There were two separate lawsuits filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County.  The first lawsuit, McKenzie-Lopez, et al. v. City of Chicago, Case No. 15 CH 4802, was a class action brought by two motor vehicle owners who received various notices of red light camera and automated speed enforcement violations.  They did not pay the fine or request a hearing before the due date stated on the violation notices.  Because they did not respond by the stated due date, the City issued Determinations of Liability for the violation and ordered them to pay the assessed fine and, if they failed to pay the fine by the stated due date, they were charged a late payment penalty.  The lawsuit alleged that the City of Chicago failed to follow the legal requirements for issuing the determinations of liability.  Specifically, the lawsuit alleged that the City failed to issue these motor vehicle owners, and all similarly situated motor vehicle owners, a second notice of violation before issuing the determinations of liability and accelerated the time in which the motor vehicle owners had to respond.  The lawsuit also alleged that for certain violations the City improperly accelerated the time for imposing late payment penalties from 25 days to 21 days.     

The second lawsuit Willis, et al. v. City of Chicago, Case No. 16 CH 14304, was brought by three motor vehicle owners to challenge the legality of the City of Chicago Automated Enforcement Violation Review and Refund Ordinance of 2016.  The Review Ordinance authorized the City to provide motor vehicle owners who received determinations of liability for red light and automated speed enforcement violations received between March 23, 2010 and May 17, 2015 an additional opportunity to contest those violations by mail or in person.  The lawsuit alleged that the Ordinance was unlawful and unenforceable for a variety of reasons.

On November 2, 2016, the Court certified the McKenzie-Lopez Lawsuit as a class action.  The classes and sub-classes, which have since been amended, are defined as follows:

All individuals or entities to whom the City of Chicago issued a determination of liability on an alleged automated speed enforcement or automated traffic law enforcement system violation before any request was made for an adjudication by mail or for an administrative hearing or where no such request was made (the “Notice Class”).  The Notice Class is limited to alleged automated speed enforcement or automated traffic law enforcement system violations that were issued on or after March 23, 2010 and prior to May 17, 2015.

All individuals or entities from whom the City of Chicago received payment, either directly or indirectly, toward any fines or penalties in connection with a determination of liability on an alleged automated speed enforcement or automated traffic law enforcement system violation that was issued before any request was made for an adjudication by mail or for an administrative hearing or where no such request was made (the “Notice Sub-Class”).  The Notice Sub-Class is limited to alleged automated speed enforcement or automated traffic law enforcement system violations that were issued on or after March 23, 2010 and prior to May 17, 2015.

All individuals or entities to whom the City of Chicago assessed a late penalty prior to the expiration of the 25-day grace period commencing after a determination of liability on an alleged automated speed enforcement or automated traffic law enforcement system violation (the “Penalty Class”).  The Penalty Class is limited to late penalties assessed from July 1, 2012 to May 9, 2015.

All individuals or entities from whom the City of Chicago received payment, either directly or indirectly, toward late penalties assessed prior to the expiration of the 25-day grace period commencing after a determination of liability on an alleged automated speed enforcement or automated traffic law enforcement system violation (the “Penalty Sub-Class”).  The Penalty Sub-Class is limited to late penalties assessed from July 1, 2012 to May 9, 2015.

On August 4, 2017, the Court certified the Willis Lawsuit as a class action and defined the class as the same as the Notice Class set forth above.

On February 26, 2018, the Court entered an order granting Final Approval of the settlement.

No.  The settlement only applies to violations meeting the criteria, which are set forth in the class definitions set forth in response to the question “what is the status of these cases?”  These criteria include all of the following:

1. The violation was issued between March 23, 2010 and May 17, 2015.
2. The motor vehicle owner didn't respond to the initial notice of violation and was issued a determination of liability for failing to respond.

The settlement has several parts.

Fund for partial refunds.  The City will pay $26,750,000 into a fund from which partial refunds will be made. 

