Clock Ticks on Microsoft Rebate

Californians who want to cash in on a Microsoft court settlement have limited time left to file their claims, although the deadline is a moving target. The original deadline for California consumers and businesses to file paperwork for their share of a $1.1 billion settlement was March 15. But a delayed court hearing has already pushed that deadline to April 29, and future hearings could delay it even further.

The delay gives consumers and businesses much-needed time to file their claims, says Howard Yellen, founder of the Settlement Recovery Center, a San Francisco-based company designed to help businesses file claims. Yellen, a lawyer and entrepreneur, founded the SRC after receiving a notice of the settlement in the mail.

"I got this piece of mail, basically it looked like a computer generated piece of junk mail," he says. "What occurred to me was A, there was a lot of money involved in this. For individuals, there was a decent amount, but for businesses, a huge amount. And B, I realized that people would not be able to figure this out. People would not act on this."

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