Cidone v. Pinnacle Property Management Services, LLC et al.

If between January 1, 2016, and February 29, 2020 (the “Class Period”), you resided in a dwelling unit to which YES Energy Management, Inc. furnished at least one utility bill during a period of time when the property was managed by Pinnacle Property Management and you signed the rental agreement/lease for that dwelling unit, the parties to the Lawsuit have agreed that you are a part of the class that will be included in the Settlement (the “Settlement Class”) (defined further in the “Who Is In The Class” question below).

This Lawsuit was brought by Finley Cidone, also known as the “Class Representative.” The Class Representative sued the Defendants. The proposed Settlement would resolve all claims in this Lawsuit. The Court in charge of the Lawsuit, the United States District Court for the District of Oregon, has preliminarily approved the proposed Settlement. The Court has also approved issuance of the Class Notice.

A class action lawsuit is a lawsuit in which the claims and rights of many people are decided in a single court proceeding. Representative plaintiffs, like the Class Representative here, assert claims on behalf of themselves and on behalf of the entire class.

Brady Mertz, Efrem Lawrence, and Matthew G. Shepard, were appointed to serve as Class Counsel. The Defendants are Pinnacle Property Management Services and Bel Portland Holdings. Bel Portland Holdings is the owner of the property in which the Class Representative resided, and Pinnacle Property Management managed that and the other Properties at certain points during the Class Period.   

This class action lawsuit claims Defendants violated Oregon landlord-tenant laws regarding utility billing, including because Defendants allegedly:

1. failed within 30 days after receipt of the utility provider’s bill or service provider’s bill to bill tenants in writing (ORS 90.315(4)(b)(A));
2. failed to provide with tenants’ utility bills a copy of the provider’s bill or a statement that they may inspect the provider’s bill at a reasonable time and place and that they may obtain a copy of the provider’s bill by making a request to the landlord during the inspection and upon payment to the landlord of the reasonable cost of making copies (ORS 90.315(4)(b)(C)(i)-(ii));
3. failed to provide tenants an explanation of the manner in which the utility provider or service provider assessed their utility or service charges in either the rental agreement or any utility bill (ORS 90.315(4)(b)(B));
4. required tenants to pay for utilities and services without explaining the manner in which the charge for utilities or services was allocated among tenants (ORS 90.315(4)(b)(B)(ii)); and
5. charged a “Utility Billing Fee” beyond the cost of the utility or services billed to Defendants (ORS 90.315(4)(c)).

The Class Representative sought to recover monetary damages under ORS 90.315(4)(f) in the amount of twice actual damages or one month’s periodic rent, whichever is greater. Defendants deny they have violated any law or done anything wrong, and the Court has not ruled that Defendants have violated any law or done anything wrong, or that a class would or would not have been certified in the Lawsuit.

The parties to the Lawsuit have agreed to settle the Lawsuit to resolve the matter and avoid the risk and expense of further litigation. The Court has issued an Order preliminarily approving the Settlement Class and settlement of the Lawsuit. 

The Class, for settlement purposes only, is defined as all persons who executed a written rental agreement as a tenant for a dwelling unit within any Oregon apartment complex to which YES Energy Management, Inc. furnished at least one utility bill at a time when the property was managed by Pinnacle Property Management, from January 1, 2016 to February 29, 2020.

Class membership (including your membership in the Class) was confirmed in accordance with the procedures described in the Settlement Agreement.  

Excluded from the Settlement Class are: (i) Defendants; (ii) any person who was an officer, director, or partner of Defendants during the Class Period and any members of their immediate family; (iii) any parent, subsidiary, or affiliate of Defendants; (v) any firm, trust, corporation, or other entity in which Defendants or any other excluded person or entity has, or had during the Class Period, a controlling interest; (vi) the legal representatives, agents, affiliates, heirs, successors-in-interest or assigns of any such excluded persons or entities; and (vii) the Judge or Magistrate Judge to whom the Action is assigned and any member of those Judges’ staffs or immediate family members.

Under the proposed Settlement, Defendants will pay a Total Settlement Fund of $2,000,000 (the “Settlement Fund”).

Except for Initial Settlement Administration Costs of up to $100,000 (which will be paid separately pursuant to Paragraph 16(a) of the Settlement Agreement), this Settlement Fund will be Defendants’ exclusive payment obligation and will be used to satisfy:

(1) all of Class Counsel’s Expenses;

(2) all claims for an award of Class Counsel’s Fees;

(3) the Class Representative Incentive Award;

(4) any amount of Settlement Administration Costs beyond the Initial Settlement Administration Costs; and

(5) all other costs and expenses related to the Settlement Agreement. 

