$18M Church St. South Settlement OK’d

A state judge Friday granted final approval for an $18.75 million class-action settlement that will provide up to $20,000 each to hundreds of tenants displaced from the mold-infested former Church Street South apartment complex across from Union Station.

Her decision marks the end of a four-and-a-half-year legal battle spearheaded by a local civil rights attorney and tenants of the now-demolished former apartment complex, who through years of advocacy succeeded in making their former landlord pay for subjecting them to dangerous living conditions.

State Superior Court Judge Linda Lager issued that final approval Friday morning during a virtual court hearing in the case Personna Noble Et Al v. Northland Investment Corporation Et Al.

The roughly 45-minute hearing was held online via the state judicial system’s YouTube video livestream.

Lager told the roughly half-dozen lawyers present on the virtual call that she found ​“adequate and reasonable” the case’s second amended settlement, submitted by local attorney David Rosen and representatives from the Massachusetts-based landlord Northland Investment Corp. in October.

Under the terms of the settlement, qualifying former tenants will receive up to $20,000 each, depending on how long they lived at the former complex after December 2013. They’ll also be eligible for additional payments from a $2.65 million pool included in the settlement for ​“enhanced injuries” if they demonstrate to a panel of special masters that they suffered serious mold-related injuries or property damage during their residence. And they will get preferential rights to rent affordable apartments at any new housing complex that Northland builds at the currently vacant 13-acre Union Avenue site, if the landlord chooses to rebuild.

“My own view is that it’s an excellent result for the class and it does not represent in any sense a discount on some amount that people would be entitled to” should former tenants have pursued legal action again Northland outside of the class action agreement, Rosen said during the hearing.

Northland attorney Henry Sullivan agreed

“We would only join Mr. Rosen’s comment with respect to our appreciation for the court and its guidance throughout the case,” Sullivan said, ​“and in particular with helping us to reach the resolution and the settlement that your honor is considering today. We want to thank you for your patience. We know it’s been a long case, and we appreciate everything you’ve done to make this happen.”

Rosen’s firm will receive $2.85 million in attorney fees — which is roughly one-seventh of the overall approved settlement plus around $200,000 in other out-of-pocket costs. Rosen said that his firm’s hourly billings for their four-plus years of working on the case already exceed the amount they’re set to receive in fees.

“We feel comfortable that we have in this very important respect been fair to the class members,” he said.

In a brief written order filed by the judge on Friday, Lager wrote the final settlement ​“is the result of intensive, informed, arms-length negotiations conducted by the parties with the assistance of a capable and highly experienced mediator; does not improperly grant preferential treatment to any individual or segment of the Settlement Class; does not exhibit any signs of collusion, explicit or subtle; and is ​‘fair, adequate and reasonable’ as provided by Practice Book § 9 – 9(c)(1)(A).”

Lager promised during Friday’s hearing that this brief order will be followed by ​“a longer memorandum that more fully addresses” the now-approved settlement in greater detail.

“Nearly 80%” Of Eligible Tenants Signed Up So Far

Rosen and a handful of former Church Street South tenants first filed the class action suit against Northland in October 2016. The tenants sought monetary damages for the respiratory problems, skin disorders, migraines, loss of furniture, dislocation and homelessness allegedly related to the chronic disrepair at the now-razed former 301-unit complex. Northland, the former complex’s landlord, has denied all charges.

With the help of court-appointed mediator Jonathan Silbert, Rosen and his clients reached the $18.75 million settlement with Northland in early March of last year. 

Just days later, the Covid-19 pandemic hit, largely shuttering the state court system and causing months’ worth of delays in bringing the case to a close.

On Friday, Lager said that a positive development to come from those pandemic-induced delays was a series of updates to the settlement — including the simplification of the notice process and the creation of a trust for minors and disabled class members. She described the second amended settlement as a ​“considerably more refined document” than the first.

Rosen said Friday that 743 of the 955 former residents who, according to Northland’s own list of authorized residents, lived at Church Street South during the class period between December 2013 and December 2016, have already submitted claims to the settlement administrator to participate in this now-approved settlement.

“That’s nearly 80 percent,” he said. ​“Which seems to me intuitively to be a very large showing.” He said that a representative from the settlement administrator, JND Legal Administration, told him that it was the ​“highest percentage he’s ever seen.”

“That reflects to our mind that, first, the notice has been thus far very effective. And second, that the class action settlement is fair to the residents and class members and former residents of Church Street South.”

