in brief: Consumers resist bank changes to terms in credit agreements; JP Morgan Chase named in class action

On January 28, 2009, consumers filed a class action lawsuit against banks JP Morgan Chase and Chase Manhattan Bank for unilateral changes to terms governing credit card agreements.  This class action appears to be one of the early reactions to a wave of bank-imposed changes to terms governing consumer credit accounts.  (Ron Lieber, Credit Card Companies Go to War Against Losses (January 30, 2009) www.nytimes.com; see also, Eileen Ambrose, Banks playing hardball on credit, leaving consumers feeling blindsided, angry (February 24, 2009) www.baltimoresun.com.)  The banking practices mentioned in these articles are happening at other institutions.  Just as commentators predict a wave of employment litigation, I expect that consumer lending issues will balloon this year.