Plaintiff Timothy Haston (“Mr. Haston”), on behalf of himself and all others similarly situated, filed a class action lawsuit in federal court against Resurgent Capital Services, L.P.  (“RCS”) and Frontline Asset Strategies, LLC (“FAS”), alleging that RCS and FAS violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”). The FDCPA requires debt collectors to inform consumers that they may dispute the validity of a debt. A decision from the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit interpreted this to mean that consumers residing in the Third Circuit Court of Appeals (Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and the U.S. Virgin Islands) may orally dispute the validity of a debt and are not required to submit a dispute in writing.

Mr. Haston alleged that RCS and FAS violated the FDCPA when RCS and FAS sent letters that told consumers they may only dispute debts in writing. Mr. Haston alleged that this language misled consumers to believe that they could only dispute the validity of a debt in writing, when the FDCPA would also permit an oral dispute regarding the validity of the debt.

RCS and FAS deny they did anything wrong or violated any laws. The Court has not determined that RCS or FAS violated the FDCPA. The notice should not be interpreted as an expression of the Court’s opinion on the merits of the lawsuit.

The Parties have agreed to a settlement of this lawsuit after considering, among other things: (1) the substantial benefits to the proposed Settlement Class under the terms of the Settlement Agreement; (2) the risks, costs, and uncertainty of protracted litigation, especially in actions such as these, as well as the difficulties and delays inherent in such litigation; and (3) the desirability of consummating the Settlement Agreement promptly in order to provide effective relief to the proposed Settlement Class. Even if the case advanced to trial, Plaintiff would face the risk of losing at trial and the risk that a Class might not be certified, as well as the risk of appeals which could last one or more additional years even if Plaintiff prevails at trial.

For Defendants (who deny all allegations of liability and deny that any Class Members were damaged) the principal reason for the Settlement is to eliminate the burden, expense, uncertainty and risk of further litigation. The proposed Settlement does not suggest that Defendants have or have not done anything wrong, or that Plaintiff and the proposed Class would or would not win their case should it go to trial.

The Settlement Class is defined to include: all natural persons residing in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and the U.S. Virgin Islands whom RCS and FAS’s records reflect were sent a letter dated between April 1, 2020 and March 17, 2021, where the letter stated that the debt at issue would be assumed valid unless the consumer disputed the debt in writing.

A $33,000.00 Claims Fund will be used to make cash payments to the class members. You have the right to submit a claim for your pro rata portion of the Settlement Fund if RCS and FAS sent you a letter stating that the debt at issue would be assumed valid unless the consumer disputed the debt in writing.  You can submit the claim form you received in the mail, or fill out and submit a claim online.

You must submit a claim form to get money.

You must submit a Claim Form by April 30, 2024, to receive a Settlement Payment.

The Court will exclude from the Class any individual who validly requests exclusion. If you want to be excluded, you must mail a written request addressed to “Exclusion—Haston v. RCS, FAS Settlement Administrator” at Haston v. RCS/FAS Settlement Administrator, P.O. Box 2006, Chanhassen, MN 55317-2006. For full instructions, please refer to your Notice.

You may object to all or part of the Settlement if you think it is not fair, reasonable, and/or adequate. You cannot ask the Court to order a different settlement; the Court can only approve or reject the settlement.

See your Notice for complete instructions.

The Court has approved lawyers to represent the Settlement Class (“Class Counsel”).  If you prefer to hire your own attorney to represent you in this case, you may do so.  The attorneys who have been appointed by the Court to represent the class are:

The Court will hold a Fairness Hearing on May 2, 2024, at 10:00 a.m., at United States Courthouse, Western District of Pennsylvania, Courtroom 3B. At that hearing, the Court will hear any objections concerning the fairness of the Settlement, decide whether to approve the requested attorneys’ fees, Class Representative award, and administration costs, and determine whether the Settlement should be approved.