What could possibly make the Surfside
condo collapse even more tragic? A fight over money.
Survivors and heirs are at odds over who is entitled to
what, who is to blame for the collapse that killed 98 people
and how to fairly divide money from insurance, lawsuits and
charitable contributions. It’s an agonizing situation on top
of a horrific one. How do you measure loss of life versus
loss of property? How do you balance those things in a court
of law? When everything about this is unfair, how can there
ever be a just outcome?
In the days after the June 24 disaster, we all watched in
anguish as the death count mounted at Champlain Towers
South. In adversity and grief, we pulled together — in Miami
and far beyond. We talked about the diversity of the
occupants of the building, we marveled at “Surfside Strong”
and offered heartfelt gratitude for searchers who risked
their lives in the wreckage — even as we prayed for
miracles.
Mediators try to decide
Six months later, as reported by the Miami Herald, neighbors
have turned against neighbors. The debate about dividing up
the money has turned ugly, with a judge and mediators being
asked to make decisions that no one should have to make.
There is some hope of making progress, but there are
arguments on both sides that are hard to disregard. Some of
those who lost their homes but survived the collapse say the
money should be split up by the size of the apartment they
lost. Others say the appraisals of the apartments are
hundreds of thousands of dollars too low and have asked for
a new appraisal. There are hard feelings about the way
charitable contributions are being divided, and some
relatives of renters who died are blaming owners. One group
of family members says surviving condo owners should get
nothing and should be held liable for damages because they
didn’t maintain the building. The agony — and anger — is
palpable. One survivor recounted being plucked from his
balcony by a ladder truck. Another said she gets panic
attacks on elevators. Raysa Rodriguez told the Herald she
helped three people, including her 90-year-old disabled
neighbor, and a puppy get out of the building. Now she’s
homeless, she said, and doesn’t understand why some of the
relatives “want to take every penny from us — and blame us
too.” ‘Nothing to negotiate’ For those who lost someone in
the collapse, the situation is equally black and white, but
with the opposite conclusion. Pablo Langesfeld, the father
of a 26-year-old lawyer and newlywed who died with her
husband, said there is “nothing to negotiate, nothing to
compromise on. All money should go to the relatives of the
innocent victims.”
It doesn’t help that some survivors have found themselves
renting apartments in a market where rents are becoming
ludicrously high. They can’t come close to matching their
previous lifestyle in the oceanfront building that fell
down. It’s clear that there will never be enough money to
compensate for the losses in this case. Lawyers on all sides
and the judge overseeing lawsuits in the case have said as
much. The pain is too great, the damages too much. But
dragging this out for years will only deepen the wounds and
entrench the bitterness. In the new year, we wish the
lawyers and mediators and judge in this terrible case the
wisdom to find a middle ground that will give those left
behind some some small measure of peace and, with it, the
ability to go on.