Debt forgiveness.  The City is forgiving up to $12,000,000 in unpaid and uncollected debt for violations under the settlement.

Debt Relief.  The City is implementing a debt relief program for Class Members who pay the remaining fine for any speed or red light camera violation subject to the litigation.  Under this program, the City will waive all previously-assessed late payment penalties, interest, collection fees, and collection costs for any such violation.  If you are eligible to participate in the debtrelief program, the City will be sending notices in August 2018.

Restricted enforcement.  The City has also agreed that no Class Member’s speed or red light camera violation subject to the litigation will be considered for purposes of determining whether a vehicle is eligible for immobilization or impoundment, or driver’s license suspension.  Class Members need not do anything for this benefit to apply to them.

Waiver of Late Payment Penalty and Collection Fees If Only Indebtedness. If the only debt owed by a Class Member for a speed or red light camera violation subject to the litigation is for late payment penalties or collection fees, the City is waiving such penalties or fees.  Eligible Class Members need not do anything to obtain this benefit.

Changes to City Practices.  In addition to the refunds and debt extinguishment described above, the settlement provides for other relief, including changes the City made to its notice and late penalty practices to conform those practices to the law and the City’s agreement to adhere to those practices in the future.

No. The deadline for submitting claims was December 11, 2017.

Refund

Under the Settlement Agreement, the refund amount depended on the number and type of claims class members submitted to the City and the amount of attorneys’ fees and costs the court approved from the settlement fund.    Attorneys’ fees and costs of $11,750,000 were subtracted from the $26,750,000 settlement fund, as well amounts claimed for certain late payment penalty refunds and amounts refunded as a result of successful administrative hearing contests.  After these amounts were subtracted, each violation eligible for a refund is receiving a pro rata share of the remaining settlement fund based upon the total number of violations submitted.  This amount is 14.57% of the total amount paid on the eligible violation. 

Class Members who proceeded with a contested hearing and were found not liable, will receive a full refund of amounts previously paid. 

Debt Forgiveness

If you have not fully paid an eligible violation, and you timely submitted a claim for debt forgiveness, the remaining fine amount is eligible for a reduction. Under the Settlement Agreement, the City agreed to forgive $12,000,000 of the total outstanding debt.  To calculate the debt reduction, all eligible violations for which a timely claim had been submitted were reduced pro rata so that the total debt forgiven for these violations totaled $12,000,000.  Based on the number of claims received, each eligible violation is receiving a debt reduction in the amount of 32.01% of the total amount due.

Refunds will be mailed beginning late August, 2018.  

Penalty Sub Class members who submitted a timely claim for a refund of eligible late payment penalties are receiving a “late payment penalty refund” for the full amount of the late payment penalty in addition to any eligible payment refund.

A violation will receive a late payment penalty refund only if: (1) the violation is eligible * and (2) a late payment penalty refund claim was submitted by mail or online before the December 11, 2017 deadline to submit claims.

*Only certain violations are eligible for a full refund of a late payment penalty as described in Section VIII of the Class Notice.  These violations are where motor vehicle owners paid the underlying fine within 25 days after receiving a determination of liability from the City and were charged a late payment penalty that was paid or collected.  If a motor vehicle owner meets this criteria he/she is entitled to receive a full refund of the late payment penalty that was paid or collected.   

Please note: the late payment penalty refund will be mailed separately from any other refund payment you may be due.

If you made a timely claim for debt forgiveness for an eligible violation(s) and still owe a portion of the fine for that violation(s) after the debt forgiveness was applied, you have the opportunity to have all remaining late payment penalties, collection fees and other amounts still owed on that violation(s) forgiven if you simply pay the remaining portion of the fine in full within 30 days after receiving the City of Chicago Debt Relief Opportunity.

