Lasky, et al. v. Aven Financial, Inc.,

Plaintiffs filed a putative class action complaint against Aven arising out of a Data Security Incident that occurred on or around July 17, 2023.  In the Action, Plaintiffs allege that Aven failed to protect the personal information of Plaintiffs and Class Members, and that they were injured as a result. After a thorough investigation Aven began notifying individuals of the Data Security Incident in July 2023. Aven denies any liability or wrongdoing of any kind associated with the claims in the Action.

This is just a summary of the allegations. The complaint in the Action is posted here and contains all of the allegations.

Plaintiffs and Aven do not agree about the claims made in this Action. This Action has not gone to trial, and the Court has not decided in favor of the Class Representatives or Aven. Instead, Plaintiffs and Aven have agreed to the settle the Action. Plaintiffs and the attorneys for the Class (“Class Counsel”) believe the Settlement is best for all Class Members because of the risks and uncertainty associated with continued litigation.

You are a member of the Settlement Class if Aven’s records show you were a resident of the United States whose information was impacted in the Data Security Incident that occurred on or around July 17, 2023, and you were sent notice of the Data Security Incident by Aven.

The Settlement does not include (1) the Judge(s) presiding over the Action and members of their immediate families and their staff; (2) Aven and its affiliates, including their subsidiaries, parent companies, successors, predecessors, and any entity in which Aven or its affiliates and their parents, have a controlling interest, and their current or former officers and directors; (3) natural persons who properly execute and submit a request for exclusion prior to the expiration of the Opt-Out Deadline; and (4) the successors or assigns of any such excluded natural person.

The Court has appointed a team of lawyers as Class Counsel. 

You do not need to hire your own lawyer, but you may choose to do so at your own expense.

Class Counsel will ask the Court to be paid legal fees and to be reimbursed for their reasonable expenses to be paid by Aven from the Settlement Fund. Class Counsel will not seek more than $112,500 in attorney’s fees and costs. Class Counsel will also request Service Awards for each of the Plaintiffs. The Court will determine the proper amount of any attorneys’ fees, costs, and expenses to award Class Counsel and the proper amount of any Service Awards to Plaintiffs. 

Class Counsel’s application for attorneys’ fees and expenses and Service Awards will be made available here before the deadline for you to comment or object to the Settlement. 

Aven has agreed to establish a non-reversionary cash Settlement Fund of $450,000. The Settlement Fund will be used to pay attorneys’ fees and costs, Service Awards for the Class Representatives and settlement administration costs. After deducting amounts for attorneys’ fees and costs, Service Awards for the Class Representatives, and settlement administration costs, the remaining amount (“Net Settlement Amount”) will be used to pay Settlement Class members that timely submit valid claims. 

Any Settlement Class member who timely submits a valid and approved Claim Form will be entitled to the following General Benefits: 

1. Out-of-Pocket Expenses: Reimbursement of up to $1,000 in documented Out-of-Pocket Expenses, such as unreimbursed bank fees (for example card replacement and over-limit fees), interest on short term loans, or postage incurred as a result of the Data Security Incident.  This would also include the cost of credit reports, credit freezes or credit monitoring the Settlement Class member already purchased in response to the Data Security Incident.
2. Alternative Cash Payment: In the alternative, instead of making a claim for the Out-of-Pocket Expenses described above, any Settlement Class member may submit a claim for a pro rata cash payment from the Net Settlement Amount remaining after the pro rata distribution for California Statutory Awards and payment of all other General Benefits, including approved claims for Out-of-Pocket Expenses, Lost Time, and Credit Monitoring and Identity Theft Protection Services.  The amount of the Alternative Cash Payment will ultimately depend on the participation rate for the Settlement. A Settlement Class member does not need to submit any supporting documentation in order to receive an Alternative Cash Payment.
3. Lost Time: In addition to a claim for Out-of-Pocket Expenses or an Alternative Cash Payment, any Settlement Class member may submit a claim for compensation for lost time at the rate of $40 per hour for up to six (6) hours (up to $240 total) for time spent remedying identity theft or credit inaccuracies attributable to the Data Security Incident.
4. Credit Monitoring and Identity Theft Protection Services: All Settlement Class members will be eligible to receive three (3) years of Credit Monitoring and Identity Theft Protection Services provided by Kroll Information Assurance, LLC for 3 Credit Bureaus. The expense associated with procuring Credit Monitoring and Identity Theft Protection Services on behalf of the Settlement Class members will be paid by the Settlement Administrator from the Settlement Fund.  The Credit Monitoring and Identity Theft Protection Services will provide certain services to each Settlement Class member, including alerts when there are changes to their credit data at any of the three national credit bureaus. If the activity is unrecognized, the Settlement Class member will have the option to call a Kroll Information Assurance, LLC fraud specialist, who will be able to help them determine if it is an indicator of identity theft. The Credit Monitoring and Identity Theft Protection Services also include up to $1 million identity theft insurance services, which reimburse out-of-pocket expenses totaling up to $1 million in covered legal costs and expenses for any one stolen identity event. All coverage will be subject to the conditions and exclusions in the policy.
5. California Statutory Award: In addition to the above General Benefits, California Settlement Sub-Class members who submit a valid Claim Form will be entitled to receive a separate California Statutory Award of up to $75. The amount will depend on the participation rate for the Settlement and the number of valid Claim Forms received from the California Settlement Sub-Class. 

