Deciding a case of first impression, Southern District Judge P. Kevin Castel (See Profile) found that New York’s Exempt Income Protection Act does not provide a private right of action for money damages against a bank in a case involving a putative class of debtors who sued TD Bank for freezing their accounts pursuant to a restraint by a third-party creditor.
Debtors Gary Cruz and Claude Pain, the plaintiffs in Cruz v. TD Bank, N.A., 10 Civ. 8026, claimed TD Bank restrained their accounts and charged them fees in violation of Article 52 of the New York Civil Practice Law and Rules as amended by the Exempt Income Protection Act in 2008. The measure was designed to expand procedural protections to judgment debtors and broaden the types of property exempt from restraint by a creditor.
