The direct marketing company Vertrue Inc. and its subsidiary Adaptive Marketing LLC have agreed to a class-action settlement stemming from a lawsuit over enrolling debit cardholders in fee-based membership programs.
The Garden City Group, a legal claims administrator, said in a press release on Tuesday that the settlement addresses claims that the companies had charged consumers' debit cards for various programs without first obtaining and providing copies of their written authorization.
A hearing on whether to approve the settlement is set for Sept. 16 in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee. The defendants are not admitting to any wrongdoing as part of the settlement.
Consumers would be eligible for the settlement if they were enrolled in an Adaptive membership program before Jan. 1, 2007 during a telemarketing call and were charged membership fees on their debit card for the first time on or after March 14, 2005.
Affected consumers could receive a payment of up to $150 for each membership program in which they were enrolled.
