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Progress Residential FL Eviction Fees Settlement

Settlement Amount
75% or 30% of eviction fees paid
Claim Deadline
November 20, 2026
Total Fund
No fixed fund

Only 1,249 of the 3,003 covered tenants get paid. There is no claim form, no deadline to file and no proof of any kind to submit — Progress Residential's own tenant ledgers decide everything, and eligible members who do not opt out are paid automatically. This settlement covers people in Florida who were assessed eviction attorneys' fees by a Progress Residential, LLC affiliated company before any court awarded those fees, during the four years before the complaint was filed on August 26, 2024. The percentage is assigned, not chosen, and the three classes are not treated alike. The Paid Class (476 people) receives 75% of the fees they paid; a $1,000 charge returns $750. The Balance Class (773 people) receives 30%; the same $1,000 returns $300. The Attempted Collection Class (1,754 people) receives no money whatsoever — only a release of claims Progress could have brought against them. That unpaid class is the largest of the three, 58% of everyone this settlement covers. Two things are easy to get wrong. If your eviction fees were taken out of your security deposit, you are in the no-cash class — the settlement agreement puts anyone who paid the fees only through a deposit deduction in the Attempted Collection Class, and the official settlement website omits this entirely, describing that class only as people who 'did not pay.' And the $300,000 in the court papers is not a settlement fund: it caps class counsel's fees alone. There is no fixed class fund at all, so your payment is not reduced by how many others are paid. November 20, 2026 is the opt-out and objection deadline, not a filing deadline — if you want to be paid, it asks nothing of you. The one thing worth doing is making sure the administrator has your current address at johnstenfeessettlement.com, because checks go stale after 90 days and unclaimed money goes to a charity rather than back to the class. Payments wait on the January 11, 2027 fairness hearing. Progress Residential denies any wrongdoing and the court has made no finding against it.

Do I Qualify?

You may be eligible if:

No claim form, no proof, nothing to upload. Payments in this settlement are automatic: the parties calculate each amount from Progress Residential's own tenant ledgers and payment records, class counsel reviews the calculation, and the administrator mails a check to the address on your notice. The administrator already knows what you were charged and what you paid, so you are never asked to produce a lease, a ledger, a receipt or eviction paperwork. The Notice ID and PIN on your notice are not claim credentials. They unlock only the address-update tool at johnstenfeessettlement.com. There is no claim portal behind them. The real risk here is a bad mailing address, not missing documents. The payment is a paper check sent to the address on the notice, it is negotiable for only 90 days after mailing, and funds from checks left uncashed are paid to NeighborWorks Florida Collaborative rather than back to the class. Update your address through the tool on the settlement website, by email to info@JohnstenFeesSettlement.com with 'Change of Address' in the subject line, or by mail to Johnsten v Progress Residential c/o Settlement Administrator, PO Box 23369, Jacksonville, FL 32241. The administrator's phone number is 800-566-0596. Documents are required only for two side situations: a name change needs a marriage license, divorce decree or court order, and a payee claiming on behalf of a deceased class member needs a death certificate plus proof of being the legal beneficiary, such as a will or estate documentation. If you never received a notice, there is no document that gets you in. Without a claim form there is nothing to submit; contacting the administrator is the only avenue, and the November 20, 2026 objection deadline is the only formal mechanism.

What Happened?

Four Florida tenants — Crystal Johnsten, Karen Ransome, Carmen Garcia and Angel Lara — alleged that Progress Residential-affiliated companies followed a statewide practice of charging Florida tenants eviction attorneys' fees, along with filing and service-of-process costs, before any court had awarded them. The complaint brought claims under the Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act and the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, plus negligent misrepresentation, unjust enrichment, declaratory judgment and breach of contract. Progress Residential denies liability and the settlement was reached without any determination that any party engaged in wrongful conduct.

The case is Crystal Johnsten et al. v. Progress Residential, LLC et al., Case No. 2024-CA-001692, in the Circuit Court of the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit in and for Seminole County, Florida, before the Honorable Jessica J. Recksiedler. It combines two suits filed in August 2024, one in Duval County and one in Seminole County, consolidated in Seminole County. The parties settled at mediation on June 18, 2026. The court has approved the class notice, which American Legal Claim Services has mailed as settlement administrator.

