Sullivan v. YES Energy Management, Inc.

The lawsuit claims, among other things, that YES and Yardi acted as collection agencies in Maryland without a legally required Maryland collection agency license and violated Maryland law by charging fees in connection with that unlicensed activity. YES and Yardi deny these claims and believe they did nothing wrong.

In a class action, one or more individuals called Class Representatives (in this case Monica Sullivan) file claims on behalf of themselves as well as other individuals who have similar claims. If a Court determines that those similar claims should all be handled in one lawsuit, the Court may order that the claims proceed as a class action. The U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland is in charge of this class action.

The Court did not decide any of the issues. The Class Representative alleged the Class should be allowed to recover the monthly Administration Fees YES charged to the approximately 86,137 Class Members, after a trial, as well as fees Yardi charged when Plaintiff paid her rent. For example, Class Representative Monica Sullivan’s Complaint alleges she was charged monthly Administration Fees in bills by YES of $3.00 at certain times, and that she was also charged $0.95 by Yardi at certain times for paying her rent electronically and alleged that she should be allowed to recover those fees. YES, and Yardi argued that Plaintiff and the Class should not recover anything, but there was no trial. Instead, both sides agreed to a settlement. That way, they avoid the costs of additional and protracted legal proceedings, potentially including a trial and appeals, and Class Members will get compensation if they file a valid and timely claim. Class Counsel think the Settlement is best for all Class Members.

The parties agreed and the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland decided that everyone who fits the following description is a Class Member (with some exceptions):

All Maryland residents who paid an Administration Fee (defined as “any fee on any invoice or the like sent by YES Energy to Plaintiff and each Settlement Class Member that represented the ‘Administration Fee’ for the payment of utilities or services utilized by the tenant during the period of the invoice, as that term is used in Representative Plaintiff’s Complaint,” from (and including) October 4, 2018, through and including March 19, 2024.

Excluded from the Settlement Class are all employees, officers, and directors of Yardi, YES Energy, and their parent or subsidiary companies and predecessors and successors, and all employees of the Court.

If you are still not sure whether you are included, you can ask for free help by calling the Settlement Administrator at 1-877-817-2168.

If you are a Settlement Class Member and you did not exclude yourself from this case, you will remain a Settlement Class Member, and that means that you can’t sue, continue to sue, or be part of any other lawsuit against YES or Yardi about claims that were asserted or could have been asserted in this case. It also means that all of the Court’s orders will apply to you and legally bind you. The full scope of the release is available in the Settlement Agreement.

YES has agreed to pay $2,800,000.00 into a common fund (the “Settlement Fund”). The Settlement Fund will be used to make payments to all Settlement Class Members who file Valid Claims, after deduction of Class Counsel’s expenses and up to 33% of the Settlement Fund in attorneys’ fees, plus costs, subject to Court approval. During claims filing, Settlement Class Members had the option to receive their settlement payment in the form of a paper check or an electronic payment. YES has represented that the Settlement Class includes approximately 86,137 persons.

Each Authorized Claimant shall be entitled to a pro rata payment from the Settlement Fund (a “Settlement Payment”), in accordance with a formula established by the Settlement Administrator which will result in the pro rata distribution of the Settlement Fund in proportion to the amount of administration fees charged to the Authorized Claimant submitting a Valid Claim as compared to the total amount of administration fees charged to all Authorized Claimants. While YES Energy has information about the exact amount of Administration Fees charged for those Settlement Class Members who made direct payments to YES Energy, it does not have access to the exact amount of payments of Administration Fees by Settlement Class Members who did not make direct payments to YES Energy, but instead made payments of Administration Fees to another party (such as their landlord or property manager).

To the extent that Defendants can identify the precise Administration Fees paid by any particular Settlement Class Member, that information shall be included on the Class List, and the Claim Form for that particular Settlement Class Member shall be pre-populated with the amount of Administration Fees paid.

To the extent Defendants cannot identify the precise fees paid by any particular Settlement Class Member, it will be presumed that any such Settlement Class Member paid an Administration Fee for twelve (12) months during the Class Period at a rate of $4 per month ([$48 / Administration Fees Charged x Settlement Fund = Gross Settlement Class Member Payment] [the “Payment Floor”]). Settlement Class Members were provided the option in the Claim Form to attest to whether they paid additional fees beyond the Payment Floor by providing to the Settlement Administrator information regarding same. Such information offered to the Settlement Administrator will be subject to the satisfaction of the Parties and the Settlement Administrator.