The following example shows how the Debt Relief Payment was calculated:

In this example, the original $100 fine was reduced to $22 as part of the initial debt relief offered under the settlement.  If the Debt Relief Payment $22 is paid within 30 days, the motor vehicle owner would have $144 ($100 Late Payment Penalty + $44 Collection Fee) forgiven. If the Debt Relief Amount Payment is not paid within 30 days, the motor vehicle owner would owe the entire $166 and the City will resume collection efforts to collect the amounts owed.

The City of Chicago Automated Enforcement Violation Review and Refund Ordinance of 2016 provided motor vehicle owners with an additional opportunity to challenge determinations of liability issued between March 23, 2010 and May 14, 2015 for certain red light camera and automated speed enforcement violations.

If you received a notice regarding an affected violation(s), you had the opportunity to request an additional hearing to challenge the determination of liability against you. You have received a “Confirmation of Liability” because you did not challenge the previous determination of liability. Your rights are explained on the Confirmation of Liability you received. Whether you need to take any action depends upon whether the prior violation(s) were paid or remain unpaid.

UNPAID VIOLATIONS:

If you received a Confirmation of Liability, fines and charges associated with the violation(s) remain unpaid and are still subject to collection. As part of the settlement of the Lawsuits, the City is offering a debt relief opportunity that allows you to pay the unpaid portion of the fine within 30 days from receipt of the Confirmation of Liability and the City will forgive all other penalties and charges related to the violation(s).

To take advantage of this debt relief opportunity you must pay the “Debt Relief Amount Due” within 30 days from receiving the form.

The following example shows how the Debt Relief Amount Due was calculated:

In this example, if the Debt Relief Amount Due $100 is paid within 30 days, the motor vehicle owner would have $144 ($100 Late Payment Penalty + $44 Collection Fee) forgiven. If the Debt Relief Amount Due is not paid within 30 days the motor vehicle owner would owe the entire $244 and the City will resume collection efforts to collect the amounts owed.

PAID VIOLATIONS:

You are not required to do anything. The City of Chicago Automated Enforcement Violation Review and Refund Ordinance 2016 provided motor vehicle owners with an additional opportunity to challenge determinations of liability issued between March 23, 2010 and May 14, 2015 for certain red light camera and automated speed enforcement violations.

If you received a notice regarding one of the affected violations, you had the opportunity to request an additional hearing to challenge the determination of liability against you. You have received a “Confirmation of Liability” because you did not challenge the previous determination of liability. Your rights are explained on the Confirmation of Liability your received.

If you received a Confirmation of Liability, you are not required to do anything further. All fines and other charges associated with the violation(s) for which the prior determination of liability was issued have been paid in full and you owe nothing further on that violation(s). 

The Debt Relief Program lasts for 30 days from the date on the notice you received notifying you of the debt relief program.

No. To receive the debt relief discount, eligible violations must be paid in full by the stated deadline.

No. You can pay any eligible red light or speed camera violation, but each violation you pay must be paid in full to receive the debt relief discount on such violation.

Any Debt Relief eligible violation that is not paid in full will revert back to the full amount due after the stated deadline, and the City will resume collection efforts.

NO PAYMENT IS DUE at this time if you currently have a bankruptcy case pending. If you do not currently have a bankruptcy case pending, no payment is due if all the following apply:

You previously filed a bankruptcy case;

You notified the City of the bankruptcy;

The violations listed on the front side of this notice were issued before you filed for bankruptcy; and

You received a Chapter 13 bankruptcy discharge under § 1328(a) of the Bankruptcy Code.

If you’ve moved since you submitted your claim form either by mail or online and have not updated your address or you have not received your refund check, please call customer service at 312-744-7275 for further assistance.

The following lawyers are serving as counsel for the Class:

Myron M. Cherry

mcherry@cherry-law.com

Jacie C. Zolna

jzolna@cherry-law.com

Myron M. Cherry & Associates, LLC

30 North LaSalle Street, Suite 2300

Chicago, Illinois 60602

(312) 372-2100 (telephone)