Progress ran a manual review of its tenant ledgers to build the class list, and the numbers moved significantly from what it had estimated at mediation. It had put the Paid Class near 630 and found 476; it had put the Balance Class near 728 and found 773; and it had put the Attempted Collection Class near 3,494 and found 1,754. The final class is 3,003 people in three groups, and 1,754 of them — the Attempted Collection Class — receive no money under the settlement, only a release of claims.

Payments are calculated by the parties from Progress's business records, including tenant ledgers and payment records, subject to review and confirmation by class counsel, and are issued automatically without any claim form. Progress pays class counsel's court-approved fees and costs up to a maximum of $300,000, pays the four class representatives $2,500 each, and pays all class administration costs — all separately from and on top of class member payments.

The deadline to opt out or to object is November 20, 2026. The final fairness hearing is set for January 11, 2027 at 9:30 a.m. If the court grants final approval and no appeal follows, the effective date is the first business day after the 31-day window following final judgment; Progress funds the payments within 14 days and the administrator mails checks within 30 days of that date. Checks are negotiable for 90 days. The administrator reports unclaimed funds 120 days after mailing and that money goes to NeighborWorks Florida Collaborative as the designated cy pres recipient. No payment date has been announced.

How to File Your Claim

  1. THERE IS NO CLAIM FORM AND NO CLAIM DEADLINE. Paid Class and Balance Class members who do not opt out are paid automatically from Progress's own tenant ledgers — the settlement agreement says each eligible member 'shall automatically receive' their payment, and checks are mailed to the address on the notice. Nothing needs to be filed and there is nothing to upload
  2. THE NOVEMBER 20, 2026 DATE IS NOT A FILING DEADLINE. It is the deadline to opt out of the settlement or to object to it. If you want to be paid, that date requires no action from you at all
  3. WHAT TO ACTUALLY DO: make sure the administrator has your current mailing address, because the payment is a paper check sent to the address on your notice and it stays negotiable for only 90 days after mailing. Update your address with the tool at johnstenfeessettlement.com (it asks for the Notice ID and PIN printed on your notice), by email to info@JohnstenFeesSettlement.com with 'Change of Address' in the subject line, or by mail to Johnsten v Progress Residential c/o Settlement Administrator, PO Box 23369, Jacksonville, FL 32241. The administrator's phone number on the notice is 800-566-0596
  4. NAME CHANGES AND DECEASED CLASS MEMBERS: a name change needs a copy of a marriage license, divorce decree or court order. For a deceased class member the payee must send a death certificate plus documentation showing they are the legal beneficiary, such as a will or estate paperwork
  5. NEVER RECEIVED A NOTICE? There is no self-service way in. The class list came from a manual review of Progress's tenant ledgers and the administrator mailed the 3,003 people it identified, so a Florida Progress tenant who got nothing in the mail cannot file a claim to be added. Contacting the administrator at the address above is the only avenue
  6. TO OPT OUT: mail a written request to Johnsten v Progress Residential c/o Settlement Administrator, PO Box 23369, Jacksonville, FL 32241 no later than November 20, 2026, giving your name, address and the statement 'I request exclusion from the Settlement Class in Johnsten v. Progress Residential, Case No. 2024-CA-001692.' Opting out forfeits your payment, and for an Attempted Collection Class member it also forfeits the release that stops Progress from pursuing the claims it could have brought against you
  7. TO OBJECT: submit a written objection by November 20, 2026 and you may appear at the final fairness hearing on January 11, 2027 at 9:30 a.m. before Judge Jessica J. Recksiedler
  8. Class counsel's fees are paid by Progress separately and are not deducted from your payment
  9. Visit the official claim form: https://www.johnstenfeessettlement.com/

How Much Will I Actually Get?

