I received this letter and check referring to a Toyota Settlement.  Of course I wanted to know if the letter and check was legitimate.  I did some investigating and I figured it out and wanted to share with everyone else who was getting a check like this in the mail…

Is the Bank of The West Toyota Economic Loss Settlement Check You Received in the Mail Legitimate?

The contents of the letter reads as follows:

Toyota Economic Loss Settlement Administrator
c/o Gilardi & Co. LLC
P.O. Box 8090
San Rafael, CA 94912-8090
Claim Number: XXXXX-XXXXXXXX-X-XXX
Check Number: ########
Check Amount: $29.23

JOHN MUELLER
1234 MY Street
CHICAGO IL 60606

Toyota Economic Loss Settlement Administrator

c/o Gilardi & Co. LLC

P.O. Box 8090

9/29/2014 

Re: Toyota Motor Corp. Unintended Acceleration Marketing,
Sales Practices, and Products Liability Litigation
Claim Number: XXXXX-XXXXXXXXX-X-XXX

Dear Class Member:

Please find attached a check made payable to you as an eligible Class Member in the above-referenced matter. You have received this check from the Class Action Settlement Administrator in In re: Toyota Motor Corp. Unintended Acceleration Marketing, Sales Practices, and Products Liability Litigation, Case No. 8: 10ML2151 JVS (FMOx), because you have been identified, based on Subject Vehicle information available to us, as a member of the Class certified by the United States District Court for the Central District of California who was eligible but did not previously file a claim. Pursuant to the Court’s order, this payment represents your portion of the remaining Settlement Fund. The terms of the settlement (available at wvvw.ToyotaELsettlement.com) apply to you whether or not you cash the enclosed check.

PLEASE CASH THIS CHECK PROMPTLY, AS IT WILL EXPIRE ON 3/9/2015. 

If you have questions regarding this letter or the enclosed check, please email info@toyotaelsettlement.com, or write to Toyota Economic Loss Settlement Administrator, c/o Gilardi & Co. LLC, P.O. Box 8090, San Rafael, CA 94912-8090, or call (877) 283-0507.  If you are calling from outside North America, please use (317) 324-0389. Please do not contact Toyota, Lexus, and/or Scion or their dealers about this matter as the Court has ordered that all questions must be directed to the Class Action Settlement Administrator.
Sincerely yours,
Gilardi & Co. LLC
This check has been optimized for deposit via mobile banking
Settlement Administrator
www.ToyotaELsettlement.com
This check may be cashed at your personal bank or any Bank of the West branch
By my (our) signature(s) on the back of this chick, I (we) hereby agree to the terms of the Release in Section VI of the Settlement Agreement.

Why am I part of this settlement?

The settlement is in regard to the unexpected acceleration issues some Toyotas were having and I own a Toyota Sienna.  I never filled out anything and, from what I know, Siennas didn’t have this issue.  I did some poking around on the settlement website and found this info in response to the FAQ of “Why am I part of the settlement?”:

You are part of the settlement if you are a person, entity or organization who, at any time before December 28, 2012, own or owned, purchase(d), lease(d) and/or insure(d) the residual value as a Residual Value Insurer of a Subject Vehicle equipped or installed with an ETCS distributed for sale or lease in any of the fifty States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and all other United States territories and/or possessions. This is called the “Class.”

FYI: ETCS stands for Electronic Throttle Control System

What information is available out there?

I wondered it was legitimate and began to do some research.  I found an article on the Wall Street Journal’s website that cites this very same website that the letter mentions: Toyota’s $1.1 Billion Payout: What It Means For Owners And More (link broken now).

A good question to ask is, “What am I agreeing to by cashing the check?” This is also answered on their FAQ:

Q: What happens if I cash this check and then get into an accident?

