A class-action lawsuit filed by Century 21 franchisees against Century 21 Real Estate Corp. and parent company Cendant is moving forward following a decision of the New Jersey Appellate Division.

In August, New Jersey Superior Court Judge Robert J. Brennan certified a class of current and former Century 21 franchisees in a lawsuit alleging breach of contract and other claims against their franchisor, Century 21 Real Estate Corp., as well as its parent company, consumer and business services provider Cendant Corp. Currently, Century 21 is owned by Cendant spin-off Realogy Corp.

Following Judge Brennan’s ruling, Cendant asked the New Jersey Appellate Division to reconsider the class certification decision. On October 15, 2010, the appellate court announced it would not hear the appeal, which clears the way for the case to go to trial.

“We are pleased that the case will now move forward as originally directed by Judge Brennan,” says attorney Dan Drachler of Zwerling, Schachter & Zwerling, who represents the franchisees along with firm co-founder Robert S. Schachter.

“As a result of Cendant’s actions, Century 21 franchisees have suffered damages that may total in the hundreds of millions of dollars,” says Mr. Schachter.

According to the lawsuit, Cendant failed to provide the level of services to Century 21 franchisees required by their agreements. Additionally, the lawsuit claims that contributions to a national advertising fund, which topped more than $40 million annually, were misappropriated and diverted to uses other than the benefit of Century 21, including the promotion of Century 21’s Cendant-owned real estate competitors. Shortly after the purchase of Century 21, Cendant also acquired Coldwell Banker and ERA.

Judge Brennan’s order certified a class of current and former Century 21 franchisees during the period from August 1995 to April 2002 whose franchise agreements contain a New Jersey jurisdiction clause.

The franchisee plaintiffs also are represented by New Jersey-based Keefe Bartels LLC and the Fort Lauderdale, Fla., office of Adorno & Yoss.

Zwerling, Schachter & Zwerling, LLP, represents clients nationwide in financial-related class-action lawsuits. With offices in New York City; Garden City, N.Y.; and Seattle, the firm currently plays a leading role in numerous major securities and complex commercial litigations pending in federal and state courts. To learn more, please visit the firm’s website at http://www.zsz.com.

A class-action lawsuit was filed Monday in a federal court in San Francisco accusing FarmVille creator Zynga of "illegally sharing the Facebook user data of its customers with advertisers and data brokers."

In a statement released by the lawsuit's co-lead attorneys, the filing claims Zynga violated federal law and its contract with Facebook by sharing the user data of players on games such as Farmville.

"This appears to be another example of an online company failing the American public with empty promises to respect individual privacy rights," said Michael Aschenbrener of Edelson McGuire LLC -- a co-lead attorney for the lawsuit -- in a statement.

The lawsuit seeks "monetary relief" for those affected as well as an injunction to "prevent continued privacy abuses," reads the statement.

Thousands of people in Milwaukee are struggling to keep their homes as the city's Common Council calls for drastic action -- a nationwide moratorium on foreclosures.

Officials said more than 6,000 people are in the foreclosure process.

"There are about 5,000 homes currently now in foreclosure that are actually in the city's hands," said Urban Economic Development Association Executive Director Bill Johnson.

WISN 12 News spoke with a homeowner who is facing foreclosure after her husband lost his job.

The woman said the couple contacted their bank to see if they could work out a solution to no avail. She said they eventually had to file for bankruptcy as they desperately tried to modify their home loan.

The woman said the process took about a year, created mounds of paperwork and the couple received no communication from the bank.

Eventually, she said the bank told them they could modify the loan but the end result would cost them more than what their mortgage already was.

Top U.S. technology bosses met with White House officials on Wednesday to recommend how to use technology to cut deficits by $1 trillion over 10 years and offer advice on boosting the country's sluggish economy.

The Technology CEO Council said six chief executives led by IBM Corp's Samuel Palmisano would suggest ways to boost government worker productivity and save taxpayer money.

"America's growing national debt is undermining our global competitiveness," the council said. "How we choose to confront and address this challenge will determine our future environment for growth and innovation."

President Barack Obama is anxious to counter claims he is anti-business and has frequently invited corporate chiefs to the White House to pick their brains.

He also has voiced openness to lowering corporate tax levels and cutting red tape after criticism that his reforms raise the cost of doing business in the United States.

Voters, worried by U.S. unemployment stuck near 10 percent, are likely to punish Obama's Democrats in November midterm congressional elections, while Republicans have turned a record budget deficit into a potent criticism of Obama's presidency.

The technology executives will meet with top Obama advisers, including National Economic Council Director Larry Summers and White House Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Austan Goolsbee, as well as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.

The other corporate bosses were Motorola Inc's Greg Brown, Intel Corp's Paul Otellini, Micron Technology Inc's Steven Appleton, Michael Splinter of Applied Materials Inc and EMC Corp's Joseph Tucci.

The U.S. government would have to sell its General Motors stock for $133.78 per share to recoup the nearly $50 billion it spent bailing out the Detroit automaker, according to a watchdog of government bailout funds.

Neil Barofsky, the special inspector general for the $700 billion bailout of the financial industry and automakers, revealed the figure in an Aug. 30 letter to Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa. The letter was obtained by The Associated Press on Wednesday.

GM repaid the government $6.7 billion. The remaining money was converted to a 61 percent ownership stake in GM plus $2.1 billion worth of preferred stock. The government plans to start selling its shares as part of a GM initial public stock offering that is tentatively scheduled for mid-November.

The government won't sell all the 304 million common shares it owns all at once. The Treasury Department and GM's new CEO have said it may take a couple of years and several "follow-on" sales for the government to recoup its investment. Also, analysts say the share price could start out low to help fuel demand. The hope is that GM's share price would rise as the company's car sales and finances improve.

Barofsky responded to a request from Grassley to make sure that Treasury is getting the highest possible price for GM's shares. Barofsky says that he will look into the matter.