CINCINNATI, July 29, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The following statement is being issued by the law firm of Statman, Harris & Eyrich, LLC regarding the settlement of a class action currently pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio (Western Division) before the Honorable Timothy Black, entitled Collins v. Bank of America, N.A., Case No. 13-cv-00039-TSB (S.D. Ohio) (the "Action").
A proposed settlement has been reached in the Action. On July 15, 2014, the Honorable Timothy Black preliminarily approved a class settlement of the Action between Bank of America, N.A. ("BANA") and Plaintiff on behalf of herself and other similarly situated borrowers. Specifically, Plaintiff represents a class of borrowers who have a residential mortgage either owned by or serviced by BANA, and who were charged court costs by BANA, or its attorneys or agents in connection with a residential mortgage foreclosure actions filed by BANA in a court within the State of Ohio, on or after May 2, 2005, and who allege that BANA, its agent or attorneys were provided refunded court costs in the foreclosure action, which BANA, or its agents or attorneys allegedly failed to refund or credit in whole or in part to its borrowers. BANA has denied Plaintiff's claims in the Action and denies any wrongdoing and any liability to Plaintiff, or any Settlement Class Member, in any amount.
Under the terms of the proposed Settlement Agreement, if approved by the Court, BANA has agreed to modify its practices and procedures related to the charging, tracing, identifying and refunding of Court Costs and to monitor and audit the foreclosure counsel it retains within the State of Ohio in order to ensure that Court Costs charged to borrowers are refunded in full promptly and accurately (the "Injunctive Relief"). The proposed Settlement Agreement settles only the Injunctive Relief claims of Settlement Class Members and expressly preserves all Class Members' Damage Claims.
The Court has appointed the named Plaintiff to represent Settlement Class Members as Plaintiff Representative and Statman Harris & Eyrich, LLC of Cincinnati, Ohio to represent Class Members as Class Counsel. Class Counsel will request that the Court award attorneys fees and expenses and a class representative award.
If the Settlement is approved, Settlement Class Members will be bound by any judgment of the Court. Settlement Class Members cannot exclude themselves from the Settlement because the Injunctive Relief applies to all the Settlement Class Members equally.
If you are a Settlement Class Member and wish to object to the proposed Settlement, you must do so by sending a letter to the Court postmarked no later than October 3, 2014. If you file an objection, you may also appear before the Court in person or through an attorney at the Final Approval Hearing.
If you are a Class Member and do nothing and the Settlement is approved, you will be bound by the Settlement and will no longer be able to bring a claim for Injunctive Relief based on BANA's alleged failure to refund and/or credit in whole or in part Refunded Court Costs to you. However, you will NOT give up your right to file any claim for actual and/or compensatory damages that you may have arising out of BANA's alleged failure to refund and/or credit Refunded Court Costs to you.
The Court will conduct a Final Approval Hearing on November 4, 2014, at 10:00 a.m., in the Potter Stewart U.S. Courthouse, Courtroom 836, 100 East Fifth Street, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 to determine whether to approve the Settlement and whether to award Class Counsel attorneys' fees and expenses and an award to the Class Representative.
This press release is only a summary of the full class action settlement. For additional detailed information on the terms of the settlement, how to object to the settlement, and other important information, please visit www.banaohiorefundedcourtcostsclassactionsettlement.com, write to Collins v BANA, Notice Administrator PO Box 3170 Portland, OR 97208-3170, or call 1-877-283-6568.