Notice of Class Certification Civil District Court

NOTICE OF CLASS CERTIFICATION CIVIL DISTRICT COURT FOR THE PARISH OF ORLEANS STATE OF LOUISIANA NO. 2002-5170 DIVISION " N " A. REMY FRANSEN, JR. and ALLAIN F. HARDIN versus THE CITY OF NEW ORLEANS, ET AL ATTENTION TO THOSE PERSONS AND/OR ENTITIES WHO PAID CITY PENALTIES OR COLLECTION FEES TO THE CITY OF NEW ORLEANS FOR LATE PAYMENT OF AD VALOREM TAXES PURSUANT TO CITY ORDINANCE NO. 18637 SUMMARY NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN to those persons and/or entities who paid penalties/fees from April 17, 2000 through March 5, 2002. These penalties were imposed on real and other property located in the City of New Orleans for late payment of property taxes to the City. The penalties/fees imposed on real property were later determined to be unconstitutional by the Louisiana Supreme Court. If you were assessed and paid City penalties and collection/penalty fees for delinquent payment of personal property (business) taxes or paid the penalties on real property outside of the recognized time frame, you are not included in this class. Class representatives (plaintiffs), brought suit against The City of New Orleans ("City), Linebarger, Goggan, Blair & Sampson, LLP ("Linebarger") and United Governmental Services of Louisiana, Inc. ("UGSL"), asserting that any property owner who paid unconstitutional late payment City penalties and fees while the Ordinance was in effect, was entitled to the return of those sums. The Courts, because of certain payment under protest provisions imposed by State and City law, limited the claims to the time frame April 17, 2000 through March 5, 2002. The Court certified this action as a class action on November 24, 2015 with a class of plaintiffs as defined in the Notice and covering only that time frame. The class representatives now seek to force the City, Linebarger and UGSL to return all payments made during that time frame. The defendants, City, Linebarger and UGSL dispute the return of the penalty/collection fees paid. The Court has not made a final determination that the claims will be honored. Class claims with respect to Linebarger and UGSL are limited as to the issue of these defendants being debt collectors. This will be determined by the Court in the future. This summary Notice is to inform you of the pendency of this class action law suit and to advise you that you do not have to do anything at the present time if you wish to be part of the class action as defined by the Court and to advise you of your right and the procedure to be followed if you wish to opt out of the litigation and/or pursue any separate action. Any person who wants to be excluded from the class must submit a request for exclusion from the class following the process set out in the full Notice on website, nolataxpenalty.com. The opt out letter must be postmarked no later than April 1, 2019. See full Notice online. Any judgment, whether favorable or not, will include all members of the class who do not request exclusion from the class. If you opt out of this class action, you will not be included in the class action or share in any recovery made on behalf of the class. If you do opt out and fail to take whatever action may be necessary to protect your interests within 30 days from the date that you opt out, you will be forever barred from bringing any action with regard to any claim for return of the penalties/collection fees paid. Likewise, if your claim was excluded from this class action you have 30 days from the publication of the full Notice to file suit. See La. Code of Civil Procedure, Art. 596. You should consult your own attorney. Again, if you wish to be part of the class you do not have to take any further action, until further notified. Inquiries should be directed to: Class Counsel, 807 Howard Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70113; www.nolataxpenalty.com 2-24/2019