Please note that you must submit a Claim Form to receive Settlement Benefits, however, the Settlement must be granted final approval by the Court before any Settlement Benefits are distributed. If the Settlement is not ultimately given final approval by the Court, then you will not receive any Settlement Benefits offered in the Settlement and your legal rights will not be affected.

You must submit a completed Claim Form no later than September 11, 2025. You may submit a Claim Form by mail to the Settlement Administrator or here.

If you change your mailing address or email after you submit a Claim Form, it is your responsibility to inform the Settlement Administrator of your updated information. You may notify the Settlement Administrator of any changes by emailing [email protected] or by writing to the following address:

Lasky v. Aven Financial, Inc.

c/o Kroll Settlement Administration LLC

P.O. Box 225391

New York, NY 10150-5391

If you want to exclude yourself from the Settlement Class, sometimes referred to as “opting out,” you will not be eligible to recover any benefits as a result of this settlement and you will not receive a payment or have any rights under the Settlement Agreement. However, you would keep the right to sue Aven at your own expense about the legal issues raised in this lawsuit. You may exclude yourself from the settlement by mailing a written notice to the Settlement Administrator, postmarked on or before August 12, 2025. Your exclusion request letter must:

• Be in writing;
• Identify the case name Lasky, et al. v. Aven Financial, Inc., Case No. 23CIV06121;
• State your name, current address, telephone number and unique Claim ID;
• Contain the statement “I hereby request to be excluded from the proposed Settlement Class in the case of Lasky, et al. v. Aven Financial, Inc. Case No. 23CIV06121”;
• Be signed by you; and
• Be mailed to the Settlement Administrator at:

Lasky v. Aven Financial, Inc., c/o Kroll Settlement Administration LLC, P.O. Box 225391 New York, NY 10150-5391, postmarked on or before August 12, 2025.

You cannot exclude yourself by telephone or by email.

No. If you exclude yourself, you are telling the Court that you do not want to be part of the Settlement. You can only get any Settlement Benefits if you stay in the Settlement Class and submit a valid Claim Form.

You can ask the Court to deny approval of the Settlement by filing an objection. You cannot ask the Court to order a different Settlement; the Court can only approve or reject the Settlement. If the Court denies approval, no Settlement Payments will be sent out and the lawsuit will continue. If that is what you want to happen, you must object.

Any objection to the proposed Settlement must be in writing. If you file a timely written objection, you may, but are not required to, appear at the Final Approval Hearing, either in person or through your own attorney. If you appear through your own attorney, you are responsible for hiring and paying that attorney. 

All written objections and supporting papers must (a) state the Class Member’s full name, current mailing address, and telephone number; (b) include proof that the Class Member is a member of the Settlement Class (e.g., copy of the Settlement Notice, copy of the original notice of the Data Incident); (c) identify the specific factual and legal grounds for the objection; (d) identify all counsel representing the Class Member, if any; (e) include a list, including case name, court, and docket number, of all other cases in which the objector and/or the objector’s counsel has filed an objection to any proposed class action settlement in the past five (5) years; and (f) contain a statement regarding whether the Class Member (or counsel of his or her choosing) intends to appear at the Final Approval Hearing. 