Details of how the payment will be calculated are in the Settlement Agreement. The parties estimate that Settlement Class Members will be entitled to receive between $0.75 and $800.15 depending on when they moved out of their unit, the number of other Settlement Class Members in the unit during the time the Settlement Class Member resided there, and the last rent paid by that unit during the Class Period (see “How Do I Receive Payment” section below). Settlement Class Members’ distribution will depend upon the final calculation of the Net Settlement Fund, and Members may receive more or less than the estimated distribution amount. Defendants will also use the Total Settlement Fund to pay  Counsel’s fees in an amount approved by the Court, as described below. The members of the Class will release any claims that were asserted or could have been asserted in the Lawsuit, as described in the Settlement Agreement, regardless of whether they cash their check.

Settlement Class Members are entitled to a “share” of the money that Defendants have agreed to pay as part of the Settlement. The share is based on when a given Settlement Class Member moved out of their unit, the number of other Settlement Class Members in the unit during the time the Settlement Class Member resided there, and the last rent paid by that unit during the Class Period. Those Settlement Class Members who are members of a tenancy consisting exclusively of Class Members who moved out of the Properties on or before October 31, 2018 and did not otherwise move back in will be entitled to one share equaling the last actual rent amount charged to that unit. Class Members who are members of a tenancy that includes Class Members who either began living in the Properties on or after November 1, 2018, or continued to live in the Properties after November 1, 2018, will be entitled to a share equaling the last actual rent amount charged to that unit multiplied by ten. The “share” will be further divided between all of the Settlement Class Members in a particular “tenancy,” which will be identified by Class Counsel. Each tenancies' shares were jointly calculated as described in the Settlement Agreement.

The distribution each Settlement Class Member is entitled to receive (the “Settlement Fund Payment”) will be paid from the Total Settlement Fund, after the payment of Class Counsel’s Fees and Expenses, the Class Representative Incentive Award, Settlement Administration Costs beyond the Initial Settlement Administration Costs, and all other costs and expenses related to the Settlement Agreement. Unless you contact the Settlement Claims Administrator, the check will be made payable to the addressee of the notice and mailed to the same address as the notice.

If you are a Settlement Class Member, unless you exclude yourself from the Settlement Class as described below, you will receive this payment and be bound by the terms of the Settlement, including its releases, regardless of whether you cash your check. 

Settlement Class Members will have ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY (180) DAYS from the date on which it is issued to cash the payment check. After that time period, the payment will be void, Settlement Class Members will be entitled to no further payment, and will still be bound by the terms of the Settlement Agreement, including its releases.

You may choose to exclude yourself entirely from the Settlement Class and the Settlement, which means you will not receive any payment but that you will also not be bound by the other terms of the Settlement and you will be able to sue Defendants on your own about the same legal claims that are involved in this case, now or in the future, to the extent you have claims against Defendants. To exclude yourself you must submit a valid Request for Exclusion in written form which includes the following:

1. A heading referring to the Case Number 3:20-CV-01133-AC, pending before the United States District Court for the District of Oregon and entitled “Cidone v. Pinnacle Property Management Services, LLC et al.”;
2. Your name and address;
3. A clear statement that you wish to be excluded from the Settlement Class; and
4. Your signature.

Your Request for Exclusion must be delivered to the Settlement Claims Administrator by first class mail, postage prepaid at the address below and must be postmarked no later than February 14, 2023, which is the Opt-Out Deadline.

You cannot exclude yourself by telephone or by email. You cannot exclude yourself by mailing a request to any other location other than the address above or after the deadline. If you submit a valid and timely Request for Exclusion, you will not receive any payment.

You will receive a payment as described above and you will be barred from bringing any claims that were asserted or could have been asserted in the Lawsuit, as described in the Settlement Agreement.

As a Class Member, you can object to any part of the Settlement, either personally or through legal counsel. However, you can object only if you stay in the Settlement Class. Excluding yourself in the manner described above is telling the Court that you do not want to be included in the Settlement. If you exclude yourself, you cannot object because the Settlement no longer affects you. To object, you or your counsel must submit a letter or other written document that includes the following:

1. A heading referring to the Case Number 3:20-CV-01133-AC, pending before the United States District Court for the District of Oregon and entitled “Cidone v. Pinnacle Property Management Services, LLC et al.”;
2. A detailed written statement of the specific factual and legal basis for each objection, including why you have chosen to object;
3. A list of and copies of all documents that you may seek to use at the Final Approval Hearing, and a list of the names of any witnesses that you want to present at the Final Approval Hearing; and
4. If you are represented by counsel, counsel’s name, address, and telephone number.  Any counsel representing you must file a notice of appearance and Points and Authorities in support of the objections, which brief shall contain any and all legal authority upon which you will rely and confirm whether the attorney intends to appear at the Final Approval Hearing.

