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US: Settlement in Tax sale Bid-Rigging suit upheld on appeal

By  |  September 9, 2018

The US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has rejected a challenge to a US$9.59 million settlement in a New Jersey class action over alleged rigging of bids for municipal tax sale certificates.

The September 2016 settlement is fair and reasonable, and the appellant’s allegations of unequal treatment of class members are unfounded, the appeals court stated September 6 in In Re: New Jersey Tax Sales Certificates Antitrust Litigation.

Plaintiff-appellant Arlene Davies, who claimed she was charged higher interest on tax certificates because of collusion by investors who buy the certificates, challenged a US District Court judge’s approval of the settlement as an abuse of discretion.

But Third Circuit Judges Theodore McKee, Thomas Ambro and Jane Roth said there had been no erroneous finding of fact, errant conclusions of law, or improper application of law to fact.

Full Content: New Jersey Law Journal

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