Financial Archive

Strange Bedfellows: Botched Facelift Victim and…SunTrust?

September 23rd, 2009. By AbiK

If you love a bit of irony, this one’s for you.

Betty Nestlehutt has found herself in the news spotlight lately. Betty’s a septagenarian out of Marietta, GA who underwent facelift surgery back in 2006—she’s a realtor and, according to reports, she had the facelift to be able to compete with younger real estate agents. The facelift didn’t go so well, and so sued for malpractice. But then a strange thing happened at court—she not only won, she won big: to the tune of over $1.2 million. Probably small solace for all she’d been through.

Regardless, she’s the center of attention again in 2009 because her case has become the center of a new case—the one in which her attorneys have asked the Georgia State Supreme Court to overturn a state law that caps damages in medical malpractice lawsuits at $350,000. (If you’re doing the math, yes, Betty’s settlement was greater than the $350k cap).

Now, here’s the irony. As any curious blogger would do, I went to check out Betty online. And I found her real estate site—she’s with Prudential. And as I’m scrolling…ta da!…there it is: a nice-sized display ad for SunTrust mortgages.

And I’m thinking of another set of septagenarians and beyond who allegedly found their SunTrust HELOC accounts frozen. And I’m wondering if Betty knew about that situation. And I’m just thinking of the irony…older real estate agent feels potential age discrimination in the marketplace, has botched facelift, sues, wins, displays advertising from company that allegedly, sorta kinda may have engaged in a bit of age discrimination…

God bless Betty and all she’s been through; and God help all those folks still waiting on answers from SunTrust…

Tags: Malpractice, SunTrust
Posted in Drugs/Medical, Financial, Personal Injury | No Comments »

Can Anyone trust SunTrust?

September 23rd, 2009. By Kristine B

Maybe it’s just me, but it kind of seems like no one who’s put their trust in SunTrust can actually trust that they are being taken care of by SunTrust. Ok, that was a mouthful. But let’s do a little ‘splaining and it’ll all make sense.

First, there were the clients who said that their SunTrust HELOC accounts had been frozen or decreased with no justification or warning—sad, but unfortunately not the first time a company has been accused of treating its clients improperly (when will these companies learn?) Also not surprising is that these clients have taken to the courts in an attempt to tell SunTrust that they are just not gonna take this lying down. 

Now comes news that SunTrust faces a lawsuit, not from clients but from employees, saying the company violated ERISA laws by breaching its fiduciary duty to people involved in the company’s investment plans, profit sharing retirement plans or SunTrust Banks stock.  Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: SunTrust
Posted in Financial | No Comments »

Frozen HELOC Trifecta: Top 3 HELOC lawsuits…and they’re off!

September 16th, 2009. By AbiK

HELOC (Home Equity Line of Credit) accounts hit critical mass this week—or so it would seem if you’ve been following the legal news. Here’s the low-down on the HELOC trifecta:

1. SunTrust HELOC accounts.

Issue: Disappearing HELOC accounts with no real warning and, more importantly, no apparent reason. Lawsuit’s been filed. Part of issue—the pull on the heartstrings part–is that many of those affected by the allegedly freezing of accounts are elderly.

2. Wells Fargo HELOC accounts.

Issue: Reduced HELOC account balance due to improper use of a faulty computer model. Plaintiff Michael Hickman also claims Wells Fargo failed to properly notify him of the HELOC reduction. Hickman’s suit is seeking class action status.

3. JP Morgan Chase HELOC accounts.

Issue: Frozen HELOC accounts based on falsified home appraisals that showed decreasing home values to justify the freeze. Class action lawsuit plaintiff Pascal Majon alleges his account was frozen while the value of his home did not decline. The lawsuit also alleges that Chase did not provide customers with legally required notice of the impending freeze.





 

Tags: HELOC, SunTrust
Posted in Financial | No Comments »