Wrongful Repo Class Action Settlement – Corvo v. SLM Financial
SLM Financial Corporation (a division of Sallie Mae) settled a class action lawsuit in the 11th Judicial Circuit Court in and for Miami-Dade County, Florida (Mario Corvo v. SLM Financial Corp., Case No. 10-51392 CA) in which plaintiff alleged the SLM Financial violated the requirements of Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code. SLM repossessed Corvo’s boat, and SLM’s post-repossession notice sent to Corvo failed to meet the requirements of the UCC. The settlement was reached through mediation with mediator the Honorable William J. Cahill (Ret.) of JAMS on April 4, 2011, and was approved by the Honorable Ellen Sue Venzer, Circuit Judge, on December 15, 2011.
Plaintiff alleged that SLM’s post-repossession notices deprived 265 class members in Florida of their rights under Florida Statutes Section 679.623 or failed to comply with the disclosure requirements of Florida Statutes Sections 679.614 and 679.616. Because of the wrongful repossessions, Plaintiff sought cancellation of all deficiency balances asserted against the class members, statutory damages, injunctive relief, attorney’s fees and costs.
The 265 class members shall each recieve $3,500.00 for statutory damages (totalling $927,500.00), a waiver of deficiency balances of the all of the class members (totalling $2,780,430.00) and removal of adverse credit reporting related to the repossessions from each class member’s credit report (priceless). Distribution of the settlement funds is expected on or before March 19, 2012.
The plaintiffs were represented Robert W. Murphy of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and Dana L. Manner of Miami, Florida. The defendant SLM Financial vigourously denies all allegations of wrongdoing, yet has agreed to settle all claims, and was represented by Strook, Strook & Levan LLP.
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