Frequently Asked Questions

This website is intended to advise you of the pendency of the Class Action and of your rights and options with respect to the Class Action, including your right to exclude yourself from the Class and from further proceedings in this action should you wish to do so. Judge Michael William Fitzgerald of the United States District Court for the Central District of California is overseeing this lawsuit.  The lawsuit is known as Kathleen A. Cadena, et al. v. American Honda Motor Co., Inc., and the case number is Civil Case No. CV 18-4007-MWF (MAAx). The Plaintiffs who brought the suit are: Matthew Villanueva, Roxana Cardenas, Robert Morse, James Adams, Larry Fain, Peter Watson, Susan McGrath, Ann Hensley, Craig DuTremble, and Vincent Liem. The law firms representing Plaintiffs and the Classes are the Gibbs Law Group LLP and Greenstone Law APC.

If you received a notice in the mail or by email, Honda’s records show that you may have purchased one of the following vehicles new, as the original owner:

• Model year 2017, 2018, or 2019 Honda CR-V equipped with CMBS
• Model year 2018, 2019, or 2020 Honda Accord equipped with CMBS

From an authorized Honda dealership in one of the following states:

• California
• Florida
• New York
• Ohio
• North Carolina
• New Jersey
• Arizona
• Iowa

Vehicles that fit the above description are “Class Vehicles” (with some exclusions, described below in Section 5).

The Class Vehicles come equipped with a system called CMBS which uses a radar, a camera, and software, and can automatically apply the brakes to avoid collisions in certain circumstances. Plaintiffs allege the Class Vehicles were sold with a known defect in the CMBS, which misrecognizes objects and applies hard and unexpected braking when there is no risk of collision, posing an alleged safety hazard.

Honda denies any wrongdoing or liability for the claims alleged, and specifically denies the CMBS is defective. The Court has not decided whether Honda did anything wrong, and the case is continuing. There has been no recovery for the Class and there is no guarantee that there will be.

In a class action, one or more people, called “Class Representatives,” sue on behalf of people who may have the same claim.  All of the people who have the same claim collectively make up the “Class,” and are referred to individually as “Class Members.” One lawsuit before one judge and jury resolves the claims of all Class Members together, regardless of whether the outcome is favorable or unfavorable to the Class.  Because Plaintiffs believe the conduct alleged in this case affected a large number of consumers who were economically injured in a similar way, Plaintiffs filed this case as a class action.

This FAQ page does not fully describe all of the claims, contentions, and defenses of the parties. The pleadings and other papers filed in the Class Action are available online for a fee through the Court’s Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) system at https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov, or by visiting the office of the Clerk of the Court for the United States District Court for the Central District of California, 350 West First Street, Los Angeles, California 90012, between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding Court holidays. In addition, you may obtain more information by contacting Class Counsel, whose names, addresses, and telephone numbers are listed in Section 10 below, or the Notice Administrator.

The Court has certified the following Classes:

• California Class: All persons who purchased a new Class Vehicle from an authorized Honda dealership in California.
• Florida Class: All persons who purchased a new Class Vehicle from an authorized Honda dealership in Florida.
• New York Class: All persons who purchased a new Class Vehicle from an authorized Honda dealership in New York.
• Ohio Class: All persons who purchased a new Class Vehicle from an authorized Honda dealership in Ohio.
• North Carolina Class: All persons who purchased a new Class Vehicle from an authorized Honda dealership in North Carolina.
• New Jersey Class: All persons who purchased a new Class Vehicle from an authorized Honda dealership in New Jersey.
• Arizona Class: All persons who purchased a new Class Vehicle from an authorized Honda dealership in Arizona.
• Iowa Class: All persons who purchased a new Class Vehicle from an authorized Honda dealership in Iowa.

Exclusions: Excluded from the Classes are vehicles designated as ‘Fleet’ orders in Honda’s sales data. Also excluded from the class are: (1) Honda Motor Co., Ltd. and American Honda Motor Co., Inc. (for purposes of this Notice only, collectively referred to as “Honda”); (2) any affiliate, parent, or subsidiary of Honda; (3) any entity in which Honda has a controlling interest; (4) any officer, director, or employee of Honda; (5) any successor or assign of Honda; (6) anyone employed by counsel in this action; (7) any judge to whom this case is assigned and his or her spouse; (8) members of the judge’s family as defined in Canon 3C(3)(a) of the Code of Conduct for United States Judges; and (9) members of the judge’s staff.

