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Old 02-16-2011, 07:24 PM
Advogado Advogado is offline
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Default The class-action settlement again

Quote:
Originally Posted by same View Post
I would like a receipt for my share of the Lawyers fee, so I can get a tax deduction of about $300. If you live north of 466, the $6,000,000 fee comes out to about $300 for every homeowner.
Bad news: I'm afraid that your math is no better than your than your understanding of the class-action settlement. Take a look at page 3 of the settlement agreement: http://www.thevillagesfl.us/classactionsettlement.htm

Plaintiff's attorneys' fees were paid by the Developer, in addition to the $40 million settlement. They cost you nothing. Thus, they did not cost every homeowner north of 466 $300. They cost each such homeowner: $0.

You, I, and everybody else in The Villages was being "had" by the Developer. While you, I, and everybody else did nothing to remedy the situation, the plaintiffs pushed the matter and got us $40 million. Most people in our situation would thank them. I have.

When I said your share of settlement was $1,000, I was postulating that all approximately 40,000 homes in The Villages benefited equally from the settlement. Since you want to assume that only homes north of 466 benefited (technically they were the only members of the class, but in reality we all use the facilities north of 466) and if you live north of 466, then you should write the Developer a refund check for $2,000, instead of only $1,000. As I said in my earlier post, if you don't want the class-action money from the Developer, give your share back to the Developer. (The family is apparently running up some big legal bills in Montana and could use your help.) Otherwise, stop carping about the plaintiffs and the POA.

Further bad news for you: Even with a receipt for $300, you don't get a tax deduction for the class-action plaintiffs' attorney fees that were paid by the Developer and not by you.