(Pittsburgh) —  PNC Financial Services Group will pay at least $24 million to settle class-action claims that a Virginia bank it acquired charged excessive fees and kicked back money to a mortgage broker for customer referrals.

The settlement first reported Tuesday by the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review is detailed in documents filed in U.S. District Court, Pittsburgh.

It stems from claims filed against the Community Bank of Northern Virginia, which was bought by Mercantile Bankshares Inc. in 2005. The lawsuit became PNC’s problem when it acquired Baltimore-based Mercantile in 2006.

A federal judge has appointed a panel of three arbiters who will decide by March 31 whether PNC’s $24 million settlement offer will be ratified, or whether the plaintiffs should get $70 million, as they claim.

PNC spokesman Fred Solomon declined comment.