American Financial Resources, Inc. Data Breach

A proposed settlement has been reached in a class action lawsuit titled In re American Financial Resources, Inc. Data Breach Litig., No. 2:22-cv-01757 (MCA) (JSA) (“Lawsuit”), filed in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey.

This Lawsuit arises out of a cybersecurity incident involving American Financial Resources, Inc. (“AFR”) that occurred in or around December 2021 (the “Incident”). Plaintiffs allege that the Incident resulted in unauthorized access by a third party to data stored on AFR’s network, and this included the Personally Identifiable Information (“PII”) of AFR’s current and former loan customers and employees. AFR denies any wrongdoing.

The Settlement Class consists of those whose PII was maintained on AFR’s system that was allegedly accessed during the Incident and who received a Notice of Data Breach in or around March 2022.

Settlement Class Members may submit a Claim for the following benefits from the settlement: (1) cash payment, adjusted up or down depending upon the number of Claims approved, from the $2,500,000 Common Fund; (2) reimbursement for up to $7,500 per person for documented, unreimbursed Out-of-Pocket Losses that are fairly traceable to the Incident, subject to an aggregate cap of $1,000,000; and (3) one year of one credit bureau monitoring with up to $1 million in identity theft insurance.

If you are a Settlement Class Member, you must submit a Claim Form to receive any benefits by September 17, 2024. The easiest way to submit a Claim is online here, or you can complete and mail the Claim Form to the mailing address of the Settlement Administrator. Your legal rights are affected regardless of whether you do, or do not, act.

The Court in charge of this case must still decide whether to give final approval of the settlement, including Co-Lead Counsel’s request for an award of attorneys’ fees and expenses. No settlement benefits will be provided until the Court approves the settlement and it becomes Final.

Your Legal Rights and Options in This Lawsuit

Submit a Claim Form The Deadline Date Has Passed	You must submit a valid Claim Form to receive settlement benefits. A Claim Form must be submitted online by September 17, 2024, or, if mailed, postmarked no later than September 17, 2024.
File an Objection The Deadline Date Has Passed	Stay in the settlement but tell the Court why you think the settlement or Co-Lead Counsel’s request for an award of attorneys’ fees and/or expenses should not be approved. Objections must be received, not merely postmarked, by September 17, 2024. You will still be bound by the settlement if the Court approves it.
Exclude Yourself The Deadline Date Has Passed	Get out of the settlement. Get no money. Keep your rights. This is the only option that allows you to keep your right to sue about the claims in this Lawsuit. You will not receive any settlement benefits from the settlement. Your request to exclude yourself must be postmarked no later than September 17, 2024.
Go to a Hearing The Hearing Date Has Passed	You can ask to speak in Court about the fairness of the settlement, at your own expense. See Question 20 for more details. The Final Fairness Hearing is scheduled for October 2, 2024, at 3:00 p.m.
Do Nothing	If you do nothing, you remain in the settlement. You give up your rights to sue and you will not get any money.

These rights and options—and the deadlines to exercise them—are explained further on the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) page of this website.