Bankoh to refund fee on mortgage

By Deborah Adamson
Advertiser Staff Writer

More than 30,000 Bank of Hawaii mortgage customers will get a fee refund as part of the settlement of a class-action lawsuit against the bank, the bank and customer attorneys said in a statement yesterday.

Pending final court approval, Bank of Hawaii has agreed to pay between $1.7 million and $2.45 million to customers, depending on the number of refunds requested, and for consumer education in the state, the statement said.

The state's second-largest bank recently settled the lawsuit involving its practice of charging customers fees of $35, $50 or $100 after first residential mortgages were paid off and released.

Bank of Hawaii ended the practice in April 2003, the month following a lawsuit filed by Michael J. McPherson, Danielle C. McPherson, Jacqueline Lee Kaohi, Brent White, Cheryl Lenart and Dee Ann Koanui.

Customers who paid the fee between January 1988 and April 2003 will be entitled to a refund. The court will set the refund amount, which could be as much as double what consumers paid. The bank will inform eligible customers in early 2005 how to apply for the refund.

Bank of Hawaii and the attorneys for the plaintiffs declined to comment beyond the one-page news release they issued jointly.

Reach Deborah Adamson at dadamson@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8088.