A south Florida jury
has awarded $5.5 million to a woman who sued her condominium
association after years of water infiltration and mold that
the woman blamed for the death of her longtime domestic
partner in 2021.
The Broward County jury found that Ever April Apartments in
Pompano Beach had failed to remediate the mold and water
damage, causing harm to resident Cheryl Jakab.
Her lawyer, Robert McKee, of Davie, Florida, told the South
Florida Sun Sentinel newspaper that the evidence from
unrepaired water leaks, through exterior walls and into the
apartment, was substantial. At one point, a hole was punched
into Jakab’s wall and water came pouring out, he said.
An environmental testing firm hired by Jakab found
“significant airborne concentrations of harmful mold
spores,” the lawsuit complaint reads. “Defendant still did
nothing.”
The plaintiff said she repeatedly notified the apartment
management about the problems. In 2021, her partner, Joao
Rodrigues, died.
An example of extensive mold spread on
walls.
“Rodrigues died due to the inability to fight his brain
cancer which arose during the exposures,” the suit argued.
“The exposures arose in substantial part due to exposures
within the premises on good and products intended for bodily
consumption, including air, water, food, furniture and other
exposure sources.”
The couple had lived in the unit since 1996.
The lack of repairs breached the apartment’s contract with
its co-op owners, the complaint reads. Jakab will require
medical monitoring for years due to the mold, it notes.
Jakab eventually found new living arrangements, in another
unit in the building, but had to expend considerable sums on
that and on remediation after the damage was first noted in
2020, notes the complaint, which had asked for more than $30
million in damages. The apartment complex is a cooperative
association. Unlike a conventional condo association, in
which residents own their units, a co-op allows residents to
own a share of the property, the newspaper reported.
An answer to the complaint by the defendants was not
available in the court file. The court documents also do not
indicate how the apartment owners may be insured. No insurer
was named in the court record, and Ever April has not filed
suit against an insurance carrier in Broward County.
Jakab’s attorney told the newspaper that he hopes the
verdict will remind homeowner associations that they are
obligated to maintain their buildings and protect residents.