Tenant Blacklisting Class Action Lawsuit

[FROM-]
From: Active
To: active@metcouncil.net
Subject: Tenant Blacklisting Class Action Lawsuit
Date: Mon, 3 Apr 2006 17:02:56 -0400



Dear Met Council members and supporters,

An important lawsuit was settled by tenant lawyer Jaime Fishman in regards
to the tenant blacklist. The blacklist refers to lists of renters that
tenant screening bureaus maintain and sell to landlords who use them to
decide whether or not to rent to someone. The rolls are taken from NYC
Housing Court cases. So anyone who withheld rent or exercised their rights
in housing court (exception-HP cases), could be punished by being on the
blacklist.

Read below and you may be entitled to monetary compensation.

**********************************************
**********************************************
TO: ANYONE WHO WAS SUED IN HOUSING COURT IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK BETWEEN
FEBRUARY 26, 1994 AND MARCH 16, 2006

READ THIS NOTICE CAREFULLY IT COULD AFFECT YOUR RIGHTS

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK

WHITE AND JACKSON-DANIELS, ET AL. V. FIRST ADVANTAGE SAFERENT, INC., CIVIL
CASE NO. 04 CV 1611

SUMMARY NOTICE OF CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT

If you were sued in Housing Court in the City of New York between February
26, 1994 and March 16, 2006, you should be aware of the Proposed Settlement
of a class action lawsuit that alleged various claims arising of out the
purported inaccurate reporting of the statuses of such Housing Court cases
by First Advantage SafeRent, Inc. ("FAS"). FAS denies the allegations.

The Class consists of all individuals who were a defendant or respondent in
a lawsuit commenced in a New York City Housing Court and were listed between
February 26, 2001 and March 16, 2006 in FAS's court records database
concerning such lawsuits ("the Class"). Data in FAS's database was allegedly
deleted after seven (7) years, thus if you were sued between February 26,
1994 and March 16, 2006, you are potentially a member of the Class.

If the Proposed Settlement is approved, FAS will institute certain changes
to its systems and processes, shall establish a fund of $1.9 million to pay
up to $100 to individuals about whom FAS issued certain reports and/or to
provide money to increase consumer and landlord awareness of the tenant
screening process and their rights and obligations under the law.

At the settlement hearing, Plaintiffs' Co-Lead Settlement Counsel shall
apply to the Court for an award of reasonable attorneys' fees in the amount
of $990,000.00, and for $75,000.00 as reimbursement for reasonable costs and
expenses. Also, subject to Court approval, Plaintiff, Adam White, will apply
to be paid $15,000 and Plaintiff, Dera Jackson-Daniels, $5,000, for their
service as Class Representatives. These Payments, if approved, would not
reduce the amount available from the $1.9 million fund to pay individual
Class members.

If you believe you are a member of the Class, you have these options:

- You can remain in the Class and do not need to do anything.

- You can exclude yourself from the Settlement process.

- You can object to the Settlement and/or the Application for Attorneys'
Fees and Expenses and Payments to the Class Representatives. You may (but
need not) choose to hire, at your own expense, an attorney to represent you
for this purpose.

To learn more about your rights under the Proposed Settlement, you can see
and download the settlement agreement and related documents at
www.tenantreportsettlement.com or call the toll free helpline number at
1-888-404-0855.

You may request that a copy be
sent to you by contacting:

Tenant Report Settlement
The Garden City Group Inc.
Claims Administrator
P.O. Box 9000 #6374
Merrick, NY 11566-9000.

You may also look at the file for this case, including the Proposed
Settlement, during regular business hours at the Office of the Clerk, U.S.
District Court for the Southern District of New York, Daniel Patrick
Moynihan United States Courthouse, 500 Pearl Street, New York, NY
10007-1312.

PLEASE DO NOT CONTACT THE COURT FOR INFORMATION

1-888-404-0855
www.tenantreportsettlement.com
(website expected to be up around 4/3/06)



-----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Tenant Network(tm) for Residential Tenants
TenantNet(tm): http://tenant.net
email: tenant 'at' tenant.net
Information from TenantNet is from experienced non-attorney tenant activists
and is not considered legal advice.