THE AMOUNT IS A PERCENTAGE OF YOUR OWN FEES, AND THE PERCENTAGE IS ASSIGNED, NOT CHOSEN. This is not an election between benefits and the two percentages do not stack. Progress's manual ledger review already placed every class member into exactly one of three classes, and that placement decides what you get. You are not asked to pick, and there is no form on which to pick. PAID CLASS — 75%. If you paid the eviction attorneys' fees and ended your tenancy owing Progress less than you paid in those fees, or you are a current tenant owing less than you paid, you receive 75% of the total Eviction Attorneys' Fees you paid during the class period. The agreement's own example: $1,000 in fees paid returns $750. Progress's review identified 476 people in this class. BALANCE CLASS — 30%. If you paid the fees but ended your tenancy owing Progress more than you paid in those fees, you receive 30%. The same $1,000 in fees paid returns $300. Progress's review identified 773 people in this class. ATTEMPTED COLLECTION CLASS — $0. If you were assessed the fees but did not pay them, or paid them only as a full or partial deduction from your security deposit, you receive no money. You receive only a release of the claims Progress has or could have brought against you. Progress's review identified 1,754 people here, more than the other two classes combined and 58% of the whole class. For a majority of the people this settlement covers, the cash headline does not apply. THE SECURITY-DEPOSIT CARVE-OUT IS THE EASIEST THING TO GET WRONG, AND THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE OMITS IT. The settlement website's Case Home page and its FAQ both describe the Attempted Collection Class as people who 'did not pay' the fees. The signed settlement agreement is broader: its definition also captures anyone who 'only paid those fees as a full or partial deduction from their security deposit.' So a tenant whose fees came out of their deposit did pay them in ordinary terms, will not see themselves in the website's description of the no-cash class, and will still receive nothing. The agreement controls. THERE IS NO FIXED SETTLEMENT FUND, AND THE $300,000 IS NOT ONE. Progress funds a Class Fund sized to cover whatever the calculated payments come to, so no pot is divided up and your payment does not shrink because other people are also paid. The only capped figure in this settlement is class counsel's compensation: the agreement says Progress will pay court-approved attorney's fees and costs 'up to, but not to exceed, $300,000.' That cap sits on the lawyers' side of the ledger, covers no class member's payment, and is not a settlement amount. Progress also pays all class administration costs separately. THERE IS NO MINIMUM AND NO ESTIMATE. Because the payment is tied to the fees you personally paid, a tenant charged a small amount receives a small percentage of it. No average or estimated per-person figure has been published, and the settlement sets no floor. SERVICE AWARDS. The four named plaintiffs — Crystal Johnsten, Karen Ransome, Carmen Garcia and Angel Lara — each receive $2,500, $10,000 in total, paid separately from and in addition to class payments. TIMING, AND WHY NOTHING ARRIVES SOON. Nothing is paid unless the court grants final approval at or after the January 11, 2027 fairness hearing. The effective date is the first business day after the 31-day window following final judgment. Progress then has 14 days to fund, and the administrator mails checks within 30 days of the effective date. Checks stay negotiable for 90 days and say so on their face. An appeal would push all of this back further, and no payment date has been announced. UNCASHED CHECKS DO NOT COME BACK TO THE CLASS. The administrator reports unclaimed funds 120 days after mailing, and that money goes to NeighborWorks Florida Collaborative as the designated cy pres recipient — not redistributed to class members, and not returned to Progress. A stale check is simply money lost, which is why keeping your address current is the only thing worth doing here.