Your objection and all supporting documents must be filed with the Court, either electronically in accordance with the Court’s electronic filing rules or at the below address and RECEIVED no later than the Opt-Out Deadline, which is February 14, 2023.

Objecting is simply telling the Court that you do not agree with the Settlement or some part of it.

If you are a Settlement Class Member and do not submit a valid Request for Exclusion, you will receive a payment as described and you will be barred from bringing any claims that were asserted or could have been asserted in the Lawsuit, as described in the Settlement Agreement regardless of whether you cash your check. If you do nothing at all, you will be bound by the terms and conditions of the Settlement Agreement, will be unable to file your own lawsuit involving any of the claims described and identified here, and you will release the Released Parties from any liability.

Class Counsel will request the Court approve no more than 1/3 of the $2 million Settlement Fund for Class Counsel’s fees and expenses incurred in litigating this Lawsuit and will request the Court approve an incentive payment to the Class Representative totaling $3,000. These payments, along with the costs, if any, of administrating the Settlement beyond the $100,000 of Initial Settlement Administration Costs as defined in Paragraph 16(a) of the Settlement Agreement, will be paid out of the Settlement Fund. Any funds remaining after the payment of Class Counsel’s Fees and Expenses, the Class Representative Incentive Award, Settlement Administration Costs beyond the Initial Settlement Administration Costs, and all other costs and expenses related to the Settlement Agreement, will be distributed to the Settlement Class Members.

If the Court approves the Settlement, all Settlement Class Members will release Defendants, their current and former clients (including owners of properties managed by Pinnacle Property Management Services at which Settlement Class Members resided), their contractors, their service providers, YES Energy Management, Inc., and each of their parents, affiliates, subsidiaries, officers, directors, agents, successors, predecessors, assigns, assignees, partnerships, partners, trustees, trusts, employees, immediate family members, insurers, reinsurers, and attorneys (the “Released Parties”), from all claims and causes of action of every nature and description, whether known or unknown, whether arising under federal, state, common, or foreign law, whether such claim was asserted in the Complaint or the Amended Complaint or could have been asserted in the Complaint or the Amended Complaint, or in any other forum, to the extent such claim arises out of or is based upon the allegations, transactions, facts, matters or occurrences, representations, or omissions involved, set forth, or referred to in the Complaint or the Amended Complaint, and that otherwise relate to utility billing practices during the Class Period, except for claims relating to the enforcement of the Settlement Agreement (the “Released Claims”). 

You can talk to the law firms representing the Settlement Class for free or you can, at your own expense, talk to your own lawyer if you have any questions about the Released Parties or the Released Claims or what they mean. The release does not apply to Settlement Class Members who timely submit a valid Request for Exclusion.

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that a Final Approval Hearing will be held on April 17, 2023 at 11:00 a.m. telephonically from the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse Room 1507, 1000 Southwest Third Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97204 to consider the final approval of this proposed Settlement.  You are not required to appear at the hearing, but you may attend the hearing if you want to.  At the Final Approval Hearing, the Court will consider:

1. Whether the proposed Settlement is fair, reasonable, adequate, in good faith, and in the best interests of the Settlement Class Members; and
2. Whether a Final Approval Order and General Judgment of Dismissal should be entered approving the Settlement and releasing all related claims against Defendants.

If, after conducting the Final Approval Hearing, the Court grants final approval of the Settlement as set forth in the Settlement Agreement (including any modification or amendment thereto to which Defendants and Class Counsel agree), it shall enter a Final Approval Order and General Judgment of Dismissal. Defendants’ obligations to make payments under the Settlement Agreement do not become effective until the Court grants final approval and the General Judgment of Dismissal becomes final, as defined in the Settlement Agreement. 

If you want additional information you may call the Settlement Claims Administrator toll-free at 1-844-517-0999 with any questions or you may visit the website at www.OregonUtilityBillingSettlement.com.

Please send any notification of a new mailing address for you to the Settlement Claims Administrator via email at info@oregonutilitybillingsettlement.com or written letter to the address provided above. Unless you contact the Settlement Claims Administrator, the check will be made payable to the addressee of the notice and mailed to the same address as this notice.

Do not contact the Court directly. You may, however, refer to the pleadings in the public file with the Court.

With the exception of submitting an objection please DO NOT call or write to the Clerk of the Court.