occupants , the notice says .
Hyundai held a separate recall , 211 , for the same issue in 2021 , but 2020-2021 Accents were not included . However , on Dec . 3 , 2021 , a driver in Puerto Rico had a crash in their 2020 Hyundai Accent and the seat belt pretensioner exploded , leading to the current recall .
Hyundai says it is actively investigating the root cause of the issue and that the affected seat belt pretensioners were installed from a suspect production lot .
“ At the time of this filing , the cause of the abnormal deployment is unknown ,” the company says . “ Hyundai is recalling vehicles equipped with pretensioners produced within the same production lot to conduct a detailed part return analysis . The part inspections and investigation will actively continue to determine if a specific root cause and defect trend exists .”
Hyundai says it will notify owners of affected vehicles by first class mail by Feb . 25 with instructions to bring their vehicles to a Hyundai dealer to have the seat belt pretensioner replaced .
“ This remedy will be offered at no cost for all affected customers . All returned pretensioners will be collected for further analysis into root cause ,” the recall notice says .
In early February , Hyundai had to recall 357,830 of its 2016-2018 Santa Fe , 2017-2018 Santa Fe Sport , 2019 Santa Fe XL and 2014-2015 Tucson vehicles due to a risk of engine fires . The carmaker warned drivers to park their vehicles outside and away from structures as they can spontaneously catch fire even when off .
Bank of America , Capital One Rake In Billions While Denying Customers COVID Hardship Relief
Two class action lawsuits against Bank of America and Capital One have been filed over the banks ’ continued assessment of late fees and interest charges despite their promises of hardship relief throughout the coronavirus pandemic .
The two plaintiffs say they were denied meaningful forms of financial assistance when they became unable to make their credit card payments in the pandemic . Meanwhile , the banks raked in billions of dollars in revenue , according to court documents .
The banks are each accused of unjust enrichment , breaching the covenant of good faith and fair dealing and violating California consumer protection laws .
The plaintiffs want both banks to “ disclose the actual circumstances , if any , under which pandemic-related refunds will be provided to its customers ” and to set up a system that will allow refunds for fees incurred due to coronavirus-related circumstances . They also seek restitution of all late fees , disgorgement of the bank ’ s “ ill-gotten gains ,” actual damages , prejudgment interest and attorneys ’ fees .
As a response to the pandemic , Bank of America had “ promised consumers that it would refund punitive late fees and interest that hurt its most vulnerable customers ,” the complaint says .
California resident Laverne Simmons had lost work due to the pandemic and wasn ’ t able to make her credit card payments . She was allowed a temporary one-time payment deferral as part of the bank ’ s “ standard hardship program , not related to the COVID-19 pandemic .” The bank continued to charge her late fees . After that , customer representatives
allegedly told Simmons that “ there was no COVID-specific relief program .”
In 2020 alone , Bank of America made $ 33.3 billion in its consumer market , including $ 7 billion in service charges , according to court documents .
Simmons seeks to represent a nationwide class and an alternative California class that includes all Bank of America consumer credit card customers who , after Mar . 12 , 2020 , were charged late fees by the bank , attempted to seek a refund and did not receive a refund for such fees .
As its pandemic response , Capital One promised that all customers could receive “ relief from credit card late fees ,” according to court documents .
California resident Tanya Fitzpatrick heard and trusted in these promises and continued to use her Capital One Platinum Mastercard . Just as Capital One encouraged customers , Fitzpatrick called the bank to ask for her late fees to be waived since she had lost work due to the pandemic .
Fitzpatrick says that three different customer service representatives denied her request “ without any further investigation .”
“ As a result , the burden of making her minimum payments continued to grow ,” the complaint says .
Capital One made $ 1.243 billion in service and other consumer charges , including late fees , in 2020 .
Fitzpatrick seeks to represent a nationwide class and an alternative California class that includes all Capital One credit card holders who , after Mar . 23 , 2020 , requested assistance from Capital One but were subsequently charged late fees or interest on unpaid credit card balances .