William Klopfenstein v. Fifth Third Bank

── William Klopfenstein v. Fifth Third Bank ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit Date: May 29, 2026 Category: General RECOMMENDED FOR PUBLICATION Pursuant to Sixth Circuit I.O.P. 32.1(b) File Name: 26a0159p.06 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT ┐ WILLIAM R. KLOPFENSTEIN, │ Plaintiff, │ │ LORI LASKARIS; DANIEL LASKARIS; BRIAN C. │ HARRISON; JANET FYOCK; ADAM MCKINNEY; DONALD > Nos. 24-3955/3974 │ E. ADANICH, on behalf of themselves and all others │ similarly situated, │ Plaintiffs-Appellants/Cross-Appellees, │ │ v. │ │ │ FIFTH THIRD BANK, │ Defendant-Appellee/Cross-Appellant. ┘ Certification of Question of Law to the Supreme Court of Ohio Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio at Cincinnati. No. 1:12-cv-00851—Michael R. Barrett, District Judge. Argued: February 4, 2026 Decided and Filed: May 29, 2026 Before: BOGGS, READLER, and DAVIS, Circuit Judges. _________________ COUNSEL ARGUED: Hassan A. Zavareei, TYCKO & ZAVAREEI LLP, Washington, D.C., for Appellants/Cross-Appellees. Craig D. Singer, WILLIAMS & CONNOLLY LLP, Washington, D.C., for Appellee/Cross-Appellant. ON BRIEF: Hassan A. Zavareei, Glenn E. Chappell, TYCKO & ZAVAREEI LLP, Washington, D.C., Jason K. Whittemore, WAGNER MCLAUGHLIN & WHITTEMORE, PA, Tampa, Florida, Stuart E. Scott, SPANGENBERG SHIBLEY & LIBER, Cleveland, Ohio, for Appellants/Cross-Appellees. Craig D. Singer, Enu A. Mainigi, Steven M. Pyser, Erin M. Sielaff, WILLIAMS & CONNOLLY LLP, Washington, D.C., for Appellee/Cross-Appellant.  Nos. 24-3955/3974 Klopfenstein, et al. v. Fifth Third Bank Page 2 __________________________________________________________________ ORDER OF CERTIFICATION TO THE SUPREME COURT OF OHIO __________________________________________________________________ READLER, Circuit Judge. In 2008, Fifth Third Bank began offering a cash-advance program called “Early Access.” The program enabled customers to “advance” money into their checking accounts (otherwise known as a loan). When a deposit was next made into a customer’s account, Fifth Third would withdraw the loan amount plus 10%. Fifth Third disclosed this 10% “transaction fee” in its standard Early Access terms and conditions, which form the contract at the heart of this dispute. In accordance with the requirements of federal law, the bank also disclosed that these loans had a 120% annual percentage rate. But there was a disconnect between these statements: Because the loans were repaid whenever customers next received a deposit into their accounts, the lengths of the loans were variable, meaning that it was impossible to calculate a standard APR for all loans. As a result, the vast majority of customers paid an APR higher than 120%. Based on this allegedly misleading APR term, William Klopfenstein sued the bank for breach of contract on behalf of a class of Early Access users. At trial, a jury agreed with Klopfenstein that Fifth Third breached