Imagine buying some windows for your home only to discover the windows are defective and allow water to seep in and rot the surrounding wood.  Most people would not be happy.  Unfortunately this is not a fictional tale.  In the class action lawsuit entitled Saltzman, et al. v. Pella Corp., et al. , plantiffs clam that Pella ProLine windows contained a design defect that allows water to seep behind the aluminum cladding and cause wood rot.  Most of the windows are no longer under warranty and the lawsuit is attempting to recover the losses Pella window owners suffered.  The lawsuit is in the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division.  Pella denies any actions of wrong doing in the case and claim that the wood rot was cause by factors not associated with the window design.  Pella has still agreed to a settlement in order to avoid a lengthy court battle.  Class members in the case are defined as anyone in the US who purchased Pella ProLine brand casement, awning and/or transom windows manufactured by Pella Corporation between the years of 1991 and 2006.  A class member can file a claim for a cash payment and a possible reimbursement on repairs or replacement of the window(s), including certain discounts and cash reimbursements.  Class members may receive up to $750 per structure that contains/contained the eligible Pella ProLine products.  In order to be eligible for any type of settlement payment you MUST file a claim before July 23, 2013.  WindowSettlement.com provides the claim form that can be filed online or by mail.  If filing the claim by mail please send it to:

Window Settlement
PO Box 2876
Portland, OR 97208-2876

You do not need a lawyer if you would like to be a part of the class settlement.  The court has assigned the law firm of Complex Litigation Group, LLC to represent the class members.  Richard J. Burke and Paul M. Weiss, and Julie Miller are the lawyers that have been picked from that firm.

A fairness hearing in the Pella ProLine Window Lawsuit Settlement will be held on April 9, 2013 at 11am.  The hearing will take place at Everett McKinley Dirksen Building, Rm. 2588, 219 S. Dearborn St., Chicago, IL 60604 if you wish to attend.  Please note class members are not required to attend in order to receive a settlement payment.  The settlement agreement, the class notice (long and short forms) and the preliminary court approval can be found at the class administrators web portal.

www.WindowSettlement.com

UA class action lawsuit has been filed out of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California claiming that Symantec wrongly charged certain customers for automatic renewal of a prior Norton software subscription after they bought another Norton software product.  The case is entitled Marolda v. Symantec Corp and eligible class members may receive a $10 refund or a free subscription to Norton Services.  The court will hold a settlement hearing on April 4, 2013 to decide among other things if the settlement is fair and adequate.  Class members in the Norton Settlement are defined as anyone who upgraded or renewed a Norton antivirus software or product since October 1, 2005 until May 23, 2012.  Class members will have until May 6, 2013 to file a claim form.  Any claims received after that date will be voided.  The software or products include: Norton Antivirus, Norton Internet Security, Norton 360, Norton Personal Firewall and Norton Systemworks.  A class member has until February 26, 2013 to object or exclude themselves from the setttlement.

A claim form can be filed online or by mail.  NortonSettlement.com allows a class member to file the claim online or print the claim form.  It is recommended that class members file claims online as it is more reliable than mail.  If you decide to file you claim by mail please send it to: Norton Settlement, P.O. Box 4349,Portland, OR 97208-4349.  The class will be represented by the The Law Offices of Thomas M. Mullaney who are located at 275 Madison Avenue, Suite 3700 New York, NY 10016.  The defendants are represented by Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP.  Thomas Mullaney is recommending a $1.7 million settlement offer to include attorney fees.  If you would like to exclude yourself from the Norton Settlement you must do so by mail.  A class member will not be able to exclude themselves by phone, by email, or at the class administrators web portal.

The Norton Antivirus Software Class Action Settlement is Case Number 08-5701.  Contact information as follows: 1-877-853-3045, email info@NortonSettlement.com or write a letter to Norton Upgrade Settlement, P.O. Box 4349, Portland, OR 97208.  Good luck in getting your settlement.

