Methodology

What this dataset is

Every open class action settlement in the United States with a live claim window, tracked in one place. One row per settlement: fund size, deadline, eligibility, proof requirements, and the official claim link.

It exists because the money is real and the information is scattered. Billions sit unclaimed every year because people never hear about the settlements they're eligible for.

Sources

Settlements enter the pipeline from:

• Court-appointed administrator sites — the official claim portals
• State attorney-general press and restitution pages
• Securities class action clearinghouses and SEC filings
• Independent settlement trackers and legal news

No single source is complete. The sweep exists to catch what any one tracker misses.

Inclusion criteria

Gets in:

• Open claim window — you can file right now
• Verifiable administrator or court filing — we can point to the official source
• US jurisdiction — federal or state class actions

Stays out:

• Closed settlements — the window has passed
• Foreign cases — outside US jurisdiction
• Unverifiable listings — no official source we can confirm

Verification process

• Claim URLs are checked against official administrator sites before publication.
• Every row is re-checked on a 4-hour cycle. Deadlines, fund figures, and claim links are re-confirmed.
• Expired settlements are removed. Corrections are timestamped in the changelog below.
• Rows flagged unverified could not be fully confirmed against an official source. They are included with the flag rather than excluded, so you can judge for yourself.

Update cadence

The dataset refreshes every 4 hours. New settlements are added as they surface. Deadlines within 7 days are re-checked on every cycle.

The live dataset is always at /api/settlements.json — no key, no signup.

Field definitions

name

The settlement, usually company + matter (e.g. "Seagate Securities").

deadline / deadlineLabel

Claim filing deadline. ISO date and display label.

fund / fundNum

Total settlement fund as announced. Display string and numeric value.

eligibility

Who qualifies, in plain language. Summarized from the official notice.

proof

What you need to file. One of: no proof (28) · id (121) · documents (44) · automatic (21) · unverified (27).

states

State restriction, if the settlement is limited to specific states. Null means nationwide.

url

The official claim site, verified against the administrator.

unverified

True when the row could not be fully confirmed against an official source.

source / source_url / listing_url

Where we found it and the original listing, for traceability.

Limitations

• Fund figures are announced values, not guaranteed payouts. Per-person amounts depend on how many people file.
• Confirm deadlines on the official site. We re-check every 4 hours, but administrators can change dates.
• This is not legal advice. Eligibility summaries are plain-language guides, not legal determinations.
• Coverage is best-effort. We track what we can verify. Settlements we haven't found yet aren't in the dataset.

Changelog

Cite this dataset

Class Action Hero Open Settlements Dataset.
https://classactionhero.app/api/settlements.json.
Accessed October 21, 2026.

A permanent snapshot of the dataset is published on Zenodo (DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.23463525). The dataset is published under CC-BY 4.0 — free for any use, including commercial use, with attribution.

Corrections

Found an error? A closed settlement still listed, a wrong deadline, a dead claim link? Tell us:

Corrections log: /corrections/