Cin-Q Automobiles, Inc., v. Buccaneers Limited Partnership

Plaintiffs filed this class action lawsuit (the “Litigation”) against Buccaneers Limited Partnership, now known as Buccaneers Team LLC (“BTL” or “Defendant”), alleging that it violated the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) by sending unsolicited advertisements by fax. Defendant denies each and every allegation of wrongdoing, liability, and damages that were or could have been asserted in the Litigation and further denies that the claims would be appropriate for class treatment if the Litigation were to proceed through trial. The parties have agreed to settle all claims about 343,122 advertising faxes allegedly sent by or on behalf of BTL from July 14, 2009, to June 9, 2010. This website informs you of your rights regarding this Settlement as a potential member of the Settlement Class.

The Court has not decided in favor of Plaintiffs or BTL. 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 Members will receive the benefits described on this website. The proposed Settlement does not mean that any law was broken or that BTL did anything wrong. BTL denies all legal claims in this case. Plaintiffs and their lawyers think the proposed Settlement is best for everyone who is affected.

The Court has certified the Settlement Class defined above and preliminarily approved a settlement, subject to the Fairness Hearing. The Hearing has been postponed and a new date & time has not been determined. Please periodically check this website for updates. BTL has agreed to create a settlement fund of $19,750,000.00 (“Settlement Fund”) to settle this case. If the Court approves the Settlement at the Fairness Hearing, each valid claim will be paid up to $350.00 for the first fax, $125.00 for the second fax, $90.00 for the third fax, $25.00 for the fourth fax, and $25.00 for the fifth fax. You do not need to state on the Claim Form how many faxes you received from BTL in 2009-2010. You will be paid according to the electronic records obtained in this case. In the event the Settlement Fund is exhausted, these amounts are subject to reduction.

The Court-appointed Plaintiffs Cin-Q Automobiles, Inc., and Medical & Chiropractic Clinic, Inc., as the Class Representatives, and appointed the following attorneys as Class Counsel:

They have litigated on behalf of the Settlement Class against BTL on a contingency basis. As part of the Settlement, Class Counsel will request that the Court award each Plaintiff an incentive award of $10,000.00 for serving as Class Representatives and ask the Court to award attorney’s fees to Class Counsel equal to 25% of the Settlement Fund for their legal services, plus their reasonable out-of-pocket litigation expenses, also to be paid out of the Settlement Fund. You can read Plaintiffs’ Motion for Attorney Fees and Incentive Award here. You will not have to pay any money to Class Counsel. You may retain your own counsel to represent you at your own expense. The Court will ultimately decide the amount of fees and expenses to award.

1. Submit a Claim Form to Receive a Check: The Claim Form deadline was February 6, 2023. If you submitted a timely and valid Claim Form, you will be mailed a settlement check after the Court enters a Final Order and Judgment granting approval of the Settlement and after any appeals are resolved. If there are appeals, resolving them can take time. Please be patient.

2. Do Nothing: You will be bound by the Settlement, you will release your claims regarding faxes sent by or on behalf of BTL from July 14, 2009, to June 9, 2010, and you will not receive any money. Unless you opted out of the Settlement, you give up any right you might have to sue BTL for legal claims that the Settlement resolves. You must have excluded yourself from the Settlement Class in order to try to maintain your own lawsuit. If you start your own lawsuit, you will have to hire your own lawyer, and you will have to prove your claims.

   Unless you excluded yourself from the Settlement, you cannot sue or be part of any other lawsuit against BTL about the issues in this case, including any existing litigation, arbitration, or proceeding. Unless you excluded yourself, all of the decisions and judgments by the Court will bind you. If you file a Claim Form for benefits or do nothing at all, you will be releasing BTL from all of the claims described and identified in Section XI of the Settlement Agreement.

   The Settlement Agreement is available here or by writing to Cin-Q Automobiles, Inc., v. Buccaneers Limited Partnership, Attn: Settlement Administrator, P.O. Box 6394, Portland, OR 97228-6394. The Settlement Agreement provides more detail regarding the release and describes the released claims with specific descriptions in necessary, accurate legal terminology, so read it carefully. You can talk to the lawyers seeking to represent the Settlement Class and listed above 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.

3. Opt Out of the Settlement: The exclusion deadline was February 6, 2023.

4. Object to the Settlement: The objection deadline was April 28, 2023.

The Court will hold a Fairness Hearing, at which time it will hear any timely and properly-filed objections and arguments about the Settlement. (The Hearing has been postponed and a new date & time has not been determined. Please periodically check this website for updates.) At this 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’ Fee Award and for Inventive Awards to the Class Representatives. After the hearing, the Court will decide whether to approve the Settlement. It is unknown how long these decisions will take. You are not required to attend unless you object to the Settlement. The hearing may be continued to a future date without further notice. You are welcome to attend the hearing at your own expense.

If you have specific questions, you can write to Class Counsel at the addresses listed in FAQ 4. Include the case number, your name, the fax number(s) at which you or your company received faxes between July 14, 2009, and June 9, 2010, and your current street address on any correspondence. You may also contact Addison Law Office, P.A., at 1-813-760-6712 or Anderson + Wanca at 1-855-827-2329. You can review the Complaint, Settlement Agreement, and Plaintiffs’ Motion for Attorney Fees and Incentive Award here. You may also send questions to the Settlement Administrator by calling 1-800-974-0698 (Toll-Free) or writing to Cin-Q Automobiles, Inc., v. Buccaneers Limited Partnership, Attn: Settlement Administrator, P.O. Box 6394, Portland, OR 97228-6394.

This website only summarizes the Litigation and Settlement. The Court files for this case are available for your inspection at the Office of the Clerk of Court for the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida (Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.) or through the Court’s Public Access to Electronic Records (PACER) system at https://FLMD.USCourts.gov/PACER.

DO NOT CONTACT THE JUDGE, THE JUDGE’S STAFF, OR THE CLERK OF THE COURT BECAUSE THEY CANNOT ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS ABOUT THE SETTLEMENT. BY ORDER OF THE COURT, HONORABLE ANTHONY E. PORCELLI.