7.1M More Chase Customers Will Be Notified of TCPA Class Action Settlement

An Illinois federal judge told Chase Bank USA that it needs to inform an additional 7.1 million customers, who qualify for the $34 million class action settlement, which resolves alleged violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) over contacting consumers on their cellphones without consent.

These 7.1 million Chase customers were already considered Class Members of the Chase Bank TCPA class action lawsuit, according to the class action settlement agreement approved in August. However, they were mistakenly not included among those notified that a class action settlement was reached and that the claim process had begun.

The additional Class Members were already included in the estimates the parties had agreed on when they filed their motion for preliminary approval.

According to a joint status report filed on April 6 with U.S. District Judge Gary Feinerman a couple of weeks ago, Chase has the email or physical addresses of 99 percent of the additional class members.

Judge Feinerman said in his order that Chase has until June 12 to notify the additional 7.1 Class Members. The deadline to file a claim has been extended to Sept. 10, which is also the last date in which Class Members may exclude themselves from the Chase class action settlement, as well. The original deadline to file a claim was Feb. 10.

The additional notifications will be paid out of the settlement fund, the federal judge said. Oct. 8 is the last day for responses to objections to be filed, and the final approval hearing is scheduled for Oct. 22.

According to the $34 million class action settlement reached in August, each Class Members should receive $20 to $40 over allegations that Chase and JP Morgan Chase Bank NA did not have consent before contacting them on their cellphones, which is an alleged violation of federal law.

The Chase TCPA class action settlement affects about 33.8 million customers throughout the United States, which includes 14 million who were sent phone calls or alerts via text without giving consent and 20 million who received robocalls by Chase in an attempt to collect a debt. The class period extends about five years.

The Chase class action settlement agreement also includes $11 million for attorneys’ fees, which some class members have objected to. The $11 million is about a third of the class action settlement and objectors say that it is unreasonable, according to standards set by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. They argue that that the attorneys’ fees should be about 10 to 12 percent of the settlement.

In addition, the objectors say that according to the TCPA, class members should be paid $500 per violation, which means that the current TCPA class action settlement is too small. In this same vein, they also take issue with the lack of apparent fairness of the settlement, specifically the fact that whether class members received one or 100 calls or texts, they all get the same payment.

The plaintiffs are represented by Beth E. Terrell and Michael D. Daudt of Terrell Marshall Daudt & Willie PLLC, Mark D. Ankcorn of Ankcorn Law Firm PC, Syed Ali Saeed of Saeed & Little LLP and Alexander H. Burke of Burke Law Offices LLC.

Chase is represented by Julia B Strickland, Julieta Stepanyan and Arjun Patibandla Rao ofStroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP, Kenneth M. Kliebard and Tedd Macrae Warden of Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP, and Michael Yale Scudder Jr. and Lara A. Flath of Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP.

The Chase TCPA Class Action Lawsuit is Gehrich v. Chase Bank USA NA, Case No. 1:12-cv-05510, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

UPDATE: On Nov. 26, 2016, Top Class Actions viewers who submitted timely and valid claims for the Chase Bank class action settlement began receiving checks worth as much as $91.10. Congratulations to everyone who got PAID! 

UPDATE 2: On June 23, 2017, Top Class Actions viewers who filed valid claims for the Chase Bank TCPA class action settlement started receiving a second disbursement check worth as much as $9.80.

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If you were contacted on your cell phone by a company via an unsolicited text message (text spam) or prerecorded voice message (robocall), you may be eligible for compensation under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

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