A: By cashing the check made payable to you as an eligible Class Member in the above referenced matter, you will not release claims for personal injury, wrongful death or actual physical property damage arising from an accident involving a Subject Vehicle as part of this settlement. Please review the actual language contained in the Settlement Agreement at Section VI, which is available by clicking on Case Documents above. If you have any questions, you can talk to one of the lawyers listed in Question 11 or talk to your own lawyer at your own expense.

I deposited the check

I decided to deposit the check and it cleared just fine.  Here’s the confirmation email I received:

Confirmation email showing the deposit cleared

After 6 days it’s still good:

Cleared Toyota Settlement Check in my bank account

What do you agree to by cashing the check?

For your information, I’ve copied Section VI, as referred to in the letter, saying that by cashing it you are agreeing to the terms in “Section VI” of the Settlement Agreement (pdf).

VI. OTHER PROVISIONS
18. Without affecting the finality of this Final Order Approving Class Action Settlement or the accompanying Final Judgment, the Court retains continuing and exclusive jurisdiction over the Actions and all matters relating to the administration, consummation, enforcement and interpretation of the Agreement and of this Final Order Approving Class Action Settlement and the accompanying Final Judgment, to protect and effectuate this Final Order Approving Class Action Settlement and the accompanying Final Judgment, and for any other necessary purpose. The Parties, the Class Representatives, and each Class Member not listed on Appendix B are hereby deemed to have irrevocably submitted to the exclusive jurisdiction of this Court, for the purpose of any suit, action, proceeding or dispute arising out of or relating to the Agreement or the applicability of the Agreement, including the Exhibits thereto, and only for such purposes.
19. In the event that the Final Effective Date does not occur, certification of the Class shall be automatically vacated and this Final Order Approving Class Action Settlement and the accompanying Final Judgment, and other orders entered in connection with the Settlement and releases delivered in connection with the Settlement, shall be vacated and rendered null and void as provided by the Agreement.
20. Without further order of the Court, the Parties may agree to reasonably necessary extensions of time to carry out any of the provisions of the Agreement. Likewise, the Parties may, without further order of the Court, agree to and adopt such amendments to the Agreement (including exhibits) and the Plan of Allocation as are consistent with this Final Order Approving Class Action Settlement and the accompanying Final Judgment and do not limit the rights of Class Members under the Settlement Agreement.
21. Nothing in this Final Order Approving Class Action Settlement or the accompanying Final Judgment shall preclude any action in this Court to enforce the terms of the Agreement.
22. Neither this Final Order Approving Class Action Settlement nor the accompanying Final Judgment (nor any document related to the Agreement) is or shall be construed as an admission by the Parties. Neither the Agreement (or its exhibits), the Plan of Allocation, this Final Order Approving Class Action Settlement, the accompanying Final Judgment, or any document related to the Agreement shall be offered in any proceeding as evidence against any of the Parties of any fact or legal claim; provided, however, that Toyota and the Released Parties may file any and all such documents in support of any defense that the Agreement, this Final Order Approving Class Action Settlement, the accompanying Final Judgment and any other related document is binding on and shall have res judicata, collateral estoppel, and/or preclusive effect in any pending or future lawsuit by any person who is subject to the release described above in Paragraph 14 asserting a released claim against any of the Released Parties.
24. The Class Action Settlement Administrator shall fulfill any escheatment obligations that arise.
25. A copy of this Final Order Approving Class Action Settlement shall be filed in, and applies to, the Actions.
SO ORDERED this ____ day of ________ 2013. ____________________________
Honorable James V. Selna
Judge of the United States District Court

By cashing the check made payable to you as an eligible Class Member in the above referenced matter, you will not release claims for personal injury, wrongful death or actual physical property damage arising from an accident involving a Subject Vehicle as part of this settlement. Please review the actual language contained in the Settlement Agreement at Section VI, which is available by clicking on Case Documents above. If you have any questions, you can talk to one of the lawyers listed in Question 11 or talk to your own lawyer at your own expense.

All My Toyota Sienna Posts:

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• How to Replace the Front Struts on a FWD 2004 Toyota Sienna
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