Frequently Asked Questions

A Court authorized this Settlement Website because you have a right to know about a proposed Settlement of a class action lawsuit known as Buttrey v. Self Financial, Inc., Case No. 2024CA000238000000 and about all of your options before the Court decides whether to give Final Approval to the Settlement. This Settlement Website explains the Action, the Settlement, and your legal rights.

Judge Ellen Masters of the Circuit Court for Polk County, Florida, is overseeing this case. The person who sued, Nicholas Buttrey, is called the "Plaintiff." Self Financial, Inc. is called the "Defendant" or “Self Financial.”

The lawsuit alleges that Self Financial sent consumer account communications between 9:00 PM and 8:00 AM in violation of the FCCPA and seeks actual and statutory damages under the FCCPA on behalf of the named Plaintiff and a class of all individuals in the United States.

Self Financial denies each and every allegation of wrongdoing, liability, and damages that were or could have been asserted in the Action and that the claims in the Action would be appropriate for class treatment if the Action were to proceed through trial.

The Plaintiff’s Complaint, Settlement Agreement, and other case-related documents are posted on the Documents page of this Settlement Website. The Settlement resolves the Action. The Court has not decided who is right. 

The FCCPA is a Florida law that restricts certain conduct when communicating and attempting to collect consumer debts.

In a class action, one person called the “Class Representative” (in this case, Plaintiff Nicholas Buttrey) sues on behalf of himself and other people with similar claims. 

All of the people who have claims similar to the Plaintiff are Settlement Class Members, except for those who exclude themselves from the Settlement Class.

 The Court has not found in favor of either Class Representative or Self Financial. Instead, both sides have agreed to a settlement. By agreeing to the Settlement, the parties avoid the costs and uncertainty of a trial, and if the Settlement is approved by the Court, Settlement Class Claimants will receive the benefits described in this Long-Form Notice. Self Financial denies all legal claims in this case. Class Representative and Plaintiff’s lawyers think the proposed Settlement is best for everyone who is affected.

The Settlement Class is defined as:

All Florida residents (1) who were sent a Communication  not known to be undeliverable (2) between 9:00 PM and 8:00 AM in the resident’s local Florida time zone, (3) by Self Financial or on Self Financial’s behalf (4) regarding a Consumer Account, (5) where such communication occurred on or between October 4, 2021 through the date of the Court’s Final Approval Order. 
 

Persons meeting this definition are referred to collectively as the “Settlement Class” and, individually, as “Settlement Class Members.”

Excluded from the Settlement Class are: (1) the trial judge presiding over this case; (2) Defendant, as well as any parent, subsidiary, affiliate, or control person of Defendant, and the officers, directors, agents, servants, or employees of Defendant; (3) any of the Released Parties; (4) the immediate family of any such person(s); any Settlement Class Member who has timely opted out of this proceeding; and (6) Plaintiff’s Counsel, their employees, and their immediate family.

If you are not sure whether you are in the Settlement Class or have any other questions about the Settlement, call the toll-free telephone number, (833) 739-5614, or visit the Contact Us page. You also may send questions to the Administrator at Buttrey v. Self Financial, Inc., c/o Kroll Settlement Administration, PO Box 22539, New York, NY 10150-5391.

To fully settle and release claims of the Settlement Class Members, Self Financial has agreed to make payments to the Settlement Class Members and pay for Notice and Administration Costs of the Settlement (the “Settlement Fund”). Defendant will make up to $500,000 available (the “Settlement Fund”). Each Settlement Class Member who submits a timely, valid, correct and verified Claim Form by the Claim Deadline in the manner required by this Agreement, making all the required affirmations and representations, shall be sent a Claim Settlement Check by the Administrator on a pro rata basis not to exceed $50. Settlement Class Claimants will be sent their Claim Settlement Payments to the address they submitted on their Claim Form within 60 days following the Effective Date. 

If you qualify for a payment, you must complete and submit a valid Claim Form. You may submit an online Claim Form, download a Claim Form on the Documents Page, or request a Claim Form by calling the Administrator at the toll-free telephone number below. To be valid, a Claim Form must be completed fully and accurately, signed under penalty of perjury, and submitted timely.

You must submit a Claim Form by U.S. mail or through this Settlement Website, and it must be submitted or postmarked by October 29, 2024. 

Please read the Claim Form carefully and provide all the information required. Only one Claim Form may be submitted per Settlement Class Member.

Payments to Settlement Class Members will be made only after the Court grants Final Approval to the Settlement and after any appeals are resolved (see “Final Approval Hearing” below). If there are appeals, resolving them can take time. Please be patient.

If you do not want benefits from the Settlement, and you want to keep the right to sue or continue to sue Self Financial on your own about the legal issues in this case, then you must take steps to get out of the Settlement. This is called excluding yourself—or it is sometimes referred to as “opting out” of the Settlement Class.

To exclude yourself from the Settlement, you must send a timely letter or Request for Exclusion by mail to:

Buttrey v. Self Financial, Inc.
c/o Kroll Settlement Administration LLC
PO Box 225391
New York, NY 10150-5391

Your Request for Exclusion from the Settlement must be personally signed by you under penalty of perjury and contain a statement that indicates your desire to be “excluded from the Settlement Class” and that, absent of excluding yourself or “opting out,” you are “otherwise a Settlement Class Member.”

Your Request for Exclusion must be postmarked no later than September 24, 2024. You cannot ask to be excluded on the phone, by email, or on this Settlement Website.

You may opt out of the Settlement Class only for yourself.

No. Unless you exclude yourself, you give up the right to sue Self Financial for the claims that the Settlement resolves. You must exclude yourself from this Settlement Class in order to pursue your own lawsuit.

