Here is the relevant section from the settlement documents:
2.39. “Eligible Owner” means the owner or owners of an Eligible Vehicle on September 18, 2015, or the owner or owners who acquire an Eligible Vehicle after September 18, 2015, but before the end of the Settlement Benefit Period, except that the owner of an Eligible Vehicle who had an active lease issued by VW Credit, Inc. (Generation One vehicles) or VW Credit, Inc. or Porsche Financial Services, Inc. (Generation Two vehicles) as of September 18, 2015 and/or November 2, 2015, and purchased that previously leased Eligible Vehicle off lease after January 31, 2017, shall be an Eligible Lessee. For avoidance of doubt, an Eligible Owner ceases to be an Eligible Owner if he transfers ownership of the Eligible Vehicle to a third party. A third party who acquires ownership of an Eligible Vehicle thereby becomes an Eligible Owner if that third party otherwise meets the definition of an Eligible Owner, unless the third party acquired the Eligible Vehicle from an Eligible Lessee, in which case that third party will be an Eligible Lessee. An owner of an Eligible Vehicle will not qualify as an Eligible Owner while the Eligible Vehicle is under lease to any third party, although any such owner, including any leasing company other than VW Credit, Inc. or Porsche Financial Services, Inc., who otherwise meets the definition of an Eligible Owner would become an Eligible Owner if such lease has been canceled or terminated and the owner has taken possession of the vehicle. In exceptional cases, specific arrangements may be made with the leasing company, in consultation with the Claims Supervisor, such that, (1) without canceling or terminating the lease, the leasing company may be treated as an Eligible Owner and obtain (a) an Emissions Compliant Repair plus Lessee Repair Payment or (b) a Reduced Emissions Modification plus Owner Restitution, as appropriate, and (2) a lessor that takes possession of a leased Eligible Vehicle after the Claim Submission Deadline (or the end date of the Claim Program) may nonetheless be entitled to submit a Claim.
I can't figure it out either way from that!
