TERRY BROWN v CORELOGIC RENTAL PROPERTY SOLUTIONS, LLC

If, from May 25, 2015 to July 16, 2021, you were the subject of a report sold by RPS that included a record from a sex offender registry.  If you can affirm under oath that you are not, and never have been, a registered sex offender, then this notice applies to you.

This notice informs you about the proposed settlement and your rights.  Before any final judgment is entered, the Court will have a hearing to decide whether to approve the proposed settlement.  The proposed settlement will only be finally approved after any objections or appeals are resolved.  If the proposed settlement is finally approved, then you will benefit from the relief provided by the proposed settlement if you submit a Claim Form (Claim Form Class Only) as detailed below in Question 5 or if you are a member of the Automatic Payment Class.  Your class designation is reflected in the Notice of Proposed Settlement that was sent to you. Once the proposed settlement is final, you will also be bound by the release and other provisions of the proposed settlement, as outlined below.

This notice is only a summary of the proposed settlement.  More details about the proposed settlement, the date when appeals are no longer allowed and the settlement is final, deadlines for certain actions, and your options are available in a longer document called the Settlement Agreement.  You can get a copy of the Settlement Agreement by visiting the Important Documents section.

The class action lawsuit is captioned as Terry Brown v. CoreLogic Rental Property Solutions, LLC, No. 3:20-cv-363, and it is pending in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, with Judge John A. Gibney, Jr., presiding.  The individual who sued is called the Plaintiff; the company that he sued is called the Defendant.  The Plaintiff is Terry Brown.  The Defendant is RPS.

The substance of Plaintiff’s claims is described above.  A “class action” seeks to bring similar claims in one case in one court.  In a class action, the plaintiff who brings the case is called the “Class Representative.”  He has his name listed in the title of the case (Terry Brown).  You can read Plaintiff’s “Class Action Complaint” under the Important Documents section. 

RPS denies that it did anything wrong, that any damages are provable for Plaintiff and/or the members of the class, or that the case should be maintained as a class action.  RPS contends that its practices are reasonable and that those practices satisfy the requirements of the FCRA. RPS’s “Answer” to the Class Action Complaint can also be found under the Important Documents section.

The Court has not decided whether either side is right or wrong.  Instead, both sides agreed to the proposed class action settlement to resolve the case and provide benefits to the class.  When the parties reached this proposed settlement, the Court had not decided whether the case could be a class action.  As part of the proposed settlement, the Court certified a tentative class action for settlement purposes only. 

The Court has decided that everyone who fits the following description is a Settlement Class Member:

All natural persons residing in the United States of America (including its territories and Puerto Rico) who: (1) were the subject of a consumer report furnished by Defendant from May 21, 2015 through July 16, 2021 that included a record from a sex offender registry that did not originate from a state where the consumer currently or previously resided; or (2) submitted a dispute to Defendant from May 21, 2015 through July 16, 2021 involving one or more sex offender records and where a sex offender record was deleted from the consumer’s file as a result of the dispute; or (3) submit a valid Claim Form. 

Because you have received this notice, you have been identified as a class member based on the business records maintained by RPS. 

RPS is paying $8,225,000 to settle this case, which includes all sums from which Settlement Class Members shall be paid, all costs to notify the Settlement Class Members, all costs to administer the Settlement, and all sums to pay the attorneys and the Class Representative who filed the action.  

If finally approved, the parties estimate that each Participating Class Member will receive in excess of $750, after the settlement is fully administered and the requested attorneys’ fees and other awards are approved. 

• For Claim Form Class Members to receive a cash payment, you must submit a Claim Form where you must certify under penalty of perjury that you are not, and have never been, a registered sex offender.  If the Settlement is approved and you submit a valid Claim Form, then you will receive a payment.
   
• For Automatic Payment Class Members to receive a payment, no action is required. If you received a notice and do not opt out of the Settlement, and the Settlement is approved, you will receive a payment without the need to submit any further documentation.
   