Unless you opt out of the Settlement, you cannot sue or be part of any other lawsuit against Self Financial about the issues in this case, including any existing litigation, arbitration, or proceeding. Unless you exclude yourself, all of the decisions and judgments by the Court will bind you.

The Agreement is available on the Documents Page of this Settlement Website. The Settlement Agreement provides more detail regarding the Releases and describes the Released Claims with specific descriptions in necessary, accurate legal terminology, so read it carefully. You can talk to the law firms representing the Settlement Class listed in Question 15 for free, or you can, at your own expense, talk to your own lawyer if you have any questions about the Released Claims or what they mean.

No. You will not get a payment from the Settlement Fund if you exclude yourself from the Settlement.

The Court has appointed the following lawyers as “Class Counsel” to represent all Settlement Class Members.
 

JIBRAEL S. HINDI, ESQ.
Florida Bar No.: 118259
[email protected]
The Law Offices of Jibrael S. Hindi
110 SE 6th Street, Suite 1744
Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33301
Phone:    954-907-1136

MANUEL S. HIRALDO, ESQ.
Florida Bar No. 030380
[email protected]
Hiraldo P.A.
401 E Las Olas Blvd., Ste. 1400
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301
Phone: 954-400-4713

You will not be charged for these lawyers. If you want to be represented by another lawyer, you may hire one to appear in Court for you at your own expense.

Class Counsel intend to request up to $125,000 for attorneys’ fees and actual out-of-pocket expenses (
Attorneys’ Fees and Expenses”) incurred in the Action. The Attorneys’ Fees and Expenses awarded by the Court will be paid separately from the Settlement Fund. The Court will decide the amount of Attorneys’ Fees and Expenses to award. 

Class Counsel will also request that a Service Award of $2,500 to be paid separately from the Settlement Fund to the Class Representative for his service as representative on behalf of the whole Settlement Class.

If you are a Settlement Class Member (and do not exclude yourself from the Settlement Class), you can object to any part of the Settlement. To object, you must timely submit a letter that includes the following:

1. A heading that includes the case name and case number;
2. Your name, address, telephone number, the cell phone number at which you received text message from Self Financial after requesting to be opted out and if represented by counsel, the name, bar number, address, and telephone number of your counsel;
3. A signed statement stating, under penalty of perjury, that you received one or more covered communications from Self Financial;
4. A statement of all your objections to the Settlement including your legal and factual basis for each objection;
5. A statement of whether you intend to appear at the Final Approval Hearing, either with or without counsel, and if with counsel, the name of your counsel who will attend;
6. The number of times in which your counsel and/or counsel’s law firm have objected to a class action settlement within the five years preceding the date that you file the objection, the caption of each case in which counsel or the firm has made such objection, and a copy of any orders related to or ruling upon counsel’s or the firm’s prior objections that were issued by the trial and appellate courts in each listed case;
7. A list of all persons who will be called to testify at the Final Approval Hearing in support of the objection;
8. Any and all agreements that relate to the objection or the process of objecting—whether written or verbal—between you or your counsel and any other person or entity;
9. The identity of all counsel (if any) representing the objector who will appear at the Final Approval Hearing; and
10. The objector’s wet-ink signature (an attorney’s signature is not sufficient).
    
     

If you wish to object, you must file your objection with the Court (using the Court’s electronic filing system or in any manner in which the Court accepts filings) and mail your objection to each of the following three (3) addresses, and your objection must be postmarked by September 24, 2024.
 

Objecting is telling the Court that you do not like something about the Settlement. You can object to the Settlement only if you do not exclude yourself. Excluding yourself is telling the Court that you do not want to be part of the Settlement. If you exclude yourself, you have no basis to object to the Settlement because it no longer affects you.

The Court has scheduled a Final Approval Hearing on October 14, 2024, at 11:00 AM via Zoom. The Final Approval Hearing may be moved to a different date or time without additional notice, so it is a good idea to check this Settlement Website for updates. At the Final Approval Hearing, the Court will consider whether the Settlement is fair, reasonable, and adequate. The Court will also consider the requests by Class Counsel for Attorneys’ Fees and Expenses and for a Service Award to the Class Representative. If there are objections, the Court will consider them at that time. After the Final Approval Hearing, the Court will decide whether to approve the Settlement. It is unknown how long these decisions will take.

No. Class Counsel will answer any questions the Court may have. But, you are welcome to attend the Final Approval Hearing at your own expense. If you send an objection, you do not have to come to Court to talk about it. As long as you submitted your written objection on time to the proper addresses and it complies with all the other requirements set forth above, the Court will consider it. You may also pay your own lawyer to attend the Final Approval Hearing, but it is not necessary.

You may ask the Court for permission to speak at the Final Approval Hearing. To do so, your timely filed objection must include a statement of whether you intend to appear at the Final Approval Hearing (see Question 17 above).

You cannot speak at the Final Approval Hearing if you exclude yourself from the Settlement.

If you are a Settlement Class Member and do nothing, meaning you do not file a timely Claim, you will not get benefits from the Settlement. Further, unless you exclude yourself, you will be bound by the judgment entered by the Court.

This Long-Form Notice summarizes the proposed Settlement. You are urged to review more details in the Agreement. For a complete, definitive statement of the Settlement terms, refer to the Agreement on the Documents Page. You also may write with questions to the Administrator at Buttrey v. Self Financial, Inc., c/o Kroll Settlement Administration, PO Box 225391, New York, NY 10150-5391or call the toll-free telephone number, (833) 739-5614.

It is your responsibility to inform the Administrator of your updated information. You may do so at the address below or through the Contact Us page:

Buttrey v. Self Financial, Inc.
c/o Kroll Settlement Administration
PO Box 225391
New York, NY 10150-5391