Countrywide Settles Data Theft Class Action Lawsuit

By Sarah Pierce

A class action settlement has been reached in the Countrywide Financial Corporation and Bank of America lawsuit we told you about at the beginning of April. If you had your identity stolen or are afraid it might happen, you could get benefits from the data theft lawsuit.

According to the lawsuit, a senior financial advisor formerly employed by Countrywide allegedly stole the private information of millions of customers from Countrywide’s records and sold or attempted to sell it to third parties. The stolen information included names, Social Security numbers, home addresses, office addresses, telephone numbers, credit account information, bank account information, employment history and information, and other information people may have provided on mortgage applications or other mortgage documents with Countrywide or any mortgage serviced by Countrywide.

If you obtained a mortgage from Countrywide or had a mortgage serviced by Countrywide before July 1, 2008, or received a letter from Countrywide notifying you that your personal information was possibly stolen by a Countrywide employee, you’re eligible to receive benefits from the class action settlement. The settlement offers two free years of credit monitoring and cash reimbursements for out-of-pocket expenses and identity theft losses up to $50,000 per incidence of identity theft.

One very important thing to note: Cash payments will be paid on a first-come, first-serve basis, up to a total of $5 million. So if you don’t submit a claim early enough, you may be out of luck. The deadline to request a reimbursement from Countrywide for known identity theft is 90 days after the Court grants final approval of the settlement. The earliest deadline to submit a claim is estimated to be October 18, 2010.  If you discover later that your identity has been stolen, you have 90 days after you first find out about the identity theft, or until October 31, 2012, whichever comes first, to file a claim for reimbursement from Countrywide.

The deadline to exclude yourself is June 24, 2010. The deadline to subscribe for credit monitoring is September 7, 2010.

For more information on this class action settlement and to submit a claim form, visit www.cwdataclaims.com. You can also learn more in our Open Settlements section.

Updated May 3rd, 2010

All class action and lawsuit news updates are listed in the Lawsuit News section of Top Class Actions