www.NortonSettlement.com

A class action lawsuit has been filed out of the Los Angeles Superior Court claiming that the company behind the “iRenew Bracelet” made false and misleading statements on their website and in advertisements when selling this product to customers.  The companies behind the bracelet are iRenew BioEnergy Solutions and Harvest Direct.  The defendants deny all action sof wrong doing but have agreed to settlement terms.  This Lawsuit is entitled Plaintiff, vs. iRenew BioEnergy Solutions, LLC, and is Case Number  BC452682.  Class members of the BioEnergy Solutions Lawsuit includes anyone in the US who bought the iRenew Bracelet for personal use and not for resale between the dates of January 1, 2009, and May 24, 2012.  Class members have four options; doe nothing and lose all rights associated with the lawsuit, participate by filing a claim form, exclude themselves and object to the settlement.  Update!  The deadline to submit a claim form, file a objection or exclusion has pass!  The class members were represented by the law firms of Milstein Adelman, LLP and Kirtland & Packard LLP.  A fairness hearing was held on October 24, 2012 at in Department 322 of the Los Angeles Superior Court.  Class members may be entitled to a payment of $19.95 per iRenew Bracelet.  More information and relevant court documents can be found at the class administrators website.

www.iReNewSettlement.com 

The Veolia Environmental Services Lawsuit claims that Veolia improperly charged and collected a number of fees from customers that were in violation of the law.  The case is entitled Janoka, Inc., et al. v. Veolia Environmental Services North America, et. al. and is in the jurisdiction of the Circuit Court of Barbour County, Alabama.  This case is Civil Action No. 69-cv-2011-900056 and a $15,000,000 settlement fund has been developed that will be payable to class members who file claims pending a court fairness hearing.  Class members can file a claim to stay in the class, remain as part of the class but file an objection to the settlement, exclude themselves from the class or do nothing.  It is recommended that most people file a claim and remain a class members.  A settlement hearing will be held at 9am on December 20, 2012.  The hearing will be held at Courtroom 1, at the Barbour County Courthouse, 303 East Broad Street, Eufala, Alabama.  Class members do not have to attend but may speak at the hearing upon request.  The hearing will be held before the Honorable Judge Smithart.

Class Members are defined as: (1) entered into a written contract with Veolia and (2) paid one or more of the following fees: “fuel surcharges,” “environmental fees,” “administrative fees,” “service charges,” and “ADEM charges” or substantively similar charges which were identified differently;  and/or you had your service rate increased by more than the CPI-U Consumer Price Index, from February 2, 2003 through October 31, 2012. 

If you choose to remain in the settlement class please file a claim no later than 03/05/13.  The deadline to exclude yourself or object to the Veolia Environmental Services settlement is 12/06/12.  JanokaSettlement.com provides the claim form, the long and short form notice, the postcard notice, Joint Motion for Preliminary Approval of Settlement and the Order Granting Preliminary Approval of Settlement.  These settlement documents can be printed from your computer with Adobe Acrobat (PDF).  If you are unable to file a claim online please call 1-888-793-7581 and request a claim form.  Once the form has arrived please mail to:  Dahl Administration, LLC, PO Box 3616,Minneapolis, MN 55403-0616.  The court has appointed McCallum, Methvin & Terrell, P.C to represent the class.

www.JanokaSettlement.com

Citibank is in some hot water over claims that they unlawful conducted lending practices during the mortgage crisis against their customers home loans.  Class members claim that Citi reduced or suspended homeowners’ lines of credit based on the customers homes declining in value.  Class member contend that their home values purportedly had not declined.  Citi denies any actions of wrong doing in the lawsuit.  The case is in the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.  The lead plaintiffs in the case include:  David Levin, Loren S. Siegel, Gary Cohen, Marie Cohen, Mark Winkler, and Jennie Lapointe.  Starting on 12-13-12 a class member can file a claim form.  Claim forms can be filed online or by mail and must be received no later than 01-31-13 in order to be eligible for any type of settlement.  Class members who choose to stay in the lawsuit will be represented by the law firms of EDELSON MCGUIRE, LLC and the Patterson Law Group.  If you exclude your self from the class you will have to hire a lawyer at your own expense.  It is recommended that most class members should remain in the class action lawsuit.

Important dates to remember in the Citibank HELOC Class Action Lawsuit include:

• January 31, 2013:  Deadline to submit a claim form
• January 31, 2013:  Deadline to file an objection or exclusion request
• March 15, 2013:  The date of the fairness hearing

The settlement fairness hearing will be held at the Phillip Burton Federal Building and United States Courthouse, Courtroom 7 – 19th Floor, 450 Golden Gate Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94102.  You do not have to attend this hearing in order to receive a lawsuit settlements.

Class members in the InReHELOCSettlement include all Citibank customers who between the dates of January 1, 2008 to January 31, 2012 had their HELOC account suspended or reduced based on a claim by Citibank that the value of the property had experienced a significant decline in value.

