This settlement covers the 10,675 people YES Communities notified after a ransomware attack on its network in December 2024 — residents and applicants of its manufactured home communities, and current and former employees. If you got one of those letters, you can take a flat $50 with no documentation, or claim up to $2,500 in documented losses plus $80 for lost time instead, and three years of credit monitoring can be added to either one.
Current Status
Claims are open. Claim Forms must be submitted online by November 5, 2026, or mailed with a postmark no later than that date; the notice states a date rather than a cutoff time. The deadline to exclude yourself or to object is earlier, on October 21, 2026, and the final approval hearing is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. on November 20, 2026 in Denver — so the court has not yet decided whether to approve the settlement, and no payment date had been announced as of August 30, 2026. If YES Communities mailed you a postcard notice with a Claim Number and PIN on it, the action to take now is to file a Claim Form. Nothing arrives automatically here: the notice says a class member who does nothing gets no money and no credit monitoring, and still releases their claims.What Changed Recently?
Notice has gone out to the settlement class and the claim window is now running toward its November 5, 2026 close. The case is captioned O'Leary v. YES Communities, LLC, Case No. 1:25-cv-00692-PAB-NRN, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado. Five separate class actions were filed over the same incident beginning in March 2025; the court consolidated four of them in April 2025, a consolidated complaint followed in May 2025 covering all five, and the parties reached terms after an October 2025 mediation.According to the court-authorized notice, YES Communities became aware of anomalous activity on its computer network on or about December 11, 2024, involving certain files encrypted by ransomware. A forensic investigation determined that between December 9 and 11, 2024 the company experienced a ransomware attack that resulted in unauthorized access to its systems and the theft of unencrypted Private Information belonging to 10,675 individuals in the United States or its territories.
The categories involved are unusually broad for a housing company, and they are what signal that the class reaches employees as well as residents: the notice lists name, Social Security number, driver's license number, passport number, state ID card number, financial and credit or debit account information, visa and work eligibility documentation, employee identification or tax ID number, non-US national identification number, and date of birth. YES Communities began sending notification letters on or about February 24, 2025.
The consolidated complaint alleged that the company failed to safeguard that information and that it waited more than two months after the attack to begin notifying people. YES Communities denies any wrongdoing, expressly disclaims any fault or liability, and the court has not decided who is right. The parties settled to avoid the cost and risk of continued litigation.
Who Qualifies?
The Settlement Class is all living individuals in the United States who were sent notice by YES Communities that their Private Information was impacted in the Data Incident. The mailed notice is the gate: eligibility turns on having been notified, not on whether you rented, applied or worked there, and the notice tells recipients directly that receiving it means they are in the class.YES Communities owns manufactured home communities across 23 states, so the class spans residents, former residents, applicants for housing and current and former employees — anyone whose information was in the files the attacker took. The class is nationwide and is not limited by state.
Excluded are the directors and officers of YES Communities, governmental entities, and the judge assigned to the case along with that judge's immediate family and court staff. If you are unsure whether you were notified, the contact page on the official settlement website is the place to ask.
How Much Can You Get?
There is no common settlement fund. YES Communities pays valid claims directly, and it separately pays all settlement administration costs and any court-awarded attorneys' fees, costs and service awards — none of which come out of what class members receive. Class counsel will apply for a combined $217,000 in fees, costs and expenses, and for service awards of up to $2,500 for each of the five class representatives. The court may award less.One practical consequence of having no fund is worth stating plainly: because there is no pot to divide, there is no pro rata adjustment, and the $50 alternative payment is a fixed amount rather than an estimate that shrinks or grows once claims are counted. Many data breach settlements can only give you a range; this one gives you the number.
There are three cash options:
- Cash Payment A — Documented Losses. Up to $2,500 for actual, documented, unreimbursed losses from fraud or identity theft that were more likely than not caused by the incident and were incurred after it.
- Cash Payment B — Lost Time. $20.00 per hour for up to four hours spent remedying issues related to the incident — $80 at the maximum — claimed by attesting to the hours.
- Cash Payment C — Alternate Cash. A flat $50 with no documentation required. It is an alternative to A and B, so claiming it rules them out.
A and B stack with each other. The Claim Form allows both to be selected, which puts the practical ceiling at $2,580 for someone with documentation and four hours of lost time. C is the trade-off route for anyone who has no records to produce: $50 for filling in a form.
Cash Payment A is limited to unreimbursed losses. The notice says expenses already reimbursed from another source do not qualify, and it names one source in particular — compensation provided in connection with any credit monitoring or identity theft protection product. If the monitoring YES Communities offered in its original breach letter already paid you back for something, you cannot claim the same expense here.
What About the Credit Monitoring?
