According to a lawsuit, tenants of the Bronx who were compelled to seek refuge in homeless shelters after a fire ripped through their apartment building say that their landlord has not yet repaired their fire-damaged flats even though it has been nearly six months since the incident.
A fire broke out on September 13, 2022 at 2490 Davidson Avenue in Fordham Manor, and a group of twelve people who lived in rent-stabilized units have filed a lawsuit against the owners of the building. Seven of the plaintiffs were forced to seek refuge in nearby shelters.
Following the fire, the city issued orders for the tenants to leave their units, and according to the lawsuit that was submitted to the housing court last month, the residents are demanding that their landlords carry out the necessary renovations to make it safe for them to move back in.
The Legal Aid Society, which has filed the lawsuit on behalf of the residents, asserts in the document that the owners have overlooked potentially dangerous conditions at the building, which is currently facing 260 housing code infractions.
NYC Residents Forced Into Homeless Shelters After Apartment Fire Sue Landlord Six Months After Blaze
According to a lawsuit, tenants of the Bronx who were compelled to seek refuge in homeless shelters after a fire ripped through their apartment building say that their landlord has not yet repaired their fire-damaged flats even though it has been nearly six months since the incident.
A fire broke out on September 13, 2022 at 2490 Davidson Avenue in Fordham Manor, and a group of twelve people who lived in rent-stabilized units have filed a lawsuit against the owners of the building. Seven of the plaintiffs were forced to seek refuge in nearby shelters.
Following the fire, the city issued orders for the tenants to leave their units, and according to the lawsuit that was submitted to the housing court last month, the residents are demanding that their landlords carry out the necessary renovations to make it safe for them to move back in.
The Legal Aid Society, which has filed the lawsuit on behalf of the residents, asserts in the document that the owners have overlooked potentially dangerous conditions at the building, which is currently facing 260 housing code infractions.
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A class action lawsuit was been lodged by a group of twelve former residents of 2490 Davidson Avenue.
According to the allegations made in the filing, the claimed negligence caused several families to get trapped within the burning building due to the fact that an emergency door was kept closed.
According to the lawsuit, regarding the tenants, it was stated that “many, if not all, suffered some degree of smoke inhalation.” “Petitioners believed they would be unable to flee the burning building and would be consumed by the flames.”
In addition to this, it states that “This terrifying experience, which was caused by respondents’ egregious negligence, traumatised those families, the repercussions of which are still being felt today.”
The claim describes how the locking of an emergency exit caused a large number of families to get entrapped within.
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According to the court documents, one of the residents who was locked in the apartment claimed that it took ten people, including firefighters, to pry open the door.
According to the accusations made in the lawsuit, the building owners have neglected to perform maintenance on the boiler, maintain the external wall, repaint the halls, repair poor plaster in the hallways, and restore a malfunctioning intercom in the common areas of the buildings.
According to the court documents, the apartments where the residents were forced to leave need extensive renovations before they can be considered safe enough for the occupants to go back into them.
Yolanda Vicente, a resident of the area for the past 18 years, has been forced to take refuge at a shelter since the fire. She asserts that the landlords often neglected significant maintenance issues, such as replacing the boiler and eradicating mould from the property.
In a statement that was distributed by the Legal Aid Society on Tuesday, Vicente was quoted as saying, “When the fire happened in September, our apartment was entirely damaged, and we lost everything.”
She asserts that the landlords guaranteed the evicted tenants that they may return to their homes within a period of six months. However, she visited her flat in January, and there was no evidence that any repairs had been started.
“I am frustrated that the repair work has not even begun, and the landlord has not supplied or offered any other support to us,” Vincente said. “Living in the shelter has been very difficult for my family, and I am frustrated that the shelter itself has not been renovated.”
In 2014, the building was accepted into the Alternative Enforcement Program for severely distressed structures that is administered by Housing and Urban Development. Since then, it has remained in that programme.
According to the documents that were submitted to the court, the HPD has also filed a second lawsuit against the landlords for failing to provide essential utilities such as heat and hot water and for failing to remediate lead paint.
According to a statement released by Legal Aid attorney Jason Hadley, “The landlords’ inability to make repairs at 2490 Davidson Ave. has not only had an impact on our clients’ quality of life, but has literally put their lives at risk and inflicted irreparable emotional injury,” the statement read.
“We now seek a court order to force the landlords to expedite needed repairs, allowing them to return back to their homes, and demonstrating to the court that they are capable of properly maintaining the building going forward,”
“We now seek a court order to force the landlords to expedite needed repairs,” “We now seek a court order to force the landlords to expedit
A civil lawsuit has been filed against the owners Shkurt Dedvukaj and Paul Dedvukaj, as well as Creston Real Estate Advisors Inc. and 2490 Properties LLC, seeking undisclosed damages.
The requests for comments that were sent to Paul Dedvukaj and Creston were not immediately fulfilled. Both Shkrut Dedvukaj and 2490 Properties could not be reached for comment right away.