No Settlement Class Members will have to pay or buy anything to benefit from the relief provided by the Settlement Agreement.

If you are not and have never been registered as a sex offender and wish to receive a cash payment, please complete the enclosed Claim Form and mail it to the Settlement Administrator at Brown FCRA Settlement, PO Box 23680, Jacksonville, FL 32241. Your Claim Form must be postmarked by March 26, 2022. If accepted, you will be entitled to a cash payment from the settlement fund. 

You may also submit a Claim Form online by clicking here.

In general terms, if the proposed settlement is finally approved by the Court, then you will be giving up the right to file a lawsuit against RPS or its related companies or its successors, for any claims regarding the inclusion or accuracy of sex offender data.  Specifically, you will be giving up the right to bring any claims under federal or state law resulting from, arising out of, or regarding the inclusion of sex offender data, or the accuracy of sex offender data, in reports published by RPS during the class period.  You will be giving up all such claims whether or not you know about them.  And, you will be giving up all such claims whether you complete a Claim Form or not.

The precise terms of the dismissal and release are explained in the Settlement Agreement, which you can view under the Important Documents section.

The Court’s order will apply to you even if you object to the settlement or have any other claim, lawsuit, or proceeding pending against the RPS.  If you have any questions about the release, then you should contact (703) 621-4002for more information or consult with a lawyer. 

See Question 8 below for more information regarding your options in seeking legal advice concerning the Settlement.

Yes.  You have the opportunity to opt out of the Settlement by submitting a written Request for Exclusion to the Settlement Administrator at Brown FCRA Settlement, PO Box 23680, Jacksonville, FL 32241, postmarked no later than thirty (30) days before the Final Approval Hearing in this action.  To be valid, a Request for Exclusion must be personally signed and must include: (i) your name, address and telephone number; (ii) and a statement substantially to the effect that: “I request to be excluded from the Settlement Class in Terry Brown v. CoreLogic Rental Property Solutions, LLC, No. 3:20-cv-363-JAG, United States District Court, Eastern District of Virginia.”  Notwithstanding the foregoing, no person within the Settlement Class may submit a Request for Exclusion for any other person in the Settlement Class.  You may also obtain a Request for Exclusion form under the Important Documents section.

If you timely submit a valid Request for Exclusion and the proposed settlement is given final approval, you will exclude yourself from the settlement class and will not be bound by further orders or judgments in the Litigation.  You will preserve your ability to independently pursue, at your own expense, any individual, non-class, non-representative claims that you claim to have against RPS.  No person who has opted out of the Settlement may object to any part of the Settlement Agreement.

Yes.  The Court approved the following individuals to represent you and other Class Members:

·                     Kristi Kelly, Andrew Guzzo, and Casey Nash of Kelly Guzzo, PLC at 3925 Chain Bridge Road, Suite 202, Fairfax, Virginia 22030. Telephone: (703) 621-4002. Email: [email protected].

·                     Len Bennett and Craig Marchiando of Consumer Litigation Associates, P.C., 763 J. Clyde Morris Blvd, Suite 1A, Newport News, Virginia 23601. Telephone: (703) 621-4002. Email: [email protected].

The Court has appointed these lawyers as Class Counsel.  You will not be charged for these lawyers.  You may hire your own attorney, if you so choose, but you will be personally responsible for your attorney’s fees and expenses. 

The attorneys representing the class have handled this case on a contingency basis.  To date, they have not been paid anything for their work. Class Counsel will request that the Court award attorneys’ fees and expenses for the time and effort they have spent on this case.  The amount that will be requested by Class Counsel will be no more than $2,741,639, and a Class Representative service award for the Terry Brown of up to $7,500, in addition to the cash payment that Terry Brown will receive as a Class Member.

If the Court approves an award of attorneys’ fees and expenses and the service award, then Class Counsel and the Class Representative will receive the Court-approved amounts after the Effective Date.  

