Broward County Commission Regular Meeting
Director's Name: Andrew J. Meyers
Department: County Attorney
Information
Requested Action
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MOTION TO AUTHORIZE County Attorney to file a claim and to take any required legal actions in connection therewith in the Payment Card Interchange Fee Settlement class action lawsuit, In re Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Antitrust Litigation, MDL 1720 (MKB) (JO); and authorize the County Administrator to take all necessary administrative and budgetary actions.
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Why Action is Necessary
Board approval is necessary to file a claim.
What Action Accomplishes
Provides the County Attorney with the authority to file a claim.
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?County Commission
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?MAP Broward
Previous Action Taken
Summary Explanation/Background
In re Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Antitrust Litigation is a class action lawsuit that claims merchants paid excessive interchange fees (also known as swipe fees) to accept Visa and/or Mastercard payments because these companies violated antitrust laws. The Court has approved a proposed settlement for claims within the settlement class, which includes entities that accepted Visa or Mastercard payments at any time from January 1, 2004, to January 25, 2019.
The County recently learned that it may be entitled to funds from the proposed settlement. There is an upcoming deadline of February 4, 2025, to submit a claim. In anticipation of submitting a claim on behalf of the County, the County Attorney's Office created an account with the class administrator. The account is currently under review by the class administrator. While the account is under review, the County is unable to submit a claim.
However, the County Attorney's Office received verbal and written confirmation from the class administrator that despite the upcoming deadline to submit a claim, the County will be afforded 30 days from the date of account approval to submit ...
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