| UPDATE: On April 8, 2019, the Court entered the Order Authorizing Distribution of the Net Settlement Fund, which is included on the Court Documents page of this website. The Distribution commenced on Friday, May 24, 2019. |
The information
contained on this website is only a summary.
More information regarding the Action is
contained in the Notice of (I) Proposed Settlement of Class Action; (II) Final
Approval Hearing; and (III) Motion for an Award of Attorneys’ Fees and
Reimbursement of Litigation Expenses (the “Settlement Notice”). The Settlement
Notice also contains the definitions of many of the defined terms (which are
indicated by initial capitalized letters) used on this website. You may
download a copy of the Settlement Notice by clicking here.
The Proof of Claim and Release Form (the “Claim Form”) may be downloaded by clicking here.
General Instructions and more information regarding the claim process is
contained in the Claim Form.
YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS AND OPTIONS:
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SUBMIT A CLAIM FORM POSTMARKED NO LATER THAN DECEMBER 8, 2017. | This is the only way to be eligible to receive a payment from the Settlement Fund. If you are a Class Member, you will be bound by the Settlement as approved by the Court and you will give up any Released Plaintiffs’ Claims that you have against Defendants and the
other Defendants’ Releasees,so it is in your interest to submit a Claim Form.
A copy of the Claim Form can be downloaded from
the Claim Form page of this website.
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OBJECT TO THE SETTLEMENT BY SUBMITTING A WRITTEN OBJECTION SO THAT IT IS RECEIVED NO LATER THAN DECEMBER 1, 2017.
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If you do not like the proposed Settlement, the proposed Plan of Allocation, and/or the request for attorneys’ fees and reimbursement of Litigation Expenses, including Class Representatives’ request for reimbursement of costs and expenses incurred in connection with their representation of the Class, you may write to the Court and explain why you do not like them. You can only object to the Settlement, the Plan of Allocation or the fee and expense request if you are a Class Member. Further information regarding the requirements for the submission of an objection to the Settlement, or any aspect thereof, can be found in ¶s 50-56 of the Settlement Notice. |
FILE A NOTICE OF INTENTION TO APPEAR SO THAT IT IS RECEIVED NO LATER THAN DECEMBER 1, 2017, AND GO TO A HEARING ON DECEMBER 22, 2017.
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Any Class Member may attend the Final Approval Hearing. Filing a written objection and notice of intention to appear by December 1, 2017 allows you to speak in Court, at the discretion of the Court, about the fairness of the Settlement, the Plan of Allocation, and/or the request for attorneys’ fees and reimbursement of Litigation Expenses, including Class Representatives’ request for reimbursement of costs and expenses incurred in connection with their representation of the Class. If you submit a written objection, you may (but you do not have to) attend the hearing and, if you also file a notice of intention to appear, speak to the Court about your objection at the discretion of the Court. Further information regarding the requirements for filing a notice of intention to appear can be found in ¶ 53 of the Settlement Notice. |
DO NOTHING. |
If you are a Class Member and you do
not submit a valid Claim Form, you will not be eligible to receive any
payment from the Settlement Fund. You will, however, remain a member of the
Class, which means that you give up your right to sue about the claims that
are resolved by the Settlement and you will be bound by any judgments or
orders entered by the Court in the Action. |
The Class:
On November 18, 2016, the Court entered an
Order certifying the following Class:
All persons and entities who purchased or otherwise acquired Ocwen
Financial Corporation (“Ocwen”) common stock from May 2, 2013 through December
19, 2014, inclusive (the “Class Period”), and were damaged thereby.
Excluded from the Class are:
Defendants and members of Defendants’ immediate families (as defined in
17 C.F.R. § 229.404, Instructions (1)(a)(iii) and (1)(b)(ii)), any person,
firm, trust, corporation, officer, director, or other individual or entity in
which any Defendant has or had a controlling interest, or which is related or
affiliated with any Defendant, and the legal representatives, agents, affiliates,
heirs, successors-in-interest, or assigns of any such excluded party. Also
excluded from the Class are the persons and entities who previously requested
exclusion in connection with the Notice of Pendency as set forth on Exhibit C
to the Stipulation, which can be downloaded by clicking here.
The
Settlement Benefits:
Subject to Court approval, and as described
more fully in the Settlement Notice, Class Representatives, on behalf of
themselves and the Class, have reached an agreement to settle the Action with
Defendants Ocwen, William C. Erbey and Ronald M. Faris for total consideration
of $56,000,000 in value, consisting of $49,000,000 in cash plus the number of
shares of Ocwen common stock that equates to $7,000,000 in value (the
“Settlement Amount”). As set forth in
the Stipulation and Settlement Notice, Ocwen’s contribution of stock is subject
to the limitation that, in no event, shall Ocwen be required to issue more than
four percent (4%) of Ocwen’s outstanding shares of common stock as of the date
of the Court’s Final Approval Hearing to fund the Settlement Amount. In addition, Ocwen may elect to substitute
$7,000,000 in cash in lieu of stock at any time before the Final Approval
Hearing.
The Net Settlement Fund (i.e., the Settlement
Amount plus any and all interest earned thereon) less (i) any Taxes, (ii)
Notice and Administration Costs, (iii) any Litigation Expenses awarded by the
Court, (iv) any attorneys’ fees awarded by the Court, and (v) any other costs,
expenses or amounts as may be approved by the Court) will be distributed to
Class Members according to a Court-approved plan of allocation. The Plan of Allocation
being proposed by Class Representatives and Class Counsel is set forth in
Appendix A to the Settlement Notice.
Description
and Status of the Action:
This is a securities class action against
Defendants for alleged violations of the federal securities laws during the
Class Period. Class Representatives allege that Defendants issued
misrepresentations and omissions during the Class Period (i.e., May 2, 2013
through December 19, 2014, inclusive) purportedly regarding Ocwen’s compliance
with regulations imposed upon Ocwen by regulators, including the New York
Department of Financial Services and the National Mortgage Settlement, and in
connection with Ocwen’s policies, practices and procedures over its
transactions with other chaired by Defendant William C. Erbey.
Defendants expressly deny all allegations of fault,
liability and/or wrongdoing made aginst them in the Action.
Additional information regarding the Action
and the claims asserted by Class Representatives can be found in the Settlement
Notice and in the operative complaint – the Consolidated Third Amended Class
Action Complaint, which can be downloaded by clicking here.
Class Counsel:
As
a Class Member, you will be represented by Class Counsel:
Sharan Nirmul, Esq.
Richard A. Russo, Jr.,
Esq.
KESSLER TOPAZ
MELTZER
& CHECK, LLP
280 King of Prussia
Road
Radnor, PA 19087
Telephone:
610-667-7706
Facsimile: 610-667-7056
www.ktmc.com
Although the Court has appointed attorneys to represent
the Class, you have the right to retain your own personal counsel at your own
expense. However, you are not required to retain separate counsel. If you do
not retain separate counsel and you are a member of the Class, your interests
will be represented by Class Counsel and by the representatives of the Class. Additional
information regarding the requirements, should you choose to retain your own
personal counsel, is included in ¶ 54 of the Settlement Notice.