A federal court authorized this notice. This is not a solicitation from a lawyer.
| Your Legal Rights and Options | |
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What is this? |
The Court has certified this lawsuit as a class action. The lawsuit alleges that Defendant called consumers using an autodialer and/or an artificial or prerecorded voice without prior consent in violation of the TCPA. |
| Do Nothing | Stay in the lawsuit. Await the outcome. Give up certain rights. By doing nothing, you keep the possibility of getting money or benefits that may come from a trial, judgment, or a settlement. But, you give up any rights to sue Defendant separately about the same legal claims in this lawsuit. |
| Exclude Yourself | Get out of this lawsuit. Get no benefits from this lawsuit. Keep rights. If you ask to be excluded and money or benefits are later awarded, you won’t share in those. But, you keep any rights to sue Defendant separately about the same legal claims in this lawsuit. |
This notice explains that the Court has allowed, or “certified,” a class action lawsuit that may affect you. You have legal rights and options that you may exercise before the Court holds a trial. The trial is to decide whether the claims being made against Defendant, on your behalf, are correct. Judge Morrison C. England, Jr. of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California, is overseeing this class action. The lawsuit is known as Cortes v. National Credit Adjusters, L.L.C., Case No. 2:16-cv-00823-MCE-EFB.
The lawsuit alleges Defendant called consumers using an autodialer and/or an artificial or prerecorded voice without prior consent in violation of the TCPA.
In a class action lawsuit, one or more people called “Class Representatives” (in this case, Mike Cortes) sue on behalf of other people who have similar claims. The people together are a “Class” or “Class Members.” The named plaintiffs who sued – and all the Class Members like them — are called the Plaintiffs. The company they sued (in this case, National Credit Adjusters, L.L.C.) is called the Defendant. One court resolves the issues for everyone in the Class – except for those people who choose to exclude themselves from the Class.
The Court has allowed the lawsuit to be a class action on behalf of all persons within the United States who (a) are current or former subscribers of PrivacyStar, Metro Block-It, Metro Name-ID, CallWatch, or Call Detector cell phone applications (collectively the “Call Management Applications” or “CMAs”); (b) and received one or more calls; (c) on his or her cellular telephone line; (d) made by or on behalf of Defendant; (e) for whom Defendant had no record of prior express written consent; (f) and such phone call was made with the use of an artificial or prerecorded voice or with the use of an automatic telephone dialing system as defined under the TCPA; (g) at any point that begins April 21, 2012 until August 2, 2017.
The Court decided that this lawsuit can be a class action and move towards a trial because it meets the requirements of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23, which governs class actions in federal courts.
More information about why the Court is allowing this lawsuit to be a class action is in the Court’s Order Certifying the Class, which is available under the Court Documents section of this website.
Plaintiffs allege that between April 21, 2012 and August 2, 2017, Defendant made thousands of phone calls using an autodialer and/or artificial or prerecorded voice without prior consent. You can read Plaintiffs’ Class Action Complaint, which is available under the Court Documents section of this website.
Defendant has failed to respond or answer the lawsuit, and the deadline for doing so has passed.
The Court hasn’t decided whether the Defendant or the Plaintiffs are correct. By establishing the Class and issuing this Notice, the Court is not suggesting that the Plaintiffs will win or lose this case. The Plaintiffs must prove their claims in the litigation, including at a trial, if necessary.
The Plaintiffs are generally asking Defendant for at least $500 per wrong-number call placed to parties without prior consent. Plaintiffs also seek to obtain injunctive relief preventing Defendant from calling these parties using an autodialer or artificial or prerecorded voice in the future. No money or benefits are available now because the Court has not yet made a final decision whether Defendant did anything wrong, and the two sides have not settled the case. There is no guarantee that money or benefits ever will be obtained. If they are, you will be notified about how to ask for a share.
You have to decide now whether to stay in the Class or ask to be excluded before the trial, and you have to decide this now.
You don’t have to do anything now if you want to keep the possibility of getting money or benefits from this lawsuit. By doing nothing, you are staying in the Class. If you stay in and the Class is awarded money or benefits, either as a result of the trial, judgment, or a settlement, you will be notified about how to apply for a share (or how to ask to be excluded from any settlement).
Keep in mind that if you do nothing now, regardless of whether the class representatives win or lose the trial, you will not be able to separately sue, or continue to sue, Defendant – as part of any other lawsuit – for the same legal claims that are the subject of this lawsuit. You will also be legally bound by all of the Orders the Court issues and judgments the Court makes in this class action.
If you exclude yourself from the Class – which is sometimes called “opting-out” of the Class – you won’t get any money or benefits from this lawsuit even if the Plaintiffs obtain them as a result of the trial, judgment, or from any settlement (that may or may not be reached) between Defendant and Plaintiffs. However, you may then be able to separately sue or continue to sue Defendant for the legal claims that are the subject of this lawsuit. If you exclude yourself, you will not be legally bound by the Court’s judgments in this class action.
If you bring your own lawsuit against Defendant after you exclude yourself, you will have to hire and pay your own lawyer for that lawsuit, and you will have to prove your claims. If you do exclude yourself so you can start or continue your own lawsuit against Defendant, you should talk to your own lawyer soon, because your claims may be subject to a statute of limitations.
To exclude yourself from the Class, you must send a request for exclusion postmarked no later than October 9, 2018, to:
National Credit Adjusters TCPA Litigation
c/o RG/2 Claims Administration, LLC
P. O. Box 59479
Philadelphia, PA 19102-9479
Your request for exclusion must contain: (1) the name of this lawsuit, “Cortes v. National Credit Adjusters, L.L.C., Case No. 2:16-cv-00823-MCE-EFB” (2) your full name and current address; (3) a clear statement of intention to exclude yourself such as “I wish to be excluded from the Class”; and (4) your signature. You may also get an Exclusion Request Form under the Court Documents section of this website.
The Court appointed the law firm of Bursor & Fisher, P.A. to represent the Plaintiffs and all Class Members as “Class Counsel.” More information about this law firm, their practices, and their lawyers’ experience is available at www.bursor.com.
If you choose to remain in the Class, you do not need to hire your own lawyer because Class Counsel are working on your behalf. But, if you want your own lawyer, you will be responsible for paying that lawyer. For example, you can ask him or her to appear in Court for you if you want someone other than Class Counsel to speak for you.
If Class Counsel get money or benefits for the Class, they may ask the Court for fees and expenses. You will not have to pay these fees and expenses. If the Court grants Class Counsel’s request, the fees and expenses would be either deducted from any money obtained for the Class or paid separately by Defendant.
As long as the case isn’t resolved by a settlement or otherwise, Class Counsel will have to prove the Plaintiffs’ claims in this litigation (including through obtaining default judgment), including at a trial if necessary. There is no guarantee that the Plaintiffs will win, or that they will get any money for the Class. There is currently no trial date set.
You do not need to attend the trial. Class Counsel will present the case for the Class members, and Defendant will present the defenses. You are welcome to come at your own expense. If you wish to participate in the trial, you should contact Class Counsel.
If the Class obtains money or benefits as a result of the trial, judgment, or a settlement, you will be notified about how to participate. We do not know how long this will take.
Visit the Court Documents section of this website, where you will find the Court’s Order Certifying the Class, the Plaintiffs’ Class Action Complaint, and an Exclusion Request Form.
You may also contact the class notice administrator by email at info@rg2claims.com or by writing to: National Credit Adjusters TCPA Litigation, c/o RG/2 Claims Administration LLC, P. O. Box 59479, Philadelphia, PA 19102-9479.