San Francisco Injury Lawyer Blog

CitiApartments, owned by the Lembi family, will be facing yet another lawsuit according to KTVU.com. The news site reports that Rory Moore (62) recently died when she fell through a flight of rotting stairs in her apartment building. The three story fall left her with serious kidney damage, which caused her death after weeks in intensive care. Tenants said they previously complained about the state of the stairs. One resident even fell through the stairs before the Moore incident. The resident said that after he complained the landlords responded by bolstering that particular stair only.

Skyline Realty, a real estate company that does business under many names, including CitiApartments has seen a dizzying list of complaints. From news articles like The Scumlords: Neglect and Despair, which appeared in the San Francisco Bay Guardian, to outraged Yelp reviews to lawsuits and complaints to the San Francisco Tenant’s Union the company has been facing bad press for years.

CitiApartments has been involved in at least 56 lawsuits in San Francisco Superior Court since 2003. One of those lawsuits was brought by city attorney Dennis Herrera in 2006 for “unlawful, unfair and fraudulent business practices” relating to the management of multiple properties in San Francisco. The city's complaint alleged that CitiApartments was using intimidation tactics to convince residents with rent controlled apartments to move, so the company could upgrade the apartments and raise rent. It also cited violations for blocking entry to home care providers, illegally entering and inspecting apartments, and carrying out construction work that did not meet the Department of Building Inspection’s standards. The city successfully brought the suit to a close in March, 2011 with a settlement that imposed up to 10 million dollars in fines on CitiApartments. The settlement also placed an injunction on CitiApartments from further conducting the unfair business practices named in the complaint. City Attorney Dennis Herrera specifically stated in a press release that CitiApartments must respond to tenants’ request for repairs within 72 hours, which appears to be disputed in the case of Rory Moore.

The Great Recession of 2008 took a heavy toll on CitiApartments forcing it to declare bankruptcy and to give up many of its over-leveraged properties. According to an SF Examiner story, tenants did not complain much of intimidation tactics after the city’s lawsuit, but did complain about electricity and gas shut offs that occurred because CitiApartments had not paid its bills to PG&E, as happened to other property management companies during the recession. Tenants had to pay or negotiate with PG&E themselves or live without light and heat, unsure when service would be restored. In addition, many former tenants have complained that CitiApartments illegally kept their security deposits, citing flimsy reasons to keep the deposits when tenants moved out or simply saying the company was insolvent and could not pay the security deposit.

The bulk of CitiApartments bad press flooded out from 2006 to 2010, but this latest accident brings complaints about CitiApartments unfair business practices and the poor state of many of its properties to the fore once again.

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According a report in The Oakland Tribune, a poorly constructed chimney was the likely cause of a fire in West Oakland that left at least three residents unable to return to their homes. A home fire is tragic at any time but is especially difficult to imagine as the holidays approach. As your Oakland property damage lawyers, the Brod Law Firm believes in helping residents recover after such an untimely event.

The fire sparked in the early morning hours of Tuesday December 6 in a West Oakland duplex. The home, a Victorian-style two-story located at 30th and Chestnut, had recently been remodeled with an apartment on each floor. In addition to displacing three residents, the fire caused at least $30,000 in damages. According to the reports, the fire was caused by faulty chimney construction. The chimney had been built without a flue and the fire started after the upper-level residents used the fireplace in their unit. The embers from the fireplace were unable to exit and sparked a fire in the attic that then spread to the roof. Luckily, no one was injured and a team of twenty firefighters were able to control and extinguish the flames.

Every accident has its own story. Part of the reason you should always seek out an Oakland accident attorney when you suffer a physical injury or economic loss due to someone else’s wrongdoing is to be sure you explore the full range of legal claims. Thankfully no injury occurred in the West Oakland fire, but the Brod Law Firm notes several different claims that might arise from a property-related accident, especially one that does result in physical injury. A lawsuit might include claims based on:

• Construction Defects – California law includes specific provisions addressing standards for construction. Construction defects claims can allow a victim to recover repair costs as well as for losses directly resulting from the defect (like the costs of a temporary home in a case such as the fire should the chimney be proven defective).
• Products Liability – Products liability claims arise when a defective product results in injury. Generally, a strict liability rule provides a victim can recover if they can prove a product defect was a substantial factor in the injury. Negligence claims can also arise in the products liability arena where a seller, manufacturer, installer, or other party failed to use reasonable care to prevent an injury stemming from the product.
• Landlord/Tenant Claims – California law requires that landlords maintain rental properties in conditions suitable for occupancy. Landlords also have a duty to maintain the common areas in a property. Where a landlord does not fulfill these duties, they may be subject to a lawsuit for damages stemming from the failure.
• Premises Liability –This body of law protects visitors to a property who are harmed by the property owner or occupier’s failure to make the area safe. If the chimney fire occurred in a business and a customer was harmed, a claim might exist under premises liability principles. These claims can also be made by renters against their landlords

These are just some of the legal principles the Oakland victim’s rights lawyer at the Brod Law Firm would explore with a potential client injured in a property accident. Legal claims can also exist for financial losses in similar cases, like those suffered by the displaced West Oakland residents. When you call our Oakland property accident law firm, you can arrange a free consultation in which our team will help you determine what legal claims might exist to help you recover damages for your losses. Together, we can work to help victims of a property accident receive the money the law allows and move forward after the incident.

