the bank within two business days after you learn of it, and at $500 if you wait longer (15 U.S.C. § 1693g(a))

• If no card or PIN was lost or stolen, you owe nothing for unauthorized transfers you report within 60 days after the bank sends the statement that first shows them (12 C.F.R. § 1005.6(b)(3))

• Miss that 60-day window and you can be stuck with transfers made after it (15 U.S.C. § 1693g(a))

• A bank must investigate a timely error notice and report back within 10 business days, or credit your account provisionally and finish within 45 days, longer for new accounts and some debit card purchases (15 U.S.C. § 1693f(a), (c); 12 C.F.R. § 1005.11(c))

• In a dispute over whether you owe for a transfer, the bank must prove you authorized it or that the conditions for holding you liable were met (15 U.S.C. § 1693g(b)). A card company suing you for a charge carries the same burden (15 U.S.C. § 1643(b))

• A card company must acknowledge a written billing-error notice within 30 days and resolve it within two billing cycles, never more than 90 days (15 U.S.C. § 1666(a))

• While a credit card dispute is open, the card company can't collect the disputed amount or report it as late to the credit bureaus (15 U.S.C. § 1666a; 12 C.F.R. § 1026.13(d))

Your right to a real investigation

For a bank account or debit card, report the problem as soon as you find it. A phone call counts, though the bank can ask you to confirm in writing within 10 business days (15 U.S.C. § 1693f(a)). If the bank finds no error, it must explain why within three business days after it finishes and, if you ask, send you copies of the documents it relied on (15 U.S.C. § 1693f(d)).

For a credit card, the billing-error rights turn on a written notice that reaches the address the card company lists for billing disputes within 60 days after it sent the first statement showing the charge (15 U.S.C. § 1666(a)). A phone call alone doesn't trigger them. Call before you send that notice. What it says, and where it goes, matter later.

What you can recover

Under the EFTA, you can recover your actual damages, statutory damages of $100 to $1,000, and your attorney's fees and costs (15 U.S.C. § 1693m(a)). The court triples your actual damages if the bank skipped the provisional credit and either didn't investigate in good faith or had no reasonable basis to deny your claim, or if it knowingly denied a claim the evidence couldn't support (15 U.S.C. § 1693f(e)).

Under TILA, including the Fair Credit Billing Act, you can recover actual damages, statutory damages of $500 to $5,000 on a credit card account, and attorney's fees and costs (15 U.S.C. § 1640(a)).

Actual damages include the money taken, overdraft and late fees, and other losses the violation caused. You have one year from the violation to sue under the EFTA or TILA (15 U.S.C. §§ 1640(e), 1693m(g)).