Record $1.3 million judgement in SR housing unit

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Record $1.3 million judgement in SR housing unit

Landlords, property manager appeal decision involving health risks

of mold in apartment

Tuesday, July 26, 2005

By MARY FRICKER

THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?

AID=/20050726/NEWS/507260305/1033/NEWS01

JOHN BURGESS / PD

, 8, plays in a backyard castle while his mother, Tina

entertains 18-month-old daughter Alisa in their rental duplex

in south Santa .

Zoom Photo

A Santa family who lived in a mold-plagued apartment and their

lawyers will split $1.3 million in the most expensive substandard

housing verdict in Sonoma County history.

Sonoma County Superior Court Judge Knoel Owen approved $643,435 in

fees for the family's attorneys Monday. Earlier this year, a jury

awarded $694,550 to tenant Tina and her 8-year-old son, .

The jury unanimously agreed that two Tiburon landlords and a Santa

property manager, Molln Properties, knowingly rented an

apartment to the that was a health hazard. Jurors agreed the

defendants refused to make repairs and retaliated when Tina

asked for help.

" Nobody deserves to live in that kind of environment, " said

Byers, jury foreman for the four-week trial.

The property owners and Molln Properties have appealed the verdict,

saying in court documents that the award was excessive. They said

the conditions in the apartment were mainly Tina ' fault. In

addition, they contended testimony that the mold and cockroaches

affected the ' health was scientifically unreliable.

They declined to discuss the case because it is under appeal.

" The amount of the verdict alone demonstrates that the jury was

motivated by passion and prejudice, (and) did not listen to the

evidence, " Santa attorney wrote in her argument

supporting the appeal.

She also said it was unfair to conduct the trial without the

presence of property owners Ann and ph Colletto, whose poor

health prevented them from attending.

" On a good day " the case had a reasonable value of $20,000 to

$40,000, said.

Most of the jurors disagreed, awarding $694,550 to compensate

for living in an unhealthy apartment plagued by mold for more than

three years, Byers said. Three jurors voted for a lesser amount. The

award did not include punitive damages.

Payment is postponed until resolution of the appeal, which could

take more than a year, said Santa attorney Edie Sussman, who

represented the es.

The $1.3 million award is a record in a county where landlords are

paying increasingly large jury awards and legal settlements in

response to charges they rented substandard housing.

It has spurred several industry seminars to help landlords

adequately remediate mold, Santa attorneys said.

Tina and moved into the 18-unit apartment complex at

2807 Ventura Ave. in Santa in August 1999.

, 41, had worked in the hospitality and grocery industries for

20 years, she said. In 1999, she was recovering from treatment for

malignant melanoma, a cancer that was being kept in check with

chemotherapy.

She said she told Molln Properties she needed a clean, quiet place

to heal. She loved the Ventura Avenue apartment because it had a big

patio, a tree and a fenced yard, where then-3-year-old could

play safely.

" I thought it was going to be real peaceful for me, " said.

The were Section 8 tenants, who receive assistance under a

federal subsidy program. The federal government helped to pay their

rent because Tina couldn't work. The two-bedroom unit rented for

$795, later raised to $890. said she paid about half and

taxpayers paid about half.

Soon after the moved in, black mold began to cover the newly

painted walls and spread throughout the apartment, in spite of

repeated scrubbings with bleach, Tina said. Later she learned

that earlier tenants complained of the same problems, as have

tenants who came after her, according to court testimony.

Dishes and knickknacks sprouted mold, testified. Bedding was

damp each morning. The floor buckled. The rug was wet. Furniture and

clothes rotted. A sump pump under the house rumbled day and night,

pumping water that collected under the complex. Walls weren't

insulated. Cockroaches thrived.

developed asthma, and Tina grew a fungus on her lungs -

illnesses unrelated to the conditions in the apartment, according to

Molln Properties.

When Tina pleaded for repairs, Molln Properties told her to

clean more often, move her furniture away from the wall and use

fans, according to court documents. They said using hot water in the

bathroom was causing the moisture inside the apartment. They said

she had too much furniture to allow proper ventilation.

complained about the conditions to city officials.

" My cozy little home has become a nightmare, " wrote city

officials in a five-page letter in March 2000. " Please send someone

out here to see the damage this has caused. Please. "

City housing officials later said they didn't understand in 2000 the

problems that mold could cause. They said they didn't want to force

to move because Section 8 housing was in short supply, and

they thought she and Molln Properties would jointly find a solution.

said she tried to find another apartment, but demand for

Section 8 housing far exceeded supply and waiting lists were long.

At the same time, she kept thinking Molln Properties would fix the

problems, she said.

Santa attorney Phil , who represents the Collettos and

Molln Properties, said had alternatives she chose not to use,

such as her mother's home.

When her complaints grew more insistent, Molln Properties threatened

to evict her, said, which could have meant the loss of her

Section 8 assistance. The jury later called this retaliation.

Finally, in November 2002, heard of another Santa

apartment through a friend, where she lives happily today with

and her 17-month-old daughter, Alisa.

She went to see Sussman on the advice of Fair Housing of Sonoma

County, a Santa nonprofit that works on housing issues, because

she wanted the Collettos and Molln Properties to replace belongings

she said had rotted from mold.

" She wasn't even asking for compensation. She just wanted her

belongings replaced, " juror Byers said.