The Highbeam Research Marketing Scam Class Action Suit claims that “negative option marketing” using “Free-to-Pay” conversion duped customers into memberships or subscriptions they don’t want and didn’t sign up for.  “Free-to-Pay” conversion marketing in layman terms is essentially billing customers for a service when the customer does not take the affirmative steps to cancel a free trail offer.  The case is entitled Robert Bagg, et al. v. Highbeam Research, Inc.; The Gale Group, Inc.; and Cengage Learning, Inc.

The lawsuit states “”Defendants’ predatory business model utilizes a host of highly misleading, confusing, unlawful, deceptive and unfair acts or practices that deceived and are likely to deceive consumers” into unknowingly and automatically enrolling in “unauthorized yearly or monthly memberships or subscriptions in which the Defendants charge and continue to charge consumers’ credit cards without their knowledge, information or consent,”

Free to pay marketing is now under investigation by the US Senate due to overwhelming complaints from concerned customers.  The class is seeking an  amount of at least $25 along with other means of relief.  A complete copy of the Highbeam Research Marketing lawsuit can be found HERE.

Kelly v. Phiten USA, Inc. is all about false and misleading statements in relation to the advertising and marketing of Phiten Products.  If you or someone you know purchased a Phiten Product between the dates of February 14, 2007 until July 11, 2011 you might be a class member of this class action settlement.  The false and misleading statements are Phiten Products claiming certain health benefits and that these statements violated California and Iowa consumer fraud and protection laws.  Phiten denies any wrong doing but has agreed to pay 3,500,000$ into a settlement fund.  Assuming the settlement is approved by the courts it will provide a 300% reimbursement on the cost of the Phiten products paid by the class member.  So if a class member paid $10.00 for a shoe insole they can claim $30.00 under the proposed settlement terms.

Please note that the Phiten Products in questions are as follows:

jewelry, including necklaces and bracelets, body support, including knee and elbow supports, shoe insoles, ankle and wrist bands, and waist belts, titanium tape and disks, bedding, including sheets pillows and pillow cases and  lotions.

The last day to object to the settlement terms is September 22, 2011.  A fairness hearing will be held on October 13, 2011 at 10 am sharp.  The hearing will be held at United States Courthouse, 123 East Walnut Street, Room 130, Des Moines, Iowa 50309.

How do you file a claim?  A claim can be filed online HERE.  A class member will need Adobe Reader to view the PDF documents.  

More information can be found at www.PUSASettlement.com.

A settlement agreement has finally been reached in the The Bank of New York Mellon and Countrywide Home Loans (and others).  The Settlement terms stipulates that Bank of America and/or Countrywide pay a total of US$8,500,000,000.00 aka $8.5 billion dollars.  A hearing will be held on 11-17-11 to determine if the settlement should be approved or not among other things.  The hearing will be held at Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York, 60 Centre Street, New York, New York 10007.  A variety of court related documents can be found at www.cwrmbssettlement.com and are available in PDF format.  The Notice of Settlement  and the CUSIP List is also available at the site.  Other court related doucments in the Countrywide RMBS Class Action Settlement can be found at the Court’s website: http://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/iscroll.

The Safeco Insurance Company v. AIG Settlement is very complex in nature and revolves around “an investigation by the New York Attorney General and Department of Insurance (the “New York Authorities”) into AIG’s reporting of workers compensation premiums to determine whether and to what extent AIG had underpaid taxes and assessments, including residual market assessments. As part of a settlement with the New York Authorities in January 2006, AIG established a $301 million workers compensation fund (the “WCF”) to compensate any other insurance companies and states that were harmed by AIG’s alleged under reporting and to resolve all of AIG’s liability with respect to these claims.”

If you recieved a notice about this lawsuit you are considered a class member and NWCRP and/or NMWCARP records reflect that you fall within this the class member status. 

Important dates in the www.wcpoolsettlement.com – Safeco Insurance Company v. AIG Settlement  are as follows:

All exclusions and objections must be in no later than October 3, 2011
Notice of Appearance by Attorney are due by  October 3, 2011 
If you would like to appear at the fairness hearing please notify the courts by  October 3, 2011
The Fairness Hearing is set for November 29, 2011

The case is so complicated and complex we do not even fully understand the basis of the case.  Please see www.wcpoolsettlement.com for more information.

This is the third Processing Fee Lawsuit Settlement involving an auto dealership in the state of Missouri… whats up with the water there.  At any rate this one involves the Major Infiniti dealership at 1001 W. 104th St., Kansas City, Missouri 64114  and again the suit claims that the dealership violated the Missouri Practicing Law Statute and the Merchandise Practices Act.

The Major Infiniti Processing Fee lawsuit claims that the defendants violated state law by charging a variety of unauthorized fees.   As usual the defendants deny wrongdoing of any sort but have agreed to settle to avoid further cost and expenses associated with a lengthy litigation.  The case is entitled Green v. Major Infiniti, Inc. Case Number.: 1116-CV09583 and is being held in the Circuit Court of Jackson County, State of Missouri. 

Who is a class member?  Class members of the Major Infiniti Processing Fee Settlement include anyone who purchased or leased a vehicle from Major Infiniti between April 4, 2006 and August 27, 2009 and were charged a processing fee.  Postcards were mailed to class members in early August 2011. 

What is the settlement terms?  The proposed settlement includes gift cards with a face value of $50 to be used at the Infiniti dealership located at 1001 W. 104th St., Kansas City, Missouri 64114.  All funds on the gift cards must be used within 6 months of being issued.  More Information can be found at MISettlement.com under the FAQ section. 

How to file a claim?  Claims can be filed online or by mail.  All claim forms are due no later than October 4, 2011 or all settlement benefits are dismissed.  An online claim can be filed HERE.  Please have the 8-digit claimant identification number and the first three letters of the class members first name.  The 8 digit number can be found on the class post card.

What is this lawsuit about?  The Lee’s Summit class action lawsuit revolves around claims that Lee’s Summit Dodge Chrysler Jeep and Nissan violated Missouri law by charging customers unauthorized fees associated with an auto purchase.  The two state laws in question are the Missouri Practicing Law Statute and the Merchandise Practices Act.  Lee’s Summit Dodge Chrysler Jeep and Lee’s Summit Nissan have denied any wrong doing in the case.  The lawsuit is entitled  Andrea Franke-Brown v. Landers McLarty Lee’s Summit MO, LLC and Jim Serrone v. RML Lee’s Summit MO, LLC.  Although the defendants deny all wrong doing they have agreed to a settlement to avoid further litigation.

Who is included?  Class members in the lawsuit are defined as anyone who purchase or leased a auto from Landers McLarty Lee’s Summit MO Dealership from August 18, 2005 to August 27, 2009, or any dealership owned by RML Lee’s Summit, MO, from August 26, 2005, to August 27, 2009.  It is estimated that the Lee’s Summit Auto Class Action Settlement will include about 5,000 class members.  Please see www.LeesSummitAutoSettlement.com for further details on the settlement.

What if I don’t like the settlement terms?  A class member can object to the settlement terms.  All objections must be in by October 11, 2011. 

How to file a claim?  A class member can file a claim by mail, online, or by by phone.  No matter which way a class member files all claims forms MUST be in no later than October 11, 2011.  The online claim form can be found HERE.

The deadline for filing a claim in the Thurman v. CyberDefender Corporation class action lawsuit is not far off.  We have been getting a ton of emails about how to file a claim the Cyber Defnder Lawsuit.  It is really simple to file a claim:

Just go HERE and provide the required information – name, address, stuff like that. 

Claim forms MUST be in by 10-13-11 so don’t delay.  www.CyberDefenderSettlement.com allows Class Members to view and print a customized postage-prepaid Claim Form in PDF format.  If your claim form is approved you will receive a settlement check of $10.00.  A total settlement fund of $9,750,000.00 has been developed. 

The final approval hearing is scheduled for September 13, 2011.  Thanks for reading and please stop emailing us asking how to file a claim! 🙂

Thurman, et. al v. CyberDefender Corporation, Case No. 11 CH 16779

The sun is setting on the Sunset Auto Class Action Settlement and claim forms are due by September 3, 2011.  If you do not file a claim by that date you will forfeit all potential settlement benefits. 

The case is entitled Timothy Clover v. Sunset Auto Company and is in the jurisdiction of the Circuit Court of St. Louis County, State of Missouri. 

Are you a class member?  If you received a postcard you were singled out as a potential class member in this case.  Class members include anyone who purchased or leased a vehicle from the Sunset Auto Company between December 9, 2003 and August 28, 2009 and was charged some sort of processing fee. 

What is the Settlement?  The settlement is a Sunset Auto Company gift card that can be used at the auto company same as cash.  The gift card is good for either 50% or 25% of the processing fee paid by the class member.

Objections?  If you are unhappy with the settlement terms you have until 09/03/11 to object to the settlement.

Claim forms?  www.SunsetClassSettlement.com provides instruction on how to file a claim by mail. 

Other case documents such as the postcard notice, the long form notice, and the settlement agreement are available at the class admin website mentioned above.

A class action suit has been filed against Infortrack claiming that they provided reports to employers that allegedly erroneously indicated that the plaintiff was a registered sex offender when the plaintiff was not a sex offender in all reality.  The lawsuit claims violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act and is in the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.  The case is entitled Samuel M. Jackson v. Infotrack Information Services, Inc., Class Action Case Number 1:11-cv-05801.  If you were part of the consumer report, provided by Infotrack, that claimed information from a sex offender database about the consumer even though the consumer’s date of birth did not match the date of birth of the sex offender listed on the consumer’s report this lawsuit could effect your rights.  Imagine be labeled as a possible sex offended when you did nothing wrong!

A copy of the Samuel M. Jackson v. Infotrack Information Services Class Action Lawsuit Complaint can be read HERE.

A whopping $180,000,000 settlement has been approved (pending any appeals) in the Blessing v. SiriusXM Class Action Lawsuit Settlement.  The case is entitled Blessing v. SiriusXM and Case Number 09-cv-10035.  The lawsuit claims that Sirius broke the law in 2008 by raising subscription rates once they merged with XM.  Carl Blessing claims the defendants violated the antitrust and consumer protection laws. 

Are you a settlement class member?  Class members in the Blessing v. SiriusXM inlcude anyone who subscribed to SiriusXM Satellite Radio and who, during July 19, 2008 through July 5, 2011: “(1) paid a U.S. Music Royalty Fee; (2) own and activated additional radios and paid the increased monthly charge of $8.99 per additional radio; or (3) did not pay to access the content available on the 32 bkps or 64 bkps connections on the Internet but are now paying the Internet access monthly charge of $2.99.”  according to the class admin portal at www.SatelliteRadioSuit.com.   If your not sure if your included in the settlement a person can determine settlement eligibility by calling toll free 866-577-7474. A copy of the Settlement Agreement is available HERE.  SiriusXM claims no wrong doing but has agreed to settlement terms in order to prevent further litigation. 

SiriusXM is a popular streaming music, news, sports satellite radio company with over 100 channels via satellite.  They can be found on the NASDAQ stock exchange under ticker symbol SIRI.