There were mistakes made by both the banks and the people during the great financial crisis in 2008.  Unfortunately it is going to cost both sides a great amount of money.  More information about the Citibank HELOC Class Action Lawsuit can be found below.

www.InReHELOCSettlement.com

It’s usually only a matte of time until a company gets large enough and they face a class action lawsuit… that time has come for Living Social.  LivingSocial was founded in 2007 and a is a web site that offers coupons to its members.  A class action lawsuit has been filed against the company entitled In re LivingSocial Marketing and Sales Practices Litigation and revolves around claims that the daily deal site’s vouchers are “gift certificates” and therefore cannot legally expire for at least five years after they’re sold.  As a result of this lawsuit anyone who purchased or received a Living Social deal voucher before October 2012 is considered a class member of this lawsuit and may be entitled to a settlement refund. Living Social denies that they violated any sort of law but have agreed to a $4,500,000 settlement fund approving a final fairness hearing.  The original “Representative Plaintiffs” consist of a Ms. Dawn Abbott, Barrie Arliss, Cara Lauer, Mandy Miller, Melissa Forshey, Kimberly Pullman, Sarah Gosling, and Amy Schultz.  The court has appointed Cuneo Gilbert & LaDuca, LLP to represent all class members.  Terms of the settlement authorize class members to be refunded 100% of the amount they paid for any Living Social deal voucher that they still hold and have been unable to redeem.  This percent is subject to change based upon how many people file claims.  Many experts in the field saw this class action lawsuit coming from a mile away.

The only way to get a settlement refund is to file a claim no later than February 8, 2013.  A class member can file online or by mail.  The fairness hearing will be held on March 7, 2013 at 9:30 a.m to determine of the proposed settlement is fair.  The hearing will be held at E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse, located at 333 Constitution Avenue N.W., Washington D.C. 20001.  LivingSocialVoucherSettlement.com provides the claim form, the case notice, the opt out form and other relevant court documents.

www.LivingSocialVoucherSettlement.com

A class action lawsuit has been settled in regards to the order in which Citizens Bank posted Debit Card Transactions to customer accounts.  The lawsuit claims that Citizen Bank  reordered debit-card transactions from highest to lowest in order to maximize the number of overdraft fees that could be charged to a customer resulting in more profits for the bank.  Citizens Bank denies any action of wrong doing but has agreed to settle to avoid a time consuming legal battle.  The lawsuit is entitled Checking Account Overdraft Litigation and is in the jurisdiction of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.  You might be part of the $137.5 million settlement if you had a Citizens Bank debit card between 2002 and 2010.  All claim forms in the lawsuit are due no later than 01/31/2013 and the court will conduct a fairness hearing on March 7, 2013 at 10:00 a.m.  The hearing will be located at the James Lawrence King Federal Justice Building, 99 Northeast Fourth Street, Miami, FL 33132.  Class members are not required to attend in order to receive a settlement.  Class members of the Citizens Bank Overdraft Settlement Lawsuit are defined as the following:

• Had a Citizens consumer deposit account that you could access with a Citizens debit card anytime between January 1, 2002 and August 13, 2010, and/or had a Charter One consumer deposit account that you could access with a Charter One debit card any time between July 25, 2005 and August 13, 2010; and/or

• Had an Acquired Bank consumer deposit account that you could access with a debit card between January 1, 2002 and August 27, 2007; and

• Were charged one or more overdraft fees as a result of posting Debit Card Transactions from highest to lowest dollar amount.

More details about the lawsuit can be obtained by writing to: Settlement Administrator at Citizens Overdraft Settlement, PO Box 3410, Portland, OR 97208-3410.  Class members will be represented by the law firms of Bruce S. Rogow, Podhurst Orseck, Grossman Roth and Trief & Olk.  Settlement payment amounts are unknown at this time and will depend on the amount of people who file claims and the amount of overdraft fees charged to your Citizens bank account.  Claim forms can be filed online or by mail.  If you choose to mail your form please mail it to: Citizens Overdraft Settlement, P.O. Box 3410, Portland, OR 97208-3410.  A user can go here to file the claim online or print a copy of the form.  Any questions about the Citizens Bank Overdraft Settlement Lawsuit should be directed to the class counsel and not Citizens Bank.

www.CitizensOverdraftSettlement.com