Settlement Class Members who are not Authorized Claimants shall not receive a payment under the Settlement.

In exchange for the Settlement Fund, Settlement Class Members give up any right to sue for claims resulting from, arising out of, or regarding the factual predicate alleged in the Litigation.

No. Even if you received multiple bills from YES, you only needed to file one claim. The deadline for Initial Class List Members to submit their claims was November 13, 2024. For Supplemental Class List Members, the claim submission deadline was January 13, 2025.

The deadline for Initial Class List Members to submit their claims was set for November 13, 2024. For Supplemental Class List Members, the claim submission deadline was January 13, 2025.

The Court held a hearing on January 31, 2025, during which it approved the Settlement. Payments to those Settlement Class Members who submitted valid and complete claims will start to be mailed on February 28, 2025.

The deadline to request exclusion from the Settlement was December 13, 2024. Initial Class List Members had to mail their exclusion request postmarked no later than July 16, 2024.

No. Unless you excluded yourself, you gave up any right to sue Defendants, their current and former parent corporations, direct and indirect subsidiaries, affiliates, predecessors, successors and assigns, related entities, and current and former directors, officers, employees, representatives, attorneys, heirs, administrators, executors, insurers, agents, clients, and the successors and assigns of any of them or any person or entity acting on their behalf or at the direction of them, regarding YES Energy or Yardi’s conduct at issue in the Litigation. The Released Claims do not include:

1. any claims relating to the enforcement or violations of the Settlement;
2. any claims of any person or entity that submits a request for exclusion that is accepted by the Court; or
3. claims that could not have been brought in this Litigation or do not share the same factual predicate as the claims that were asserted.

If you have another pending lawsuit about the claims in this lawsuit, speak to your lawyer in that case immediately. You had to exclude yourself from this Settlement Class to continue another lawsuit involving the same transactions as this case. The deadline to request exclusion from the Settlement was December 13, 2024. Initial Class List Members had to mail their exclusion request postmarked no later than July 16, 2024.

No. If you excluded yourself, you are no longer part of this Settlement.

The Court appointed the law firm of Gordon, Wolf & Carney, Chtd., in Hunt Valley, Maryland, to represent you and other Class Members. These lawyers are called Class Counsel. You will not be individually charged for these lawyers. If you are a Settlement Class Member and you want to be represented by your own lawyer, and you do not request exclusion, you may hire a lawyer at your own expense and enter an appearance through that lawyer.

Class Counsel asked the Court to approve payment of one third of the common fund for attorneys’ fees, plus costs. The fees would pay Class Counsel for investigating the facts, litigating the case, and negotiating the Settlement.

The deadline to object of the Settlement was December 13, 2024. Initial Class List Members had to mail their objection postmarked no later than July 16, 2024.

Objecting is simply telling the Court that you don’t like something about the Settlement and that you don’t want it approved. You could have objected only if you stayed in the Settlement Class. Excluding yourself, on the other hand, meant telling the Court that you didn’t want to be part of the Settlement Class. If you excluded yourself, you could not have objected because the case no longer affected you.

The Court held a hearing on January 31, 2025, during which it approved the Settlement. Payments to Settlement Class Members who submitted valid and complete claims will start to be mailed on February 28, 2025.

If you fit the Class definition above and did nothing, you will not receive any payment. However, unless you excluded yourself, you will still be a Settlement Class Member, and you won’t be able to start a lawsuit, continue with a lawsuit, or be part of any other lawsuit against YES or Yardi about the legal or factual issues in this case, or claims that were asserted or could have been asserted in this case.

This website summarizes the lawsuit and proposed settlement. More details are in the Complaint, Settlement Agreement, and other documents filed in Court. You can get a copy of the Complaint, Settlement Agreement, and other important documents from the Court, from the Documents page, or by requesting them from the Settlement Administrator. You can also call 1-877-817-2168 toll-free or write to Sullivan v. YES Energy Management, Inc. Lawsuit, c/o Settlement Administrator, P.O. Box 6719, Portland, OR 97228-6719.