Hoping to avoid a bitter and lengthy battle over money by victims, a judge on Wednesday said a mediator will be named to sort through claims arising from the collapse of a Florida condominium that killed 98 people.
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Surfside, Florida, Congress woman Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz on marking 3-month anniversary of condo collapse. |
The 12-story Champlain Towers South beachfront condominium
collapsed without warning in the early morning hours of June
24, burying victims and property in a heap of tangled
rubble. The cause has not yet been determined, but the
building needed millions of dollars in critical structural
repairs before it fell.
The site, slightly less than 2 acres (0.8 hectares), is
already under a sales contract for $120 million. The
property will be put out for bid to find out if there are
other interested buyers who might pay more.
Still, there likely won't be nearly enough to fully
compensate everyone for their losses. The mediator, once
appointed, would be tasked with reaching a fair deal for all
victims, attorneys said.
“We're going to work very hard to get this done,” said
Ricardo Martinez-Cid, one of the lawyers representing
wrongful death victims. “Hopefully it will be to the benefit
of all victims.”
Hanzman said he was contacting Miami attorney Bruce W.
Greer, who has extensive experience in mediation, to handle
the matter. Greer did not immediately respond Wednesday to
an email asking whether he will accept.
“It’s going to be time consuming and difficult,” Hanzman
said. “This is one of those situations where there is going
to have to be compromise.”
One outcome all sides hope to avoid is requiring condo
owners to pay an assessment to cover claims in excess of the
money available through the property sale, insurance or
lawsuit payouts. Florida law appears to mandate that but
it's unclear if it applies to this disaster, court-appointed
receiver Michael Goldberg said.
“It may apply. I am not absolutely certain,” Goldberg said.
“If it does apply, it may have significant impact.”
One other potential source of money is from the state or
federal governments. Talks are ongoing over such issues as
forgiveness of property taxes, mortgages and other forms of
compensation.
Hanzman repeated that victim claims are likely to far exceed
the amount of money available.
“These people are going to be left with significant
shortfalls,” the judge said, adding that he wants to avoid a
protracted legal battle. “Everybody who suffered a loss here
is a victim. Everybody will have a right to be heard.”