Three years of one-bureau credit monitoring through IDX is available, and two features of it are better than the norm.First, it is additive rather than exclusive. The notice says class members may elect it in addition to a cash payment, so taking the monitoring does not reduce or replace your Cash Payment A, B or C claim. Second, the settlement agreement says it is available to any Settlement Class Member regardless of whether they previously received a credit monitoring product related to the Data Incident or otherwise. That sentence is doing real work: the 2025 breach letter offered 12 months of complimentary TransUnion monitoring, and having accepted it does not disqualify anyone from the three years on offer here.
It is still a claimed benefit rather than an automatic one — its own checkbox on the Claim Form, and the activation code is emailed rather than mailed, only after the court grants final approval and the settlement becomes effective. That makes an email address on the Claim Form the thing to double-check before submitting.
What Proof or Notice ID Is Required?
Proof is required. The Claim Form carries a Proof of Class Membership section asking you to certify that YES Communities mailed you notice of the settlement and to enter the Claim Number and PIN printed on your postcard notice, and the online portal opens with that same login. Those are administrator-issued credentials a claimant can only get from the mailing, so under OCA's standard this is a Proof Required: Yes settlement even for the flat $50, which otherwise asks for nothing.Cash Payment A carries a second, heavier requirement. You must attest under penalty of perjury to having incurred the losses, describe them in a table with dates and amounts, write an explanation of why the fraud or identity theft was more likely than not caused by the incident and what you did to avoid or seek reimbursement for the loss, and attach reasonable documentation. The notice defines that as records contemporaneously generated or prepared by a third party or by the class member supporting a claim for expenses paid, and gives telephone records, correspondence including emails, and receipts as examples; the Claim Form adds bank and credit card statements, letters from the IRS or other tax authorities, letters from state unemployment agencies, and police reports. A personal certification, declaration or affidavit does not count as documentation on its own, though it may be submitted to add clarification, context or support.
Cash Payment B needs no receipts — just the attested number of hours. But read the fine print on that one: the settlement agreement says that if a class member fails to identify how many hours were spent, the administrator may treat the claim as a submission for one hour, which is $20 instead of $80. Checking the hours box is what protects the difference.
Every claim is reviewed for completeness and plausibility and is submitted under penalty of perjury. If the administrator finds a claim deficient it sends a Notice of Deficiency, and the claimant then has until the claim deadline or 15 days from that notice, whichever is later, to cure it. A claim that is not cured may be reduced or denied.
What Is the Deadline?
- File a Claim Form: online by November 5, 2026, or postmarked by November 5, 2026
- Exclude yourself (opt out): postmarked by October 21, 2026
- Object to the settlement: filed with or mailed to the Clerk of Court by October 21, 2026, with copies sent to class counsel, the defendant's counsel and the administrator
- Final approval hearing: 10:00 a.m. on November 20, 2026, Courtroom A701, Alfred A. Arraj Courthouse, Denver
The notice gives dates without an accompanying cutoff time for filing, so we publish only the dates. The opt-out and objection deadline falls about two weeks before claims close, which means the decision about whether to stay in the class has to be made before the last day to file.
How Do You Take Action?
File through the official settlement website, YES Communities Data Incident.com, using the File Claim link. The form collects your name and contact details, then asks you to certify class membership and enter the Claim Number and PIN from your postcard notice. From there you choose the credit monitoring checkbox, then either Cash Payment A and/or B — listing your documented losses and attaching records, and checking the number of hours of lost time — or Cash Payment C for the flat $50. Finally you pick how you want to be paid: PayPal, Venmo, Zelle, a virtual prepaid card, or a physical check mailed to the address you gave.A printable Claim Form can be downloaded from the settlement website for anyone who would rather file on paper, and the administrator will send one on request through the site's contact page. Submit only one Claim Form per person; the administrator rejects duplicates and screens for fraud. Keep a copy of everything you send, and tell the administrator if your contact information changes after you file.
Staying in the class means releasing your claims against YES Communities and the other released parties over anything arising out of or relating to the incident. Opting out is the only way to keep the right to sue, and it requires a personally signed written request mailed to the administrator and postmarked by October 21, 2026, giving your name, address, telephone number and email address along with a statement that you want to be excluded. The notice says mass or class opt-outs submitted by an attorney for a group are not accepted, and that opting out forfeits both the cash and the credit monitoring and bars you from objecting.
What Happens Next?
The next milestone is the November 20, 2026 final approval hearing, at which the court will decide whether the settlement is fair, reasonable and adequate and will rule on the request for attorneys' fees, costs and service awards. The notice warns the hearing may move to a different date, time or location without additional notice, so the official settlement website is the place to confirm it. Class members do not have to attend, and an objection filed properly and on time is considered whether or not its author appears.A hearing being held is not the same as approval being granted. Payments follow only if the court grants final approval and after any appeals are resolved. The schedule after that is comparatively quick: the settlement agreement sets the Effective Date as the day after the final approval order when nobody objects, or 30 days after it when there are objections or appeals to resolve, and gives the administrator 60 days from the Effective Date to distribute cash payments and email the credit monitoring activation codes. One detail to remember when a payment does arrive — paper checks must be negotiated within 120 days of issuance.
