Case Information

• Perez v. DirecTV Group Holdings, LLC et al

• United States District Court Central District of California

• 8:16-cv-01440-JLS-DFM

• (866) 606-5908

• info@directvperezclasssettlement.com

Settlement Update: Class Member settlement awards were mailed on June 28, 2023. Please allow 7-10 business days to receive the settlement award. If you have any questions about the award or where it was mailed, please contact the Settlement Administrator at (866) 606-5908. Please note that, if the settlement award was over $600 and no W-9 was provided by a business member contact, then backup tax withholding have been applied. If you wish to claim the taxes withheld, you may submit a completed W-9 form at info@DirectvPerezClassSettlement.com.

Class Action Settlement for Businesses or Business Owners Who Were Contacted by the Lonstein Law Office Concerning Commercial Misuse of DIRECTV Programming Between August 4, 2012 and August 23, 2022.

• The information on this website concerns your potential right to recovery based on a settlement in a case called Perez v. DIRECTV Group Holdings, LLC, et al., Case No. 16-cv-01440-JLS-DFM, pending in the United States District Court for the Central District of California filed on August 4, 2016. A court has authorized notice of the Settlement. This is not a solicitation from a lawyer.
• This proposed class action Settlement will resolve a lawsuit against DIRECTV Group Holdings, LLC, DIRECTV Holdings, LLC, DIRECTV, LLC (collectively, “DIRECTV”), Signal Auditing, Inc., Lonstein Law Office, P.C., Julie Cohen Lonstein, and Wayne M. Lonstein (collectively and together with DIRECTV, the “Defendants”).
• The proposed Settlement affects all businesses and business owners in the United States who had DIRECTV services installed in their commercial establishment; who were subsequently audited by Defendant Signal Auditing, Inc.; and who at any time on or after the day four years prior to the date on which the original Complaint was filed (August 4, 2012) through the date the Court grants preliminary approval of the settlement, received communications from the Lonstein Defendants on behalf of DIRECTV seeking money for allegedly unauthorized use of DIRECTV licensed programming, including NFL Sunday Ticket or any other DIRECTV-related programming (“Settlement Class”).
• The Lawsuit alleges that DIRECTV and the other defendants solicited business owners to purchase DIRECTV programing for their businesses, but then directed the defendant Lonstein Law Office to contact those businesses to assert that they committed commercial misuse of DIRECTV programming in violation of the Federal Communications Act.
• Defendants deny any wrongdoing. They contend that they have complied with the law in all respects and at all times and that DIRECTV and the Lonstein Law Office properly pursued valid legal claims against businesses that displayed DIRECTV programming in their businesses without a valid license to do so.
• As part of a compromise to resolve the claims in this case fully, DIRECTV has agreed to pay $9,400,000 into a fund (the “Total Settlement Fund”); not to retain the Lonstein Law Office Julie Cohen Lonstein, or Wayne M. Lonstein in any capacity for potential claims of commercial misuse by DIRECTV’s customers going forward; and to include a statement in its order confirmation letter to customers that reminds customers that residential service may be used for residential purposes only, and cannot be used in commercial settings.
• The lawyers who brought the lawsuit (“Class Counsel”) will ask the Court for up to $3,133,333.33 to be paid out of the Total Settlement Fund as Attorneys’ Fees for investigating the facts, litigating the case, and negotiating the Settlement and $151,550.94, to be paid out of the Total Settlement Fund, for litigation Expenses. Class Counsel also will ask the Court to award a total of $80,000 collectively to the Class Representatives who brought this lawsuit. These payments are called the “Class Representative Incentive Awards” or “Incentive Awards.”
• Your legal rights are affected whether or not you act. Read this information carefully. Below are your options in this Settlement. These rights and options—and the deadlines to exercise them—are further explained in the FAQs.
• The Court in charge of this case granted final approval of the Settlement on January 23, 2023. On February 9, 2023, Defendants Lonstein Law Office P.C., Julie Cohen Lonstein and Wayne M. Lonstein filed a notice of appeal. Settlement benefits will be provided to Class Members only if the Appellate Court affirms the final approval. Benefits to the class cannot be paid until the pending appeal is resolved and the Settlement becomes effective. Please be patient.