Additionally, claims for personal injury, property damage, and subrogation are excluded. If you are still not sure whether you are included in the Class, you may ask for help. Please contact the attorneys listed in Section 10 below or call the toll-free dedicated helpline at 1-833-657-4900.

After the Class Action was filed, Honda answered Plaintiffs’ complaint, denying all allegations of wrongdoing and asserting affirmative defenses. The parties then engaged in extensive fact discovery, expert analysis and legal research. The parties presented extensive briefing to the Court on Plaintiffs’ Motion for Class Certification, as well as oral argument. On July 2, 2024, the Court certified the Classes identified in Section 5 above.

If you fall within one of the eight Class definitions (as described above in Section 5) and you do nothing, you will stay in the lawsuit and remain a Class Member.

If Plaintiffs win, you will be notified about how to seek money or other benefits (if any) from the lawsuit. If Plaintiffs lose, you will not receive any compensation. If you do nothing now, regardless of whether Plaintiffs win or lose, you will not be able to sue, or continue to sue Honda in any other lawsuit about the same legal claims that are the subject of this lawsuit. You will be legally bound by the orders the Court issues and judgments the Court enters in this Class Action.

Please inform the Notice Administrator about any future changes to your mailing address so that a claim form can be mailed to you in the event that there is a judgment or settlement in the lawsuit. If the address at which you received a Notice does not change, then you do not need to update your mailing address with the administrator.

If you don’t want to be included in the Class, and you want to keep the right to sue or continue to sue Honda on your own about the legal issues in this case, then you must take steps to get out. This is called excluding yourself – or is sometimes referred to as “opting out” of the Class.

To exclude yourself from the Class, you must complete a “Request to be Excluded” form available here. If you request to be excluded, you will not be part of the case. This means that if the Court awards money damages to the Class Members after trial, or if there is a settlement of this action, you will not be entitled to share in the proceeds. This also means that if there is a judgment adverse to the Class Members you will not be bound by that result. In either instance, you would retain the right to file your own lawsuit, assuming such a lawsuit is brought within the time required by the applicable statute of limitations.

In the event you wish to exclude yourself from the Class, you must complete and submit the “Request to be Excluded” form online here, or download here and complete and mail the form to:

Honda CMBS Class Action Notice Administrator
P.O. Box 5144
Baton Rouge, LA 70821

To be effective, your “Request to be Excluded” must be submitted online or postmarked no later than January 27, 2025 (60 days after the date of the Notice). If you do not request exclusion from the Class on or before January 27, 2025 (60 days after the date of the Notice) and you fall within the definition of any one of the Classes listed in Section 5 above, you will be bound by any final judgment or settlement in this Class Action.

If you fall within the definition of any one of the Classes and you wish to remain a Class Member, you are not required to do anything at this time. You will be bound by any judgment in the Class Action, whether it is favorable or unfavorable. If there is a recovery, you may be entitled to a share in the proceeds, less such costs, expenses, class representative service awards, and attorneys’ fees as the Court may allow from any such recovery. If you do not exclude yourself and Honda prevails in the Class Action, you will be bound by that judgment and prohibited from pursuing a lawsuit on your own with regard to any of the claims decided in the Class Action. Further, if you do not exclude yourself, in the event a settlement is negotiated regarding the Class Action, you will be given an opportunity to object to the settlement and ask the Court not to approve the settlement or certain parts of the settlement.

The court appointed the law firms Gibbs Law Group LLP and Greenstone Law APC to represent you and other Class Members who do not exclude themselves from the Class. Together, the lawyers are called “Class Counsel.” Class Counsels’ contact information is listed in Section 10 below. You will not be personally charged for these lawyers. Any fees or costs paid to Class Counsel will have to be approved by the Court. If the Court ultimately approves an award of fees or costs to Class Counsel, those amounts will be paid out of any funds available to the Class as a result of a settlement or recovery in the Class Action, if any, or by Honda. If you are a Class Member and wish to be represented by your own lawyer, you may hire an attorney to represent you at your own expense.

The Notice summarizes the Class Action lawsuit. You can get more information by contacting the Notice Administrator at 1-833-657-4900, emailing info@HondaCMBSClassAction.com, or by contacting the law firms appointed as Class Counsel:

Please do not contact the Court. Any questions regarding the Class Action or this website should be directed to the Class Counsel listed above or the Notice Administrator.