“These people, many of whom are elderly and disabled, were living across from a grocery store, very close to the hospital and close to other amenities such as hair salons, dry cleaners, post office, things like that. Many of those services were within walking distance, and then after the flood, they were placed in some pretty shabby apartments in a location where none of the services they had relied upon were available to them without hiring a cab or an Uber or relying on friends or family to take them.” Eric Artrip
Barbara Young’s health deteriorated after her downtown Huntsville apartment complex flooded in August, according to a lawsuit residents filed last week against the developer, management company, and plumbing contractor.
Gateway Apartments renters Sherry Webb and Gene Riggs joined Young in filing a lawsuit against developer Huntsville Senior Housing LP, plumbing contractor Lee Company, and management company Integral Group, LLC. The lawsuit seeks to become a class-action to represent all residents.
“We are aware of the lawsuit that has been filed, and do not comment on active litigation,” Richard White, Integral’s senior vice president for corporate communications, wrote in an email to AL.com. Both Huntsville Senior and Lee did not immediately respond to requests for comments for this story.
According to the lawsuit, Young once lived independently at Gateway and paid $939 a month in rent, but is now paying multiple times more at an assisted living home.
“As the months passed, Young’s health began to decline noticeably due to the stress and instability of the situation,” the lawsuit said. “Her condition deteriorated so significantly that her family…was required to move her into an assisted living facility, where she now pays $4,300 per month, more than four times what she previously paid at Gateway.”
Gateway, an 86-unit apartment complex subsidized by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, offers affordable options to eligible seniors 62 years and older, many of whom are disabled. It is affiliated with the Huntsville Housing Authority.
The lawsuit accused Lee Company of failing “to fully tighten an aluminum worm gear hose clamp” which led to the pipe bursting.
Following the flooding, management put residents in extended-stay motels, which increased their cost of living and created added difficulty, the brief said.
To maintain their apartments, Gateway’s management required residents to continue paying rent while not on the property, the lawsuit added.
“They were required to continue to pay rent for the apartment, and were told that if they did not continue to pay rent, they would lose their place, that they would rent the apartment out from under them when it was refurbished or repaired,” Eric Artrip, one of the attorneys that filed the lawsuit, told AL.com.
“Many of these people are involved in a lease situation where they can’t leave without incurring penalties and we’re asking for those leases to be reformed so as to allow them to leave without penalties if they choose to do so.” Artrip added. “Obviously many of these people have continued having to pay rent even in an apartment they haven’t been in for six months and we don’t think that’s appropriate.”
Apart from the loss of irreplaceable belongings like family pictures and heirloom pieces, that there was no renters’ insurance requirement means many residents have no means of replacing other properties that the flood destroyed, Artrip said.
“So it’s really offensive to us that they have never received an offer of recompense for the monetary loss that they’ve suffered,” he added.
“These people, many of whom are elderly and disabled, were living across from a grocery store, very close to the hospital and close to other amenities such as hair salons, dry cleaners, post office, things like that,” Artrip added. “Many of those services were within walking distance, and then after the flood, they were placed in some pretty shabby apartments in a location where none of the services they had relied upon were available to them without hiring a cab or an Uber or relying on friends or family to take them.”
The residents are asking for a full return on the rent they paid while they lived outside the apartment complex, an experience the lawsuit described as “a long and grueling nightmare.”
“The displaced Residents, all of whom were elderly, and many of whom are disabled, and without family support, struggled to find stable accommodations and were forced to move repeatedly between temporary housing arrangements,” the lawsuit said. “Those with medical needs were particularly affected, as the lack of stability disrupted their access to necessary care, medications, and daily living essentials.”
The plaintiffs are also asking for compensation for damaged property, emotional distress and hardship, and an accounting of money allegedly wrongly collected by the management.
