Apartment Tenants Prevail In Mold Case

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Apartment Tenants Prevail In Mold Case

by Realty Times Staff

Attorney Court B. Purdy of Newport Beach (along with Co-Counsel F.

LaFave of San Diego) represented an Orange County family who became ill as a

result of exposure to toxic mold in their home. Today, Purdy and LaFave

announced that the case has settled for a total of $900,000.00.

Purdy and LaFave represented Celmer and her three boys (,

and Casey) in a lawsuit against the former owner of their apartment complex

( and Helen Kotob of Los Angeles), the current owner of the complex

(KDF North Hills of Orange County), the Property Manager (VPM Incorporated)

and the Remediation Contractor (Rainbow Contractors, Inc. of Orange County).

The Celmer family first moved into the North Hills apartments in Anaheim in

December of 1995. They did not notice any problems for the first couple of

years until water intrusion started to occur which resulted in hidden mold

growth and musty smells. The family became sicker and sicker without knowing

the cause of their injuries and eventually they all developed respiratory

conditions, including asthma, allergies and other symptoms. The mother,

Celmer, developed the most severe injuries, including serious skin

rashes. Eventually, the Celmers had to move out of the house because of the

Defendants' failure to remediate the mold growth and eliminate the moisture

causing it.

The lawsuit was filed in Superior Court in Orange County before Judge

C. Velasquez. The Celmers eventually settled at a mediation before Judge

and the settlement was recently approved by the Court. The

settlement resolves all claims of the Plaintiffs and a significant portion

of the money was used to purchase annuities to protect the children

regarding future medical expenses. Regarding the settlement, LaFave stated,

" We are quite happy with the settlement as it compensates our clients for

the ordeal they had to go through and guarantees the children and

will have the ability to pay for future medical care. We also hope that this

settlement sends a signal to landlords and property managers to treat water

damage and mold growth issues seriously and to remedy these kind of problems

quickly so that children and adults alike will not be made sick in the

future. "

For additional information, contact:

Counsel for Plaintiffs, Court B. Purdy, Esq., Wentworth, Paoli and Purdy,

4631 Teller Avenue, Suite 100, Newport Beach, CA 92660, telephone number

(949) 752-7711, fax number (949) 752-8339;

Co-Counsel for Plaintiffs, F. LaFave, Esq., LaFave & Rice, 2333 1st

Ave., Suite 201, San Diego, CA 92101, telephone number (619) 525-3918, fax

number (619)233-5089;

Counsel for Defendant, KDF North Hills, Baker, Esq., McCormick,

Siepler & Baker, 500 N. Brand Blvd., Suite 500, Glendale, CA 92103,

telephone number (818) 224-6600, facsimile (818) 547-6522;

Counsel for Defendant, Rainbow Contractors, Inc., Tom , Esq., Pivo

Halbreich, Cahill & Yim LLP, 1920 Main St., Suite 800, Irvine, CA 92614,

telephone number (949) 253-2000, facsimile (949) 253-2099;

and Counsel for Defendants, and Helen Kotob, Bondy Dunn, Esq.,

Wood Henning & Berman LLP, 801 S. Figueroa St., Suite 900, Los

Angeles, CA 90017, telephone number (213) 622-9300, fax number (213)

622-9394.

Published: August 13, 2002