BuyAlerts text settlement offers up to $42.16; claims due February 16

Estimated reading time: 9 minutes.

Key facts

Case: Sandra Reyes and Chad Barnes v. Live Stream Technology Services, Inc. d/b/a BuyAlerts, No. 2026-010685-CA-01.
Court: Circuit Court of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit in and for Miami-Dade County, Florida.
Status: Proposed class settlement with preliminary approval. BuyAlerts denies wrongdoing; the court has not decided liability.
Class period: January 1, 2022 through August 7, 2026, subject to the three class definitions below.
Available money: Up to $3.6 million, including approved expenses and awards.
Potential individual payment: Up to $42.16 for an approved claim, with possible proportional reduction.
Exclusion and objection deadline: January 4, 2027.
Final approval hearing: February 1, 2027 at 9 a.m. Eastern, by video conference, subject to change.
Claim deadline: February 16, 2027.

Why BuyAlerts is settling

A court-authorized claims process is open for a proposed settlement over marketing texts sent by or on behalf of BuyAlerts. The plaintiffs allege that the company continued sending messages after recipients requested that they stop, or sent messages to qualifying telephone numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry without the consent at issue in the lawsuit.

Live Stream Technology Services, Inc., which does business as BuyAlerts, agreed to make up to $3.6 million available to resolve the litigation. Eligible class members who submit a timely, complete and verified claim may receive up to $42.16. That is a ceiling, not a guaranteed payment.

The Florida court granted preliminary approval on August 7, 2026. Preliminary approval permits the notice and settlement-review process to move forward. It does not establish that the alleged texting practices violated the law. BuyAlerts denies wrongdoing, denies liability and disputes that a class should be certified for litigation if the agreement does not become final.

A proposal, not a liability judgment

The court has approved notice and provisionally certified settlement classes. Final approval and any resulting payments remain pending.

The company and the people bringing the case

The official notice describes BuyAlerts as a financial technology services company headquartered in Miami. Its consumer-facing website describes a service that delivers stock and options trade ideas through text messages and email. Options are financial contracts tied to the right to buy or sell an underlying asset. The relevance here is the company's use of messaging to reach consumers, not the investment performance of its alerts.

The case concerns promotional texts about BuyAlerts' goods or services. It is not described in the settlement notice as compensation for investment losses or a dispute about whether a trade recommendation was profitable. Receiving a trading alert and receiving a marketing solicitation are not interchangeable facts; the class definitions control which messages are covered.

Sandra Reyes and Chad Barnes are the named plaintiffs and court-appointed class representatives. They bring the case for themselves and other people within the settlement classes. Class representatives act for the group in the litigation; receiving a notice does not make an individual a named plaintiff.

Kroll Settlement Administration LLC is the administrator identified in the agreement. It manages notice, receives and processes claims, and distributes approved settlement payments. Class Action Pulse reports on the process but does not administer this settlement or decide eligibility.

What the texting dispute concerns

The claims arise under the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act, or TCPA, and the Florida Telephone Solicitation Act, or FTSA. These are telephone-solicitation laws. In this dispute, the relevant questions concern opt-out requests, repeated promotional texts, registry status and the type of consent BuyAlerts claims it obtained.

An opt-out request is a message telling a sender that the recipient no longer wants its texts, such as a reply saying "stop." The National Do Not Call Registry is the registry referenced in the notice for the separate do-not-call class. The settlement does not include everyone who has ever received an unwanted text from any business.

Prior express written consent means the written permission whose sufficiency is disputed in the case. The do-not-call class includes a specific condition concerning BuyAlerts' claim that it had no such consent or obtained it in the same manner as it claims to have obtained consent from the plaintiffs. A reader should not reduce that condition to the assumption that every registered number automatically qualifies.

The parties chose settlement to avoid the expense, uncertainty and risk of continued litigation. The court's preliminary order says negotiations were conducted independently and in good faith with the assistance of a mediator, a neutral person who helps parties negotiate a resolution. The plaintiffs and their lawyers consider the compromise in the classes' interests. BuyAlerts' agreement to settle is not an admission.

The three settlement classes

The official notice defines three groups for January 1, 2022 through August 7, 2026.

TCPA "STOP" class. People in the United States sent more than one text by or on behalf of BuyAlerts within any 12-month period, regarding its goods or services, to their cellular telephone number where they communicated that they did not want texts by replying "stop" or a similar instruction.
FTSA "STOP" class. People in Florida sent more than one text by or on behalf of BuyAlerts regarding its goods or services, after they texted "stop" at least 15 days before the subsequent message.
TCPA "DNC" class. People in the United States sent promotional texts more than once within any 12-month period while their number had been on the National Do Not Call Registry for at least 30 days, subject to the written-consent condition described above and in the notice.

These definitions have different requirements. The Florida group's 15-day condition is not a substitute for the registry group's 30-day condition. The court's preliminary order identifies approximately 85,373 people in the proposed classes, but that figure is not the number of approved claims or a promise that every notice recipient will receive money.