Any approved amount of attorneys’ fees and expenses or Class Representative service awards will be paid from the settlement fund, and no Class Member will owe or pay anything directly for the attorneys’ fees and expenses of Class Counsel. 

If you are a Settlement Class Member, then you can object to the proposed settlement if you do not like any part of it.  You can give reasons why you think the Court should not approve it.  The Court will consider your views.

To object to this Settlement Agreement, you must file your objection in writing with the Clerk of Court no later than thirty (30) days prior to the final approval hearing.  You must also provide a copy of your objection to the Settlement Administrator (identified above).  The notice of objection shall be sent by First Class United States Mail to the Settlement Administrator and the Clerk of the Court.  The notice of objection shall be sent by First Class United States Mail to the Settlement Administrator and the Clerk of the Court.  The objection must include the following: (1) your full name, address and current telephone number; (2) the name and telephone number of your attorney, if you are represented by an attorney and if your attorney intends to submit a request for fees, and all factual and legal support for that request; (3) all objections and the basis for any such objections stated with specificity, including a statement as to whether the objection applies only to you, to a specific subset of the class, or to the entire class; (4) the identity of any witnesses you may call to testify; (5) a listing of all exhibits you intend to introduce into evidence at the Final Approval Hearing, if any, as well as true and correct of copies of all exhibits; and (6) a statement of whether you intend to appear at the Final Approval Hearing, either with or without counsel.  If you fail to timely file and serve a written objection, you shall not be permitted to object to the approval of the Settlement or the terms of the Settlement Agreement and shall be foreclosed from seeking any review of the Settlement or the terms of the Settlement Agreement by appeal or other means.

You will not be permitted to object to the Settlement or the Settlement Agreement if you decide to opt out from the Settlement.

The Court will hold a final approval hearing to decide whether to approve the proposed Settlement.  You may attend and you may ask to speak, but you do not have to do either one.

The Court will hold a final approval hearing on February 24, 2022, at 10:00 a.m., before the Hon. John A. Gibney, Jr., in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Richmond, Virginia.

At this hearing, the Court will consider whether the proposed settlement is fair, reasonable, and adequate.  The Court will consider all timely and proper objections. The Court will consider all timely and proper objections.  The Court will listen to people who have asked for permission to speak at the hearing and complied with the other requirements for objections explained in Question 10.

The Court may also decide how much to award Class Counsel and the Class Representative.  After the hearing, the Court will decide whether to finally approve the proposed settlement.  There may be appeals after that.  We do not know how long these decisions will take.

The Court may change the date of the final approval hearing without further notice to the Class.  You should check this website after February 24, 2022, to check on the hearing date, the court-approval process, and the Effective Date.

You are not required to take any further action. 

• If you are a Claim Form Class Member and do not submit a Claim Form or opt out of the settlement, you will not receive payment and will release your claims against RPS, as described in Question 6 above. 
   
• If you are a Automatic Payment Class Member and do not opt out of the proposed settlement, you will be deemed to have timely and valid claim for payment, without the need to submit any further documentation. However, if you do not opt out of the settlement, you will release your claims against RPS, as described in Question 6 above.

This notice is only a summary of the proposed settlement.  More details about the proposed Settlement, the date when appeals are no longer allowed and the Settlement is final, deadlines for certain actions, and your options are available in a longer document called the Settlement Agreement. You can get a copy of the Settlement Agreement by visiting the Important Documents sections.  The website also contains answers to common questions about the proposed settlement.  In addition, some of the key documents in the case will be posted on the website.  You can also write or call Class Counsel at the contact information listed above. 

DO NOT ADDRESS ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE SETTLEMENT OR THE LITIGATION TO THE CLERK OF THE COURT, THE JUDGE, RPS, OR RPS’S COUNSEL.  THEY ARE NOT PERMITTED TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS.