Countrywide Customers Get Court Settlement

Countrywide customers get court settlement



Countrywide customers get court settlement


LOUISVILLE, Ky. – April 12, 2010 – A notification program begins today in the United States, including Puerto Rico and recognized U.S. territories, as ordered by the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky. The program applies to people who provided personal information or made mortgage payments to Countrywide about a proposed settlement reached with Countrywide’s affiliate companies – Countrywide Financial Corporation, Countrywide Home Loans, Inc., Countrywide Bank, FSB, Full Spectrum Lending Division, and Bank of America Corporation – in a class action lawsuit about stolen personal and financial information.



The lawsuit claims that a senior financial advisor once employed by Countrywide took confidential information from millions of consumer records and sold it to third parties. The lawsuit further alleges that Countrywide did not adequately protect the confidential personal and financial information of its clients. Countrywide denies that it did anything wrong, and the settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing or an indication that any law was violated.



The lawsuit class includes everyone in the United States who: (1) received a letter from Countrywide anytime from Aug. 2, 2008, to and including Nov. 2, 2008, notifying them that their personal information was involved in an alleged theft committed by a Countrywide employee; or (2) who obtained a mortgage from Countrywide or whose mortgage was serviced by Countrywide prior to July 1, 2008. Countrywide, for this purpose, does not include Bank of America.



Notices informing class members about their legal rights will be mailed and will appear in U.S. newspapers. The court will consider whether to grant final approval to the settlement on July 19, 2010.



Anyone affected by the settlement can submit a claim for benefits, if eligible; or they can ask to be excluded from, or object to, the settlement and its terms. The deadline for exclusions and objections is June 24, 2010. The earliest deadline to claim any of the benefits is Sept. 7, 2010.



A toll-free number, (866) 940-3612, has been established in the case (called In Re: Countrywide Financial Corp. Customer Data Security Breach Litigation, No. 3:08-MD-01998-TBR, MDL 1998), along with a website, http://www.cwdataclaims.com/, where notices, claim forms, and the settlement agreement may be obtained.



Those affected may also write to:



Countrywide Data Settlement

PO Box 2730

Portland, OR 97208



© 2010 Florida Realtors®