| Class action lawsuits, including
securities class action lawsuits, are a large and
growing source of unclaimed funds. Each year hundreds
of companies are involved in class action litigation.
Class
actions fall into a number of broad categories
including: Securities Fraud (insider trading and
mismanagement); Consumer Protection (fraudulent
marketing); Product Liability (defective products);
Antitrust (unfair business practices and price
fixing); Human Rights (unfair practices and
discrimination); Environment (pollution) and Public
Health (tobacco). Recent class action settlements
have exceeded $10 billion ($5 billion last year
alone), yet more than half of those entitled to
payment fail to file a claim.
Current
and former customers and stockholders in over 2000
companies are entitled to receive unclaimed class
action settlement payments. Legal notice of class
action claims eligibility is often buried deep in
newspaper classifieds. If you've moved, physically
hold stock certificates, or hold stock in street name
and switch brokers, you may not be notified.
Even
if a product was used long ago or stock has long
since been sold, class members may be eligible to
receive cash, credits, shares or distributions in
companies like AOL, AT&T, Ford, GM, Dow Corning,
Coca Cola, NASDAQ, Publishers Clearing House, Bank of
America, MCI, Merrill Lynch, Schwab, Wal-Mart and
hundreds of others.
If you
a current or former customer or stockholder in a
company named in a class action lawsuit, you must
file a claim to receive your share. Because class
actions are filed in federal court, settlement
payments to class members will not show up in a state
unclaimed property search. There is a time limit, so
prompt action must be taken. Order our Special
Report: Class Action Settlement Search
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