Pioneer Bank Pioneer Bank charged me what appears to be illegal banking fees. I was charged one hundred dollars for a one-time overdraft fee in which my account was $6.00 in the negative. Roswell, New Mexico

Correct, your debit card transaction was approved while the account was negative in July, and if you were an older account holder, the regulations did not apply until August 15th.

HOWEVER, see if you can find your original terms and conditions agreement. If it was not clearly and properly disclosed that you were enrolled in any type of overdraft protection regarding the DEBIT CARD that you signed up for, there is a chance the bank violated laws.

The recent regulation changes were put into effect because this practice was unethical, but as well, this does not mean all banks were operating within the law..as there are plenty of pending lawsuits regarding this practice.

Unethical??? Add to that the fact that the banks had engineered a system where one legitimate overdraft could lead to 10 fees. No wonder Wells Fargo recently lost a lawsuit in California for violating state laws...and "profiteering and gouging" of it's loyal customers.

Since you are a current customer the legislative protections did not take affect until August. The federal regulation changes that took affect in July are only applicable to new accounts. Pioneer Bank did nothing illegal.  Unethical maybe but not illegal. 

It is my understanding that recent federal legislation mandates that banks cannot charge its' customers more than $25.00 for individual overdrafts.

You are mistaken.  I believe you are confusing the OD/NSF "reform" with the "credit card" reform that recently went into effect.  The "over the limit" fee on credit cards is now limited to $25.

..the banks can no longer charge fees for covering overdrafts unless the consumer chooses to take an overdraft protection plan.

So the question is...did you choose to opt into overdraft coverage with your debit card? If not, the transaction should have been declined and no fees charged.

Being as you state you are happy to pay the $25.00 fee..then you got what you wanted...a $25.00 fee. As far as I know..banks charge anywhere from 20-40 dollars per overdraft. I never heard of a regulation limiting them to $25.00, unless it is different for each state.

As far as the $5.00 per day, that is apparently what your bank charges until you make a deposit to cover it, that is not the overdraft fee per say. This fee also differs from bank to bank, and perhaps from state to state.

The bank I use here in California (Chase) has these policies...

If you overdraw your account and dont make a deposit or transfer money that same business day, youll pay up to a $35 fee each time you use your debit card without sufficient funds. The most you would be charged is 3 fees per day, no matter how many times you use your debit card. If your account is overdrawn for more than 5 business days, we will also charge you an additional one-time extended overdraft fee of up to $15.

So with my bank, the single fee is $35.00 per...the limit they can charge me is 3 per day max...and after 5 days can charge me $15.00 if I do not cover it.

Since I did not sign up for any coverage on my debit card, I don't have to worry about any of these fees..period.