Passport News

State Department Cheats Citizens
On Passports, Class Action Claims
SAN FRANCISCO (CN) – The U.S. Department of State breached contract in bad faith with more than 2 million citizens, accepting $60 apiece for expedited processing of passports, failing to deliver the passports on time, failing to return the $60, and failing to tell them how to get their money back, a class-action lawsuit claims in Federal Court. The State Department accepted the $60 extra fee from about half of the 4.5 million applicants who sought passports from December 2006 through February this year, the complaint states. But it failed to deliver them within the statutory three days, and refused to issue refunds. When Congress hollered, in June, State offered refunds to people who did not get their expedited passports within 14 days – in violation of State’s regulations. But the State Department did not tell the applicants this; it only informed members of Congress. Then State imposed a burdensome process on the people it owed $120 million, and it did this “to make it burdensome and to deter applicants from taking the time to ask for the refunds,” the plaintiffs say. They want refunds, damages and costs. They are represented by Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro. See complaint via CourthouseNews.