Separately, the settlement agreement requires YES Communities to give class counsel a confidential declaration describing the information security improvements it has made since the incident and what they cost, paid for outside the settlement benefits. Because that declaration is confidential, the specific measures are not public, and this page does not characterize them.
No payment date had been announced as of August 30, 2026.
Sources and Verification
- O'Leary v. YES Communities, LLC — Official Settlement Website
- Official Settlement FAQs — benefits, deadlines, opt-out and objection requirements
- Official Important Case Documents Page — settlement agreement, notice and paper Claim Form
- Official Important Dates Page
- Court-Authorized Notice, Claim Form, Consolidated Complaint and Amended Settlement Agreement (PDF)
Questions
Who qualifies for the YES Communities data breach settlement?
The Settlement Class is all living individuals in the United States who were sent notice by YES Communities that their Private Information was impacted in the Data Incident. The notice puts the number at 10,675 people, and the class covers residents and applicants of the company's manufactured home communities as well as current and former employees. Excluded are the directors and officers of YES Communities, governmental entities, and the judge assigned to the case along with that judge's immediate family and court staff.
How much does the YES Communities settlement pay?
There are three cash options and the first two stack. Cash Payment A reimburses up to $2,500 for documented losses from fraud or identity theft, and Cash Payment B pays lost time at $20.00 per hour for up to four hours, which is $80 at the maximum — claiming both puts the ceiling at $2,580. Cash Payment C is a flat $50 that needs no documentation, but it is an alternative: claiming it rules out A and B. The $50 is a fixed amount rather than an estimate, because there is no common fund to divide.
Can I get the credit monitoring if I already took the free monitoring YES Communities offered?
Yes. The settlement agreement says the three years of one-bureau credit monitoring through IDX is available to any Settlement Class Member regardless of whether they previously received a credit monitoring product related to the Data Incident or otherwise — so the 12 months of monitoring offered in the original 2025 breach letter does not disqualify you. The monitoring is also in addition to a cash payment rather than instead of one, and the activation code is emailed after final approval, so an email address on the Claim Form is required.
Do I need proof to file a YES Communities claim?
Yes. The Claim Form carries a Proof of Class Membership section that asks you to certify you were mailed notice and to enter the Claim Number and PIN printed on your postcard notice, and the online portal opens with that same login — so an administrator-issued credential gates the claim even for the flat $50. Cash Payment A additionally requires documentation of the fraud or identity theft and the loss, such as bank or credit card statements, letters from tax or unemployment agencies, or police reports. Personal affidavits do not count as documentation on their own.
What is the deadline for the YES Communities data breach settlement?
Claim Forms must be submitted online by November 5, 2026, or mailed with a postmark no later than November 5, 2026. The separate deadline to exclude yourself or to object is October 21, 2026, about two weeks earlier.
What happens if I claim lost time but do not say how many hours?
The settlement agreement says the Settlement Administrator may interpret a lost-time claim that does not identify the number of hours as a submission for one hour — which is $20 rather than the $80 maximum. The Claim Form asks you to check a box for one, two, three or four hours and to swear under penalty of perjury that the time was spent responding to the Data Incident, so filling in the hours is what protects the difference.
Is YESCommunitiesDataIncident.com legit?
Yes. YESCommunitiesDataIncident.com is the court-authorized settlement website for O'Leary v. YES Communities, LLC, Case No. 1:25-cv-00692-PAB-NRN, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado, and it is administered by Analytics Consulting LLC. YES Communities denies any wrongdoing and the court has not decided who is right. File only through the official settlement website.
When will YES Communities settlement payments be sent?
Payments go out only if the court grants final approval and after any appeals are resolved. The final approval hearing is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. on November 20, 2026 in Denver. Under the settlement agreement the administrator distributes cash payments and emails credit monitoring activation codes no later than 60 days after the Effective Date, which arrives the day after the final approval order if nobody objects. Paper checks must be cashed within 120 days of issuance. No payment date had been announced as of August 30, 2026.
Watch Out for Scams
A court-appointed administrator never charges a fee to release a class action payment and will not ask for banking passwords or a "processing payment" by text or phone. Use only the official settlement website linked on this page. Property managers and large employers keep producing settlements on similar terms — the Community Realty Management settlement and the Americold settlement are two open examples. For a wider view, see our roundup of open data breach settlements and our explainer on how a data breach class action works.Official Settlement Notice
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