FCB Bank, 800 Beltline Road in Collinsville
The first class action lawsuit filed in St. Clair County since President Bush signed the Class Action Fairness Act into law last month was filed by Kenneth Kitson against First Collinsville Bank (FCB) claiming the banked jacked up interest on loans.
Alleging the bank did not use a 12-month calendar year to compute interest on promissory notes, the suit claims FCB instead "surreptitiously charged interest at the rate of 101.4 percent of the per annum...thereby charging 1.4 percent more than contracted for cost of credit."
According to the complaint, any Illinoisan who borrowed money believing it was based on a per annum interest rate thought the bank used a year less than 12 calendar months to compute interest, may join the class.
Kitson, represented by Pat Ducey of St. Louis, claims that FCB "in utter disregard of the rights of the class willfully and wantonly engaged in an ongoing pattern and common practice of deception and unfairness throughout loan transactions that included common misrepresentations, half truths and omissions in order to conceal the true rate of interest and costs of credit surreptitiously increasing their profits at the expense of the borrower."
Plaintiffs allege FCB:
Kitson asks the court to find that the bank violated the Consumer Fraud Act, and provide the class award of monetary damages, punitive damages, and any other relief the court deems just and proper.