SELA Realty Florida Security Deposit Settlement

About 391 former tenants can claim. The SELA Realty Florida Security Deposit Settlement covers Florida renters who paid a security deposit at a property owned or managed by SELA Realty Investments LLC between April 4, 2021 and April 4, 2025, had part of that deposit kept, and may not have received the certified-mail notice Florida law requires within 30 days of move-out. This is a closed list, not an open Florida renters' settlement. The class list came from SELA Realty's own records, and the online claim form opens only after you enter the Notice ID and PIN emailed to people on that list — if you rented from a different landlord, or were never sent a notice, there is no way to file. The two benefits stack on one claim form: a cash payment of 60% of the deposit you paid (a $1,000 deposit returns $600, and it is not reduced by how many others file), plus any balance you still owe SELA brought to $0 if you moved out on or before December 31, 2024, including balances already sent to a debt collector. Two things are easy to misread. The $141,793.77 caps only the cash side — the $669,408.48 in debt relief sits outside it, and is the bigger benefit for most people. And the debt relief is not automatic: the settlement agreement requires a filed claim form to receive it, so ignoring the notice leaves the old balance in place while the release still binds you. The official settlement website also states the debt-relief move-out cutoff two different ways — December 31, 2024 on its Case Home page and December 31, 2025 in its FAQ; the signed agreement uses December 31, 2024. File by November 22, 2026 at selasettlement.com. Unclaimed money reverts to SELA Realty or its insurers. SELA Realty denies any wrongdoing and the court has not ruled on the merits.

Do I Qualify?

You may be eligible if:

• You were in Florida and paid a security deposit at a residential property owned or managed by SELA Realty Investments LLC between April 4, 2021 and April 4, 2025. SELA Realty is a New Jersey company; only its Florida rentals are covered, and another Florida landlord's deposit does not qualify you
• Some part of that deposit was retained. If SELA returned your deposit in full, you are outside the class definition
• You may not have received a certified-mail notice within 30 days of moving out stating SELA's intent to impose a claim on your deposit, with the disclosures the Florida Residential Landlord and Tenant Act requires
• You are on the class list — this is the practical test. The court put the class at approximately 391 tenants and the list came from SELA Realty's records. The administrator emailed those people a notice carrying a Notice ID and PIN, and the online claim form will not open without them, so a Florida renter who was never sent a notice has no route to file
• Eligible states: Florida only, and being a Florida renter is nowhere near sufficient on its own — the class list is what decides it
• You are not in an excluded group. The class does not include the presiding judge, the judges of the Florida appellate courts, the immediate families of those people, any Released Party, counsel of record, anyone who already released these claims with SELA Realty, or anyone who timely opts out
• You submit a valid claim form by November 22, 2026. Filing is what triggers both the cash payment and the debt relief — neither one arrives automatically

No lease, rent receipts or move-out paperwork are required — but that does not make this an easy claim to file, because the barrier is credentials rather than documents. The online claim form at selasettlement.com opens only after you enter the Notice ID and PIN from the notice the administrator emailed you, and the settlement agreement describes that emailed notice as carrying a class member ID for the online claim form. Without those credentials there is no self-service route in: the class list came from SELA Realty's records, so the administrator already knows the size of your deposit and you are not asked to prove it. Notice went out to the email address SELA Realty had on file, with a mailed notice only where the email bounced, so an old or abandoned email address is the most likely reason a genuine class member never sees this settlement. If you believe you qualify and have no Notice ID and PIN, use the contact options or the Update Address page at selasettlement.com, or write to Coleman v SELA c/o Settlement Administrator, PO Box 23668, Jacksonville, FL 32241, and ask for the notice to be resent well before November 22, 2026. Class members who were sent a paper claim form can complete and mail it instead, postmarked by the same date. The claim form also asks you to select how you want to be paid.

What Happened?

