NASREEN BEGUM v FAIR COLLECTIONS & OUTSOURCING, INC. Settlement

No.  If you received a Notice it's because you are a member of a class action and your rights may be affected.  You may also be entitled to certain benefits.  Please read the notice for more information.

Class Representative Nasreen Begum (“Class Representative” or “Plaintiff”) filed a class action lawsuit in  federal court  against Fair Collections & Outsourcing, Inc., (“Defendant” or “FCOI”) alleging that Defendant violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) because it attempted to collect early termination fees not permitted by the underlying leases.

Defendant denies that it did anything wrong or that it violated any laws. The Court has not decided that Defendant violated the FDCPA. The Court has not made any determination that the early termination fees are permitted or not permitted by the underlying leases. In other words, the Court has not decided that any fees are owed or not owed. The Court has not made any determination that this lawsuit should proceed as a class action, as opposed to individual claims brought by plaintiff. This Notice should not be interpreted as an expression of the Court’s opinion about which side is right or wrong. If the parties had not reached a settlement, Defendant would have vigorously defended the lawsuit and asked for a ruling in its favor.

The Settlement Class is all natural persons who: (1) signed or cosigned rental leases associated with 1,344 FCOI accounts where the underlying lease was prepared using the National Apartment Association lease form, (2) where the lease property was either located in Virginia or managed by the same property management group as Plaintiff, (3) which accounts were placed with FCOI within one year prior to May 28, 2024 and (4) the balance at the time of placement exceeded the amount of two months’ rents on the underlying lease.

The benefits for Class Members fall under the category of injunctive relief. An injunction occurs when a court orders a person to do or not to do something, in this case, making changes to FCOI’s business practices. The Settlement requires the Defendant, at its expense, delete all credit reporting related to the Class Members’ accounts. Defendant will also cease all collection on these account and return the accounts back to the respective property manager, and Defendant will not seek to collect these debts from Class Members in the future. All Class Members will receive the benefit from these changes in business practices.

If you take part in the settlement and do not object to it, you do NOT have to appear at the hearing.

IN ORDER TO OBTAIN THE BENEFITS OF THIS LAWSUIT, YOU DO NOT HAVE TO DO ANYTHING.

You may not opt-out of this settlement.

You may object to all or part of the Settlement if you think it is not fair, reasonable, and/or adequate. To object, you must file with the Court and send copies to the parties’ counsel, a written explanation of the reasons you think that the Court should not approve the Settlement. The objection must include the following: (1) your full name, address, and current telephone number; (2) if you are represented by counsel, the name and telephone number of counsel; (3) all objections and the basis for any such objections stated with specificity, including a statement as to whether the objection applies only to you, to a specific subset of the class, or to the entire class; (4) the identity of any witnesses you may call to testify; (5) a listing of all exhibits you intend to introduce into evidence at the Final Approval Hearing, including a copy of such exhibits; (6) a statement regarding whether you intend to appear at the Final Approval Hearing; and (7) your signature and a notation that the objection is for “Begum v. Fair Collections & Outsourcing, Inc., Civil Action No. 1:24-cv-893 (E.D. Va.).”

Your deadline to object to the Settlement is June 16, 2025.

You can review more details about the proposed settlement and access additional documents, including the full Settlement Agreement, at this Settlement Website (www.fcoisettlement.com).