When Marika Hamilton set out on her own about two years ago, she had little experience dealing with money and was terrified of failing.

So, in running her personal life and the Jimmy John’s franchise she owns on West Jefferson Boulevard, she always made sure every bill was paid on time.

She seemed to have little to worry about. She said her credit score was in the excellent category, her home was paid for and she had a home equity line of credit on the house through Wells Fargo Bank, though she never borrowed against that line.

The only negative was a minor disagreement over a $28 late charge on a 90-days-same-as-cash furniture purchase she made in 2008. Hamilton says she made her payment on time online through her bank account at Wells Fargo, but for some reason the transaction wasn’t completed.

She finally made the payment with an ordinary check, and she said the company agreed to waive the late charge. But the late fee came up again. Though Hamilton disputed it, she went ahead and paid it just to settle the matter.

Then this year, Hamilton got a letter from Wells Fargo. It said that the bank regularly reviews the credit of people with home equity lines of credit.

The letter went on to say that if the bank reasonably believed a client wouldn’t be able to meet the repayment requirements because of a material change in financial circumstances, the bank could suspend a home equity account.

Then the letter said that due to derogatory credit, the bank was freezing Hamilton’s home equity credit line at what she owed – zero.

Hamilton was stunned. Even with the disputed late fee, her credit score was in the excellent category, she said. There was no change in her financial circumstances, and it was silly for the bank to claim it reasonably believed she couldn’t meet repayment requirements on her home equity line when she owed nothing.

Hamilton said she met with a bank representative to discuss the issue but was told that’s the way it is and that the harder she pressed the issue the more scrutiny her other accounts – both business and personal – would get, and her credit on those accounts could be reduced.

The episode upset Hamilton. She said it made her feel devalued, like a piece of garbage. She had good credit. She’d always paid her bills.

A couple of months ago, Hamilton read a newspaper article about a man who had a similar experience with a different bank. He had a $100,000 home equity line of credit, and it was frozen at the amount he owed – $58,000 – because of concerns over declining property values. He sued on the basis that the bank didn’t investigate whether his home’s value had declined.

Hamilton tracked the man down and wrote him a letter, saying she knew how he felt. The man, in turn, sent her letter to his lawyer, who contacted Hamilton.

Last month, the lawyer, Jay Edelson, filed a federal lawsuit in the Northern District of California on Hamilton’s behalf claiming that freezing Hamilton’s home equity line and threatening her personal and business accounts was unlawful. The suit claims the disputed late fee should have never appeared on Hamilton’s credit report, that Wells Fargo caused the dispute and then used it as grounds for freezing her credit.

A spokesperson for Wells Fargo said the bank couldn’t comment on the matter because the dispute is in litigation.

What sets Hamilton’s lawsuit apart from others is that her lawyer is seeking class-action status for the suit, saying the letter notifying her that her credit line was frozen was generic and a substantial number of people who got the same letter fall into a class with Hamilton.

Hamilton said it took her some time to decide to be the face of a potential class-action lawsuit, but she decided to go ahead with it.

It angers her that her bank, which received billions of dollars in government bailout money to keep credit flowing, shut down her credit in one area and threatened the rest of her accounts.

Hamilton’s lawyer said it will probably take several months, perhaps a year, before the court decides whether to grant her lawsuit class status.