The classes exclude specified judges and staff, the defendant and related people or entities, released parties and their immediate families, plaintiffs' counsel and specified related people, and anyone who validly requests exclusion. Consult the official documents for the complete exclusions.

One claim, even if groups overlap

The notice permits only one claim per class member. Fitting more than one class does not create multiple $42.16 payments.

How the payment works

The proposed $3.6 million amount covers payments, notice and administration costs, court-approved lawyers' fees and expenses, and any approved service awards to the named plaintiffs. It is not $3.6 million reserved solely for consumers after costs.

The notice says approved claimants may receive up to $42.16 each. If the available amount cannot cover all approved claims and other permitted payments, individual awards will be reduced proportionally. Proportional, or pro rata, reduction means awards are scaled down uniformly to fit the available money rather than keeping the ceiling for every claimant regardless of demand.

Class counsel plans to seek 33.33% of the settlement fund in fees and expenses. Counsel also plans to request up to $5,000 for each named plaintiff. The court can award less. These requests are not yet final deductions approved by the judge.

The arrangement is reversionary. The official notice says any money remaining after distributions returns to BuyAlerts. The agreement also provides that BuyAlerts is not required to advance the entire amount into an escrow account, an account holding money pending specified conditions, but pays amounts as they become due. Calling the proposal a guaranteed $3.6 million consumer distribution would misstate its terms.

The payment can be lower

$42.16 is the maximum stated individual benefit. Approved claim volume and permitted expenses may reduce it; no fixed payment date is available.

How to submit a claim

Start at BuyAlertsTCPASettlement.com, the court-authorized website. Its FAQ links to the online claim form, and its documents page provides a paper form. The online form uses the unique identifier from the settlement notice. If you cannot locate your notice or need help determining whether you are included, contact Kroll through the official site or at (323) 237-8770.

The notice requires a valid claim by February 16, 2027. It gives 11:59 p.m. Eastern as the online submission cutoff and requires mailed claims to be postmarked by the deadline. Read the form, complete the required information and affirmations, sign it and keep the confirmation or a copy.

Paper claims go to BuyAlerts TCPA and FTSA Settlement, c/o Kroll Settlement Administration, P.O. Box 225391, New York, NY 10150-5391. A claim is not approved merely because it was sent. The administrator must review it under the agreement.

Do not send claim identifiers or supporting personal information to Class Action Pulse. A news-site inquiry is not a settlement claim. The official administrator is the place to submit the form.

Exclusion, objections and the release

January 4, 2027 is the deadline for exclusions and objections, which are different choices. Exclusion means leaving the settlement classes, receiving no payment and preserving the ability to pursue covered claims individually. An objection asks the court to consider a criticism while the person remains in the classes.

The notice requires a signed exclusion letter with specified identifying information, mailed with a timely postmark to the administrator. Phone, fax and email exclusion requests are not permitted. Objections must be filed with the court and a copy sent to the administrator according to the notice's requirements.

A release is the set of legal claims given up when the settlement becomes final. People who remain in the classes can be bound by it even if they submit no claim and receive no money. The agreement's release concerns covered texting claims during the class period; its exact language controls. This article does not recommend which rights option a reader should choose.

Timeline and next steps

January 1, 2022: The class period begins.
August 5, 2026: The motion for preliminary approval is filed, according to the court's order.
August 7, 2026: The court grants preliminary approval; the class period ends.
January 4, 2027: Exclusions and objections are due.
February 1, 2027: Final approval hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. Eastern by video conference.
February 16, 2027: Claims are due.

The claim deadline falls after the currently scheduled hearing. Do not replace it with the hearing date. The judge will consider fairness, adequacy, reasonableness, fees and service awards. Hearing details may change by court order, so check the official website for updates.

Two separate deadlines

January 4 governs exclusions and objections. February 16 governs claims. The February 1 hearing does not merge those dates.

Evidence boundaries

This report relies on the court-authorized website and notice, the filed agreement and preliminary order, and BuyAlerts' own description of its messaging service. The order supports preliminary approval and settlement-only class certification, not a finding that BuyAlerts violated either statute.

The original filing chronology is not established consistently by the retrieved secondary coverage. This article uses the case number in the court documents and omits an unverified original complaint date. Final payment amounts, final approval and distribution timing remain unresolved. Any appeals could delay payment after approval.

Frequently asked questions

Who may qualify for the BuyAlerts settlement?

People who meet one of the three official texting-class definitions for January 1, 2022 through August 7, 2026 may qualify. Opt-out timing, repeated messages, location, registry status and consent conditions matter.

Is $42.16 guaranteed?

No. It is the maximum individual benefit described in the notice. The amount can be reduced proportionally.

What is the claim deadline?

February 16, 2027. Follow the official notice's online cutoff and paper-form postmark instructions.

Did BuyAlerts admit wrongdoing?

No. BuyAlerts denies the allegations, and the court has not decided liability.

Will doing nothing produce a payment?

No. A valid claim is required. Remaining in the classes can still bind a person to the release if the settlement becomes final.

Where should a claim be filed?

Use the official BuyAlerts settlement website or mail its paper form to Kroll. Class Action Pulse does not receive settlement claims.