Last reviewed: October 3, 2026 | Information verified from court records and official settlement documents.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Who actually gets paid in the Progress Residential eviction fees settlement, and who does not?
Only two of the three classes receive money, and the unpaid class is the biggest one. Progress's manual ledger review identified 476 Paid Class members, who receive 75% of the eviction attorneys' fees they paid, and 773 Balance Class members, who receive 30%. It also identified 1,754 Attempted Collection Class members, who receive no money at all — only a release of claims Progress has or could have brought against them. That is 1,754 of 3,003 people, 58% of the class and more than the two paid classes combined. Which class you are in was decided by Progress's tenant ledgers, not by anything you do or choose, and there is no form on which to contest it. If you are in the Attempted Collection Class, the honest answer is that this settlement sends you no check.
My eviction attorneys' fees were taken out of my security deposit. Do I get 75%?
No, and this is the gap most likely to mislead. The signed settlement agreement defines the Attempted Collection Class — the class that receives no money — as people who were assessed the fees and either did not pay them or 'only paid those fees as a full or partial deduction from their security deposit.' A deposit deduction therefore puts you in the no-cash class even though you really did pay the fees. The official settlement website makes this easy to miss: both its Case Home page and its FAQ describe the Attempted Collection Class only as people who 'did not pay' the fees, with no mention of security deposits. Someone reading the official site alone would reasonably conclude they are in the Paid Class. The settlement agreement controls, and it is posted on the Important Court Documents page of the settlement website.
Is November 20, 2026 a claim deadline?
No. There is no claim deadline in this settlement because there is no claim form. November 20, 2026 is the deadline to opt out of the class or to file a written objection, and both are things you would do only if you did not want the settlement's benefits. If you want to be paid, that date asks nothing of you. The settlement agreement says each eligible Paid Class and Balance Class member who does not opt out 'shall automatically receive' their payment, calculated from Progress's tenant ledgers and reviewed by class counsel, with a check mailed to the address on the notice.
Does the $300,000 figure mean there is a $300,000 settlement fund?
No, and it is not a settlement amount at all. The $300,000 is a ceiling on what Progress pays class counsel: the agreement provides that Progress will pay court-approved attorney's fees and costs 'up to, but not to exceed, $300,000,' covering all fees, costs and expenses from the lawsuit. It caps only the lawyers' side and no part of it is a class member's payment. On the class side there is no fixed fund to cap — Progress creates a Class Fund sized to cover whatever the calculated payments add up to, so your payment is not reduced because other people are also being paid. Progress separately pays all class administration costs, and the four named plaintiffs receive $2,500 each on top of class payments.
I rented from Progress Residential outside Florida, or my eviction fees were awarded by a judge. Am I covered?
In both cases, no. The class is limited to individuals in the state of Florida at a property managed by a Progress Residential, LLC affiliated company, under Florida's Consumer Collection Practices Act and Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act in a Seminole County, Florida court. Progress Residential operates single-family rentals across many states, and none of those tenancies are in this settlement. Separately, the case is only about fees charged before any court awarded them: the agreement covers fees assessed 'prior to being assessed those Eviction Attorneys' Fees by a court in an eviction proceeding,' and fees a court actually awarded are outside the settlement entirely. The charge also has to fall in the four years before the complaint was filed on August 26, 2024.
I think I qualify but I never got a notice. How do I file?
You cannot, and there is no workaround. Class membership was fixed by a manual review of Progress's own tenant ledgers, which produced the 3,003 people the administrator mailed. Because the settlement has no claim form, there is no document you can submit to add yourself to the class. The Notice ID and PIN that appear on the notice unlock only the address-update tool on the settlement website, not a claim. If you believe you were left off the list, your only avenue is to contact the administrator directly — info@JohnstenFeesSettlement.com, 800-566-0596, or Johnsten v Progress Residential c/o Settlement Administrator, PO Box 23369, Jacksonville, FL 32241 — and to do it well before the November 20, 2026 objection deadline, since objecting to the settlement is the only formal mechanism available to you.
When would a check arrive, and what happens if I never cash it?
Not soon. The final fairness hearing is January 11, 2027 at 9:30 a.m. before Judge Jessica J. Recksiedler, and nothing is paid before final approval. The effective date is the first business day after the 31-day window following final judgment; Progress funds the payments within 14 days of that date, and the administrator mails checks within 30 days of it. An appeal would delay everything further. No payment date has been announced. Each check stays negotiable for 90 days and says so on its face. If you do not cash it, the money is not redistributed to other class members and does not go back to Progress — the administrator reports unclaimed funds 120 days after mailing and they are paid to NeighborWorks Florida Collaborative as the cy pres recipient. A stale check is money gone, so keeping your mailing address current with the administrator is the one action genuinely worth taking.

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