Time Warner Cable was slapped with two class-action lawsuits yesterday aimed at doing away with its $500-million-a-year modem-lease fee.

In papers filed in state court in New York and New Jersey, Time Warner customers say their new $3.95- a-month fee is improper and in violation of TWC’s own customer agreements.

The fee affects 15 million consumers in several states.

The new charge was announced in a postcard filled with fine print earlier this year, which lawyer Richard Roth of the Roth Law Firm characterized as “a massive hi-tech consumer fraud scheme accomplished by low-tech methods.”

Time Warner declined to comment.