All objections must be filled with the Court and submitted to Class Counsel and Aven's Counsel. All objections must be filed to the court and mailed to Class Counsel with a postmark date no later than August 12, 2025.

Objecting means telling the Court that you do not like something about the settlement. You can object to the Settlement only if you stay in the Settlement Class. Excluding yourself is telling the Court that you do not want to be part of the settlement. If you exclude yourself, you cannot object to the settlement because it no longer affects you.

Unless you exclude yourself, you will be part of the Settlement Class and you will be bound by the release of claims in the settlement. This means that if the settlement is approved, you cannot sue, continue to sue, or be part of any lawsuit against Aven or the other Released Parties asserting a “Released Claim,” as defined below. It also means that the Court’s Order approving the settlement and the judgment in this case will apply to you and legally bind you.

“Released Claims” means any and all actual, potential, filed, unfiled, known or unknown, fixed or contingent, claimed or unclaimed, suspected or unsuspected, claims, demands, liabilities, rights, causes of action, damages, punitive, exemplary or multiplied damages, expenses, costs, attorneys’ fees and/or obligations, whether in law or in equity, accrued or unaccrued, direct, individual or representative, of every nature and description whatsoever, whether based on federal, state, local, statutory or common law or any other law, against the Released Parties, or any of them, arising out of, or relating to, actual or alleged facts, transactions, events, matters, occurrences, acts, disclosures, statements, representations, omissions or failures to act in connection with the data security incident, and including all claims that were brought or could have been brought in the Action, belonging to any and all Settlement Class members, including but not limited to any state law or common law claims that they may have or had, such as under California’s Customer Records Act, California Civil Code section 1798.80, et seq. and/or California’s Consumer Privacy Act, California Civil Code section 1798.100, et seq. Each party expressly waives all rights under California Civil Code section 1542, which provides:

A GENERAL RELEASE DOES NOT EXTEND TO CLAIMS THAT THE CREDITOR OR RELEASING PARTY DOES NOT KNOW OR SUSPECT TO EXIST IN HIS OR HER FAVOR AT THE TIME OF EXECUTING THE RELEASE AND THAT, IF KNOWN BY HIM OR HER, WOULD HAVE MATERIALLY AFFECTED HIS OR HER SETTLEMENT WITH THE DEBTOR OR RELEASED PARTY.

“Released Parties” means Aven and its past, present, and future, direct and indirect heirs, assigns, associates, corporations, investors, owners, parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, divisions, officers, directors, shareholders, agents, employees, attorneys, insurers, reinsurers, benefit plans, predecessors, successors, managers, administrators, executors and trustees.

The Court will hold a Final Approval Hearing on October 21, 2025 at 2:00 P.M. PT at the Superior Court of California, County of San Mateo, Central Courthouse; 800 North Humboldt Street, San Mateo, CA 94401, Department 4. At that hearing, the Court will determine the overall fairness of the settlement, hear objections, and decide whether to approve the requested attorneys’ fees and expenses, Service Award for the Class Representatives, and settlement administration costs. The hearing may be moved to a different date or time without additional notice, so it is a good idea to check this website and the Court’s docket for updates.

No. Class Counsel will answer any questions the Court may have. However, you are welcome to attend at your own expense. If you send an objection, you do not have to come to Court to talk about it. As long as you mail your written objection on time, the Court will consider it.

If you wish to speak at the Final Approval Hearing, you must make a request to do so in your written objection or comment. Your objection must state that it is your intention to appear at the Final Approval Hearing and must identify any witnesses you may call to testify or exhibits you intend to introduce into evidence at the Final Approval Hearing. If you plan to have your attorney speak for you at the Final Approval Hearing, your objection must also include your attorney’s name, address, and phone number.

This Notice summarizes the proposed Settlement. More details are in the Settlement Agreement. For more information or to update your address, go here or call the Settlement Administrator toll-free at (833) 421-4179. You may also write to the Settlement Administrator via mail to Lasky v. Aven Financial, Inc., c/o Kroll Settlement Administration LLC, P.O. Box 225391 New York, NY 10150-5391 or via email [email protected].