Gail Coleman sued SELA Realty Investments LLC, a New Jersey company that owns and manages residential rental units in Florida, alleging that it kept tenants' security deposits without giving them the chance to object within Florida's 15-day objection window, and failed to send a legally sufficient certified-mail notice within 30 days of move-out when it intended to make a claim on a deposit. The complaint asserts claims under the Florida Residential Landlord and Tenant Act and the Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act. SELA Realty denies all liability, says its practices complied with the law, and maintains that class members still owe it amounts for damages, fees and costs under their leases. The court has not ruled on the merits of either side's position, and certification was granted for settlement purposes only.

The case is Gail Coleman v. SELA Realty Investments LLC, Case No. 2025-CA-002010, in the Circuit Court of the Fourth Judicial Circuit in and for Duval County, Florida, before the Honorable Michael Scott Sharrit. The parties reached terms at a mediation on April 24, 2025. On September 2, 2026 Judge Sharrit certified a settlement class of approximately 391 tenants, granted preliminary approval and ordered notice sent to class members by email, with mail only where an email bounced. American Legal Claims administers the settlement and runs the claim process at selasettlement.com. Class counsel is Matthew T. Peterson of Consumer Law Advocate, PLLC in Miami.

The settlement pays two ways from one claim form: 60% of each class member's own security deposit, stipulated to total $141,793.77 across the class, plus $669,408.48 in debt relief that brings outstanding balances to $0 for class members who moved out on or before December 31, 2024. Class counsel's fees and expenses of up to $75,000, a class representative award of up to $2,000 and administration costs are paid by SELA Realty separately and do not reduce class members' payments. Money left unclaimed reverts to SELA Realty or its insurers.

The claim and exclusion deadlines are both November 22, 2026, with no time of day stated. The objection deadline is where the official sources conflict: the settlement website lists November 22, 2026, while the proposed order in the settlement agreement bars anyone from being heard unless objections were filed fourteen days before the fairness hearing, which is November 18, 2026 — also the website's stated deadline for a notice of intent to appear. The final approval hearing is set for December 2, 2026 at 9:00 a.m. by Zoom, and the notice warns it may move without further notice. If approved, the settlement takes effect one day after judgment when no one objects, or 31 days after judgment if there are objections but no appeal, and the administrator sends payments 30 days after that effective date. An appeal would push payment out further. No payment date has been announced.

How to File Your Claim

1. File online at selasettlement.com — open the Online Claim Submission page, enter the Notice ID and PIN from the notice that was emailed to you, complete the claim form and select how you want to be paid, by November 22, 2026
2. No lease, rent receipts or move-out paperwork are required, but the claim form will not open without the Notice ID and PIN, so the credentials are the real barrier to filing
3. If you were sent a paper claim form, you can complete it and mail it to the settlement administrator postmarked by November 22, 2026
4. Lost the email with your credentials? Notice went out by email to the address SELA Realty had on file, with mail only where the email bounced — use the contact options or the Update Address page at selasettlement.com, or write to Coleman v SELA c/o Settlement Administrator, PO Box 23668, Jacksonville, FL 32241, to have the notice resent well before the deadline
5. ONE FORM COVERS BOTH BENEFITS: the same claim form delivers the 60% cash payment plus the debt relief — you do not pick between them, and you do not file twice
6. FILING IS REQUIRED FOR THE DEBT RELIEF TOO: the settlement agreement says class members need to fill out the online claim form to receive the Monetary Benefits and the Debt Relief benefits, so an old balance is not wiped out automatically if you ignore the notice
7. To exclude yourself, mail a signed request with your name and address stating that you request to be excluded from the Coleman v SELA settlement and understand you will not be entitled to any benefits, postmarked by November 22, 2026 to Coleman v SELA c/o Settlement Administrator, PO Box 23668, Jacksonville, FL 32241 — excluding yourself is the only way to keep the right to sue SELA Realty over these claims, and it also gives up the debt relief
8. To object, file a signed written objection with the Clerk of the Circuit Court, Duval County Courthouse, 501 West Adams Street, Jacksonville, FL 32202 and serve copies on class counsel Matthew T. Peterson of Consumer Law Advocate, PLLC, 1000 Brickell Ave, Suite 715, Miami, FL 33131 and on defense counsel Jeffrey Partlow, 1900 Summit Tower Boulevard, Suite 400, Orlando, FL 32810, including a notice of intent to appear, your contact information, documentation showing you are in the class and the grounds for each objection
9. THE OBJECTION DATE IS DISPUTED: the settlement website's Key Dates page lists November 22, 2026, but the proposed order in the settlement agreement bars anyone from being heard unless objections were filed fourteen days before the December 2, 2026 hearing — November 18, 2026 — which is also the website's own deadline for a notice of intent to appear, so file by November 18 to be safe
10. Filing is free and you are not charged for class counsel
11. Visit the official claim form: https://www.selasettlement.com/