See Related Blog Posts:
Reality TV Star Recovering from Falling In San Francisco Apartment Accident
Substandard Living Conditions In San Francisco Force The City To File A Lawsuit

Most people who live in a city have rented an apartment at one time or another. Apartment living is often accompanied by some annoyances. Many renters can share stories about bad experiences in an apartment - from the occasional unwanted mouse to the loud landlord who is constantly renovating other units in the building to an apartment with a broken elevator. The ultimate apartment hardship, however, is being evicted. As our San Francisco apartment lawyer knows, our area has its share of landlord-tenant conflicts. Recently one of San Francisco’s older residents experienced the ultimate rental nightmare, eviction.

As The New York Times reported, 75-year-old Ernesto Hernandez was recently forced out of his apartment by the building’s new owner. Mr. Hernandez had lived in a rent-controlled apartment on Green Street for almost 30 years. He moved into the building in 1982 to live with Richard Whalen, who had already lived there for years. In 2005, the building was sold and purchased by Paul Marino. Mr. Whalen died several years later, and Mr. Hernandez continued to live in the apartment alone.

The original lease had long expired, so Mr. Hernandez rented month to month. State law permits a landlord to institute “house rules” when a tenant is renting month to month. According to the state law, a tenant must comply with the new rule within 30 days. But San Francisco’s local ordinance requires that all parties must agree on the new rule before it goes into effect. Despite the local ordinance, Mr. Marino instituted a new rule that banned subletting. Mr. Hernandez ignored the rule, subletting space in the apartment. After a legal battle that included an appeal, Mr. Hernandez lost. He now lives in downtown hotel for seniors.

San Francisco landlord-tenant conflicts are all too common. Because of chronic housing shortages in the area and an increase in the number of tech jobs, many landlords are tempted to create new rules to drive out rent-controlled tenants, and other tenants paying below market rent. The court decision in Mr. Hernandez’s case shows that landlords have significant legal protection, despite claims to the contrary. Still, San Francisco landlord-tenant law protects renters from unreasonable landlords. For example, building owners must keep rental units in a condition fit for human occupancy, including keeping plumbing and electricity in good working condition. Apartments must also be free of vermin at the time they are rented. And landlords cannot evict tenants themselves, but must use the legal process to remove them.

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Home should be a place where people can be safe, enjoy time with their family, and relax. For too many individuals, however, home is a place filled with potential hazards. This can be especially true for apartment dwellers. Our San Francisco injury attorney has seen many accidents arising from defects in apartment buildings. In San Francisco’s urban environment, many residents encounter problems with dangerous items that are not promptly fixed by building owners. Many of these potentially dangerous items, from water heaters to windows, are beyond the control of the tenant. Despite the fact that renters often inform their landlords of problems that need to be fixed, these requests often go ignored. Common areas, such as entryways, are another source of trouble.

One recent even highlights the dangers often faced by those in their own living space. One of our area’s reality television stars was recently injured in a San Francisco apartment building accident. As MSNBC reported, “The Biggest Loser” contestant Sam Poueu was seriously hurt when he fell off the roof of a four story building at the beginning of September. According to family members, he was attempting to climb down the fire escape after he was locked on the roof of a friend’s apartment. He suffered injuries including damage to his pelvic region, a punctured lung, torn ligaments and a broken leg.

The landlord in this case may not have known that the door to the roof had a problem. Without notice that a tenant or guest could be trapped on the roof, the building owner may not have legal responsibility for an injury caused when a visitor trapped on the roof tried to climb down. In another situation, however, where the landlord was aware that tenants had been locked on the roof before, the landlord might be liable.

Under the traditional rules of landlord-tenant law, landlords have a duty to ensure that common areas are well-maintained. In a lobby, this means the area must be well lit and doors should be secured with working locks. In a building where tenants can use the roof, users should be able to easily enter and exit the roof and safety devices should be in place to keep individuals from accidentally falling off. In the instance where a problem develops, such as a broken light fixture, the landlord has a reasonable amount of time to remedy the problem. If the problem is not corrected within a reasonable period, the landlord can be liable for any subsequent injuries that are caused by the defect.

Continue reading "Reality TV Star Recovering from Falling In San Francisco Apartment Accident" »