WASHINGTON (AP) - Bank of America has been fined $30 million by U.S. regulators, who accused the bank of violating consumer protections for members of the military in collecting debts.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, a Treasury Department division, announced the civil penalty Friday against the second-largest U.S. bank. The agency said Bank of America has started taking steps to correct the problems and "is committed to taking all necessary and appropriate steps" to do so.
The regulators say the bank violated the law protecting service members by taking improper legal action against military customers for delinquent credit card accounts and overdrafts. The improper practices allegedly occurred from January 2006 to the present.
The OCC also said Bank of America had failed to have effective policies and procedures to ensure its compliance with the law, the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act.
Bank of America Corp., based in Charlotte, North Carolina, said it will continue to improve its compliance with the law.