Cassese v. Washington Mutual, Inc.

Welcome to the Cassese v. Washington Mutual, Inc. Website.

Settlement checks were mailed by the Settlement Administrator on December 27, 2013. If you are a Class Member that submitted a timely and valid Proof of Claim Form and did not receive a settlement distribution check, please contact the Settlement Administrator immediately at 1-877-695-7497.

Settlement checks totaling $11.1 million were mailed to 529,162 Claiming Class Members. Because the total amount of Disputed Fees paid by Claiming Class Members exceeded the Net Settlement Fund, Claiming Class Members received a pro rata distribution of the Net Settlement Fund pursuant to Section 6.5 of the Settlement Agreement.

The amount of Claiming Class Members’ claims were calculated by the amount of the Disputed Fees challenged and settled in the underlying litigation and then reduced pro rata.

On April 29, 2013, the Supreme Court denied the last objector’s petition for certiorari to take a further appeal of the judgment approving the Settlement Agreement. The objector’s time to petition the Supreme Court for a rehearing of that denial expired on May 24, 2013. Accordingly, pursuant to the Settlement Agreement, the settlement has become final.

Class Counsel, WMI, and the Settlement Administrator are now in the process of reviewing the claim forms submitted by class members and appropriate payments for qualifying claim forms will be distributed in the next few months.

In this class action (the “Litigation”), Plaintiffs Denise Cassese, George Scott Rush, Richard Schroer and William Bloom (the “Named Plaintiffs”), on behalf of themselves and on behalf of all others similarly situated (collectively, “Plaintiffs”), brought this action in the District Court against Defendants Washington Mutual, Inc. (“WMI”), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”), in its capacity as receiver for Washington Mutual Bank (“WMB”), such entity having incorporated former defendants Washington Mutual Bank, FA and Washington Mutual Home Loans, Inc. Plaintiffs contend in the Litigation that WMI is directly and indirectly liable for the acts of its former subsidiary, WMB, and other former WMI subsidiaries, for charging fees prior to satisfaction and settlement of Named Plaintiffs’ and Class Members’ home loans, mortgage loans, co-op loans, home equity loans or home equity lines of credit. These charges allegedly included various fees (also referred to by Plaintiffs as “penalties” and “finance charges”), including, but not limited to, fees that are often but not always listed on payoff statements or elsewhere as i) Fax Fees; ii) Payoff Statement Fees; iii) Recording Fees; and iv) “UCC-3 Fees” in connection with requests for payoff statements or payoff amounts or the prepayment, repayment, discharge, satisfaction or settlement of loans secured by a residence (collectively, the “Disputed Fees”). It is not alleged that borrowers were necessarily required by Defendants to pay each of the Disputed Fees.

The parties entered into a proposed settlement agreement on February 15, 2011 (the “Agreement” or the “Settlement”), which the District Court preliminarily approved on March 10, 2011. The United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware approved the proposed settlement agreement on May 2, 2011. A Final Fairness Hearing was held on September 15, 2011.

WMI vigorously denied Plaintiffs’ allegations, believed them to be without merit, and asserted numerous defenses to Plaintiffs’ claims. WMI believed that it had complied fully with all laws, and had provided all necessary information, relating to the payoff of residential mortgage loans, cooperative loans, home equity loans or home equity lines of credit, and had not breached any contract in connection with such payoffs. WMI denied any liability, and agreed to this Settlement to avoid the burdens, costs and uncertainties inherent in litigation.

Plaintiffs and Class Counsel believe the Settlement to be fair and reasonable for all Class Members. Class Members that paid any Disputed Fee to WMB, or any of its “Washington Mutual” branded subsidiaries, between January 1, 1998 and September 25, 2008 (the “Class Period”), and who did not request to be timely excluded from the Class, were entitled to submit a claim to be eligible to receive a payment as described herein.

The distribution of the Settlement Checks occurred on December 27, 2013. For information relating to the Settlement Checks please see the Frequently Asked Questions page or call 1-877-695-7497.

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