Brannon

MEMORANDUM *

In No. 05-16205, Misty and Daniel Brannon, Susan and Danny Reeves, Hope and Leonard Dunn, and Robert Penny (collectively “the Brannon appellants”) appeal the district court’s denial of their motion to opt out of a class settlement with Household International, Inc. (“Household”) after the deadline for opting out had passed. In No. 05-16335, Beverly Brewer Heaverlo (“Heaverlo”) appeals the district court’s denial of her similarly late motion to opt out of the Household settlement class. The underlying facts and procedural history are known to the parties and will not be repeated here. Because we discern no abuse of discretion in the district court’s denial of these belated motions, we affirm.

I

The Brannon appellants first argue that their agreement with Household’s internal counsel Andrew Budish constitutes an effective expression of their desire to opt out of the settlement. We cannot agree. The class notice stated that “[i]f you or someone acting on your behalf is currently litigating similar claims against HFC/Beneficial either individually or as part of a class, you may be barred from pursuing such claims if you do not timely request exclusion from the…