Otay Water District single-family water rate refund settlement
Coziahr v. Otay Water District
Also known as Otay water settlement; Otay water rate refund; RG/2 Claims Administration; 37-2015-00400000
The lawsuit claimed Otay Water District's single-family residential water rates were unconstitutional.
Copied from the official notice. Last compared Nov 7, 2026.
- You could get
- A share of the fund $12 million fund, split among everyone who files.
Source
“Share of $12 million, only if you were overcharged”
From the administrator site: Official settlement site home page (Notice of Class Action). Last compared Nov 7, 2026.
- Payments
- Approved, not paid yet Court approved Jul 31, 2026. Has it paid yet? See payment status.
Source
“JUL 31 2026”
From the court record: Order Granting Final Approval of Class Action Settlement, Attorneys' Fees, Costs, and Service Award (signed July 31, 2026), hosted on the official site. Last compared Nov 7, 2026.
- Claims
- No claim form needed
Source
“Your refund will automatically be credited against your bill (if you are still a customer) or sent to you (if you are no longer a customer). The settlement administrator may ask you to confirm your contact information and select your preferred method of payment.”
From the administrator site: Official settlement site home page (Notice of Class Action). Last compared Nov 7, 2026.
- Who can file
- Otay Water District single-family customer, 2014 to 2022
Source
“Excluded from the Class are: officers and directors of Otay Water District, Class Counsel, Judge Michael T. Smyth, and any members of Judge Smyth’s immediate family and judicial staff.”
From the court record: Class Action Settlement Agreement, hosted on the official site. Last compared Nov 7, 2026.
- Where
- Anywhere in the U.S.
Source
“Excluded from the Class are: officers and directors of Otay Water District, Class Counsel, Judge”
From the court record: Order Granting Final Approval of Class Action Settlement, Attorneys' Fees, Costs, and Service Award (signed July 31, 2026), hosted on the official site. Last compared Nov 7, 2026.
Quick answers
How much is the Otay Water District single-family water rate refund settlement payout?
A share of the fund. $12 million fund, split among everyone who files.
Do I need to file a claim for the Otay Water District single-family water rate refund settlement?
No claim form. Payment is automatic. If you are still an Otay customer, any refund is credited to your water bill; if not, it is sent to you, and you may be asked to confirm your contact information and payment method.
When is the Otay Water District single-family water rate refund settlement payout date?
Court approved Jul 31, 2026.
Is the Otay Water District single-family water rate refund settlement legit?
The settlement administrator (the company that handles claims) is RG2 Claims Administration, and the official site is www.otaywaterdistrictcase.com. Real notices point there; if a link in a message goes anywhere else, do not use it.
The official site never asks you to pay to file.
Also ending this week
Related settlements
Confirm with the administrator before you act.
Case details
- Case
- Coziahr v. Otay Water District
- Court
- Superior Court of California, County of San Diego
- Case number
- 37-2015-00400000-CU-MC-CTL
- Administrator
- RG2 Claims Administration
- Official site
- www.otaywaterdistrictcase.com
- Settlement fund
- $12 million
- Full payout terms
- Share of $12 million, only if you were overchargedA refund only for class members who were overcharged, based on the expert's calculation of the difference between what each paid from July 14, 2014 to December 31, 2022 and what they would have paid without the unlawful rates; the refund is each customer's share of the net settlement fund. The court approved $4,000,000 in attorneys' fees, $283,069.80 in litigation costs, a $5,000 service award, $64,105 in administrator costs and $155,916 in Otay's bill-credit costs from the fund. No per-person amount is published.
Other dates
- Opt-out (exclusion) deadline
- (passed) source document
- Objection deadline
- (passed) source document
- Final approval hearing
- (passed) source document
- Final approval granted
- From the court order we read.Order Granting Final Approval of Class Action Settlement, Attorneys' Fees, Costs, and Service Award, signed by Judge Michael T. Smyth with the handwritten date 'July 31, 2026' on its last page and the clerk's filing stamp 'JUL 31 2026' on page 1 (scanned copy posted on the official site; the date and signature were read from the page image). Source: court record
The court’s exact words
all single-family residential customers of the Otay Water District who received water service between July 14, 2014, and December 31, 2022. Excluded from the Class are: officers and directors of Otay Water District, Class Counsel, Judge Michael T. Smyth, and any members of Judge Smyth’s immediate family and judicial staff. Also excluded from the Class are individuals who timely submitted valid opt-outs by the Response Deadline when the class was originally certified.
Quoted from the official notice. Read the notice for the full definition.
Our notes: The class is every single-family residential customer of the Otay Water District who received water service between July 14, 2014 and December 31, 2022 (about 88,283 current and former customers). Only those the class's expert calculated were overcharged get a refund; the site says not all class members experienced overcharges. Current Otay customers get the refund as a credit on their water bill; former customers are sent a payment (after any unpaid balance owed to Otay is deducted, per the final approval order). Excluded: officers and directors of Otay Water District, Class Counsel, Judge Michael T. Smyth and his immediate family and judicial staff, and people who opted out of the litigation class when it was first certified. No one opted out of this settlement by the July 3, 2026 deadline.
You may be included if you were a single-family residential customer of the Otay Water District from July 14, 2014 to December 31, 2022.
It covers refunds only for customers the expert found overcharged: a bill credit for current customers, a payment for former ones.
You are not included if you are an Otay officer or director, Class Counsel, the judge or his family or staff, or opted out.
Sources and checks (5)
Every fact people act on was copied from the official source and compared with it. How we check
- Official settlement site home page (Notice of Class Action) administrator site
- Official Contact page administrator site
- Notice of Class Action Settlement (May 6, 2026), hosted on the official site administrator site
- Order Granting Final Approval of Class Action Settlement, Attorneys' Fees, Costs, and Service Award (signed July 31, 2026), hosted on the official site court record
- Class Action Settlement Agreement, hosted on the official site court record
What changedLast change Nov 3, 2026
- Page created. No claim form: payment is automatic. source document
Questions
I already filed. What now?
There is no claim form, so there was nothing to file. The administrator pays class members automatically, usually after final approval and any appeals. Never pay anyone to check on a payment.