Tenant Class Action Lawsuits
If you are a tenant of a large apartment facing issues in your rental unit, you may not be the only one. Your neighbors could be experiencing the same issues. If so, you may be eligible for a tenant class action lawsuit.
What is a tenants class action lawsuit?
A class action lawsuit is a lawsuit in which a group of people, such as tenants of the same building or property, experience the same or similar consequences as a result of the same wrongful action. The purpose of a class action lawsuit, rather than an individual one, is to increase the strength of the lawsuit. Many individual experiences may not be worth enough to support a lawsuit, but when there are multiple people and experiences combined together, the value of the lawsuit can grow significantly. For this reason, class action lawsuits generally require a large number of people.
There must be a commonality between the claims of the class members. Class action lawsuits are concerned with uniform issues. This means that liability can be determined for all group members with a single large presentation of facts rather than multiple small ones. However, due to the large scale complexity of class actions, very few cases end up going to trial. Many class action lawsuits almost always reach a negotiated resolution outside of court for both parties. In class action lawsuits, each member of the group receives some form of payment if and when resolved.
What are some examples?
General habitability cases such as bug infestation, defective heating systems, and leaks are generally not suitable for tenant class actions because not every tenant experiences the same extent of problems. For example, one may have bed bugs, but another may have ceiling leaks.
Some common housing issues that typically do qualify for tenant class actions are:
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Multi-unit repair cases - when owner fails to repair common areas of the building
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Wrongful evictions from multiple units
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Illegal and unwarranted units
Note: This is not an extensive list. Many other housing circumstances can also warrant a class action lawsuit.
If you are experiencing issues regarding this matter or are unsure of your rights as a tenant, please do not hesitate to reach out to the Tenants Law Firm as our attorneys are here to assist you. Contact us by filling out our online intake form here. We are here to help you.