How Much Will I Actually Get?

TWO BENEFITS ON ONE CLAIM FORM, AND THEY STACK. This settlement pays in two ways and you are not asked to pick between them. The settlement agreement sets them out as separate benefits — Monetary Benefits and Debt Relief Benefits — and a class member who qualifies for both receives both from a single claim form. CASH: 60% OF YOUR OWN DEPOSIT. Every class member who does not opt out and who files a valid claim form is paid 60% of the security deposit they paid to SELA Realty. The agreement's own example: a $1,000 deposit returns $600. This is not a pro rata share of a pool, so it does not shrink if more people file — your payment is tied to your own deposit and nothing else. The parties stipulate that 60% of every class member's deposit across the class totals $141,793.77. Spread evenly over 391 class members that would average roughly $363, but that is an arithmetic average for context only; what you receive depends entirely on the size of the deposit you paid. DEBT RELIEF: OLD BALANCES BROUGHT TO $0. Class members who moved out on or before December 31, 2024 have any outstanding balance still owed to SELA Realty reduced to $0, including a balance that was already sent to a debt collector, and SELA Realty cannot sue class members to collect it. The agreement's example: if SELA kept your $1,000 deposit and then claimed you still owed more, that remaining balance goes to zero. Across the class the debt relief totals $669,408.48 — nearly five times the cash component, and for many class members the larger benefit by far. THE MOVE-OUT CUTOFF IS STATED TWO DIFFERENT WAYS. The settlement website's Case Home page gives the debt-relief move-out cutoff as December 31, 2024 and its FAQ page gives December 31, 2025. The signed settlement agreement controls and it uses December 31, 2024, both in its definition of Debt Relief and in its summary of benefits. Treat December 31, 2024 as the cutoff and raise any 2025 move-out with the administrator before the deadline rather than relying on the FAQ page. THE DEBT RELIEF IS NOT AUTOMATIC. The settlement agreement states that in order to receive the Monetary Benefits and Debt Relief benefits, class members need to fill out the online claim form at selasettlement.com. Ignoring the notice means no cash and no balance forgiveness, while the release still binds you. WHICH NUMBER CAPS WHAT. The $141,793.77 is a cap on the cash component only — the agreement says under no circumstances shall the defendant be responsible for paying more than $141,793.77 with respect to that component. The $669,408.48 in debt relief is outside that cap. The cash figure can also rise: it rests on SELA Realty's representation that the class has 391 members, and the agreement provides that if the class is larger the settlement fund increases by 60% of each additional member's deposit. SELA Realty funds the cash in installments, starting with an initial 20% funding of $28,358.75 and continuing until the maximum is fully funded. FEES DO NOT COME OUT OF YOUR PAYMENT. Class counsel's fees and litigation expenses of up to $75,000, a class representative award of up to $2,000 for Gail Coleman, and administration costs are paid by SELA Realty separately from the class benefits, all subject to court approval. UNCLAIMED MONEY GOES BACK TO THE DEFENDANT. Whatever is left in the settlement fund after all valid claims are paid reverts to SELA Realty or its insurers — it is not redistributed to the people who filed. Settlement checks are valid for 90 days, and funds from checks left uncashed past that stale date go to Jacksonville Area Legal Aid as a cy pres recipient, subject to court approval. TIMING. Payments are disbursed only after the court grants final approval at or after the December 2, 2026 hearing and any appeals are resolved. No payment date has been announced.

Last reviewed: September 30, 2026 | Information verified from court records and official settlement documents.

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