The VA Closed Thousands of Veterans' Appeals by Mistake. Freund v. Collins Forces Them to Look Again

TL;DR

• The case is Freund v. Collins, case number 21-4168, in the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. The class was certified on March 18, 2026 and the proposed settlement was filed on December 16, 2025. The VA's official notice went out on April 15, 2026.
• The class covers every claimant whose VACOLS appeal was closed between December 12, 1990 and February 6, 2025 for failure to file a timely Substantive Appeal, and remains closed.
• 28,258 files have been identified by the VA as likely to contain a timely Substantive Appeal. The VA must manually review each one within 18 months and reactivate the ones that qualify.
• Up to 64,599 additional files met most but not all of the VA's search parameters. The VA will only review those on individual request — the veteran has to ask.
• The VA's Inspector General previously found that more than 1 in 6 of these automated closures were wrong. That finding is what drove the lawsuit.
• The formal objection window closed on May 15, 2026. You can no longer object to the settlement terms, but you can still inquire about whether your case is included.

If you have been waiting years on a VA appeal and never got a Board decision, keep reading. You may be one of these veterans.

Veterans InfoTap Video Here:

What Actually Happened

Before February 2019, VA appeals worked under what is now called the legacy system. You filed a Notice of Disagreement, then waited for a Statement of the Case, then filed a VA Form 9 (the "Substantive Appeal") to keep the appeal alive at the Board.

The VA tracked all of this inside a database called VACOLS — the Veterans Appeals Control and Locator System.

When the Appeals Modernization Act (AMA) rolled out, the VA ran an automated sweep of VACOLS. The sweep was supposed to find legacy appeals where the veteran had not filed a timely Form 9 and close them out.

The problem: VACOLS only knew what had been entered into it. And the VA was slow to enter things.

How slow? The VA's Inspector General found that on average it took the VA 43 days just to log incoming documents into VACOLS. Veterans who filed every form on time still had their appeals shut down — because the paperwork was sitting in a pile waiting to be entered.

Veterans assumed their appeals were working through the Board's queue. They were not. The system had already closed them, and no one told the veteran.

The Inspector General reviewed the closures and confirmed more than 1 in 6 were erroneous. That finding is what drove Freund v. Collins.

Exactly Who Is in the Class

The class certified by the court is, verbatim:

"all claimants with an appeal file in the Veterans Appeals Control and Locator System (VACOLS) that has been closed in the period between December 12, 1990, and February 6, 2025, due to the lack of a timely filed Substantive Appeal and which appeal remains closed."

Two things to notice in that definition:

1. The closure has to be for the specific reason of "no timely Substantive Appeal" — meaning the system flagged your file because it did not show a VA Form 9 filed in time. If your appeal was closed for some other reason, you are not in this class.
2. The appeal has to still be closed. If you already got it reactivated through some other process, this settlement does not retroactively apply to you.

The Two Groups the VA Sorted People Into

The VA used an automated review to sort affected veterans into two groups. The way the VA treats those groups is very different.

Group 1: 28,258 files — VA must manually audit

These are the files the VA's review flagged as most likely to contain a timely Substantive Appeal that was wrongly closed. Under the settlement, the VA must:

• Manually review each one
• Reactivate the files that contain a timely Substantive Appeal
• Notify claimants of the reactivation
• Finish all of this within 18 months
• "Process the reactivated cases expeditiously"

If you are in this group, the VA is doing the work. You should watch your mail for a notice.

Group 2: Up to 64,599 files — VA will only review on request

These are files that met most but not all of the VA's search parameters. The VA is not auditing these automatically. They will review them only if the veteran asks individually.

In plain terms: the VA put these files in a "probably not" pile. If you do nothing, they stay there. If you write in and ask for an individual review, they have to look at yours.

If you have been waiting on a legacy appeal for years and never heard anything, assume you might be in this group and write in. The contact info is at the end of this article.

What Back Pay Could Look Like

The math is simple: monthly compensation times the number of months back to your original effective date. The further back the date, the bigger the check.

Some rough illustrations going back to 1990, using average historical VA compensation rates for a single veteran with no dependents:

• 10% rating (for example, tinnitus): roughly $50,000
• 50% rating: roughly $300,000
• 100% rating: over $1,000,000

These are scenarios, not promises. Your actual back pay depends on your effective date, your rating, your dependents, and any cost-of-living adjustments. But the point stands: an appeal that was wrongly closed in 1995 and is now reactivated with the original effective date could be worth decades of compensation.

What to Do — Three Scenarios

Scenario 1: You get a notice that your file is being reactivated

You are in Group 1. The VA is doing the work. You still need to:

• Save every page of the notice.
• Note the reference number and any contact phone number on the notice.
• Put a calendar reminder for 6 months and 12 months out. The VA has up to 18 months to finish, so things move slowly.
• Make sure the VA has your current address. Notices that bounce do not get re-sent.

Scenario 2: You think you might be in the class but did not get a notice

You may be in Group 2 (the "request only" pile) or you may not have been picked up by either VA review at all.

• Write to class counsel at the address below.
• Include your full name, your VA file or claim number if you have one, the dates and substance of your original legacy appeal, and what you are asking for (in most cases: an individual review of whether your case is included).
• Keep a copy of everything you send. Use certified mail or an email with a saved sent-folder copy.

Scenario 3: You are not sure whether your old appeal was ever closed

If you have been waiting years on a legacy appeal and never got a Board decision, you need to find out the actual status.

• Call the VA at 1-800-827-1000. Ask specifically about the status of your legacy appeal and whether your file is in the Freund v. Collins class.
• Write down the rep's name, the date and time, and any reference number from the call.
• If they say your appeal was closed, ask for the date and the reason in writing. You need that documentation if you go to class counsel.

How to Contact Class Counsel

Class counsel is John D. Niles at Carpenter Chartered.

General inquiries about whether your case is included:

• Email: freundclass@carpenterchartered.com
• Mail: P.O. Box 2099, Topeka, KS 66601, Attn: Freund Inquiry

Reference the case as "Freund v. Collins, 21-4168" in anything you send.

The formal objection window closed on May 15, 2026, so you can no longer object to the settlement itself. You can still write in to ask about inclusion, request an individual review, or get help understanding your status.

The full settlement document is on the court's electronic filing system at https://eficing.uscourts.cavc.gov/ — search case number 21-4168.

Why This Matters Beyond Freund v. Collins

The takeaway is bigger than this one lawsuit.

When the VA says no — or closes a file — it does not always mean no for the right reason. A "closed" status from the VA is not always the end of the story. Sometimes it is a software glitch, a data entry backlog, or an automated sweep that should never have touched your file.

The veterans who are about to be made whole by Freund v. Collins are the ones who kept their copies. The ones who kept calling. The ones who were still around to receive a notice 30 years later.

The simple rule: inspect what you expect. File your claim, then check on it. Get the decision letter, then read it. If something does not feel right, push.

This case proves the VA is not infallible. It is a giant system run by people and software, and both make mistakes. Your job is to make sure those mistakes do not become your problem.

Sources and Methodology

This article summarizes the publicly posted VA notice for Freund v. Collins (case 21-4168, U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims), the class definition certified on March 18, 2026, and the VA Office of Inspector General's findings on the VACOLS automated closures. Back-pay figures are illustrative scenarios calculated from historical VA disability compensation rates and are not guarantees. The contact information for class counsel reflects the contact published on the VA's official notice page.

This article is general information and data analysis, not legal advice. If you believe you are affected, contact class counsel or talk to an accredited VSO or VA-accredited attorney about your specific case.

-Landon

Building Claim Raven | U.S. Army Veteran