Rosen also said that no eligible class members have so far spoken up in formal opposition to or rejection of the settlement.

“There are no opt-out requests or objections,” he said, ​“which to our mind is a very significant fact indeed.”

Lager praised all of the participants in the case — including the legal adversaries on both sides, the court-appointed mediator, the ​“special masters” charged with reviewing settlement claims related to enhanced payments, the trustee for child and disabled member payouts — for their professionalism and dedication.

“This has been the effort, I believe, of a village,” Lager said. ​“Of a community. And not simply of a single lawyer or superior court judge.”

Rosen also singled out for praise attorneys with the New Haven Legal Assistance Association (NHLAA), who have played such a key role in advocating for and representing former Church Street South tenants during and after their move-out from the now-demolished complex.

“None of this would have been possible without the New Haven Legal Assistance Association’s work over the last years,” Rosen said after the hearing. ​“They are really the leaders in protecting low-income residents in New Haven in housing and so many other issues.”

When asked after the hearing how he is feeling at the culmination of this four-and-a-half-year legal case, Rosen said, ​“It feels to me as through we have been able to help some people who really need and really deserve help. And that is about as good as it gets for a lawyer.”

So. What Happens Now?

Now that the settlement has been approved, Rosen said, all eligible class members (that is, people who lived at Church Street South for any amount of time between Dec. 19, 2013 and Dec. 19, 2016) have to get in touch with JND Administration.

According to JND’s court filing on Thursday, a total of 872 unique individuals have submitted claims so far: 743 who were on the Northland list of authorized tenants, and another 129 who were not on the Northland list but who claim they lived at the complex during that time period. JND also wrote that they have received 294 unique claims for enhanced payments related to mold-related injuries.

Anyone interested in getting in touch with the settlement administrator about the Church Street South class action settlement can do so by going to this website, or by emailing .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), or by calling 1 – 833-900‑1643.

Rosen said that the deadline for applying for a base payment related to the settlement is in early April.

He said that eligible class members should start getting paid through the settlement as early as ​“April or May.”

Probate Court will also play a significant role in what’s to come, as that court will monitor the trust that has been established for qualifying class members who are children and disabled. The city’s probate court held a hearing Friday afternoon to formalize the arrangement described in the settlement approved Friday morning.

More info on related issues, organizations:


• New Haven Homelessness Fact Check
• Why Is Homelessness Such A Problem In U.S. Cities?
• Connecticut Coalition To End Homelessness
• National Alliance To End Homelessness
• Alliance for Community Empowerment
• Community Wealth Building
• Community Development Corporations


Previous coverage of Church Street South:

• $18.7M Settlement Preliminarily Approved
• Slowed By Covid, Church St. South Settlement Advances
• ​“I’m Feeling Good. Thankful. Blessed”
• $18M Church St. South Settlement Reached
• From Ashes Of Disaster, A Challenge Arises
• Judge Weighs Class Action Argument
• Judge Spares Church Street South’s Shell Corporations
• Spin Doctor Hired To Rebut Asthma Link
• Northland: Disaster Not Our Fault
• Church Street South Taxes Cut 20%
• The Tear-Down Begins
• Finally Empty, Church Street South Ready To Disappear
• Northland’s Insurer Sues To Stop Paying
•Who Broke Church Street South?
•Amid Destruction, Last Tenant Holds On
• Survey: 48% Of Complex’s Kids Had Asthma
• Families Relocated After Ceiling Collapses
• Housing Disaster Spawns 4 Lawsuits
• 20 Last Families Urged To Move Out
• Church St. South Refugees Fight Back
• Church St. South Transfers 82 Section 8 Units
• Tenants Seek A Ticket Back Home
• City Teams With Northland To Rebuild
• Church Street South Tenants’ Tickets Have Arrived
• Church Street South Demolition Begins
• This Time, Harp Gets HUD Face Time
• Nightmare In 74B
• Surprise! Now HUD Flunks Church St. South
• Church St. South Tenants Get A Choice
• Home-For-Xmas? Not Happening
• Now It’s Christmas, Not Thanksgiving
• Pols Enlist In Church Street South Fight
• Raze? Preserve? Or Renew?
• Church Street South Has A Suitor
• Northland Faces Class-Action Lawsuit On Church Street South
• First Attempt To Help Tenants Shuts Down
• Few Details For Left-Behind Tenants
• HUD: Help’s Here. Details To Follow
• Mixed Signals For Church Street South Families
• Church St. South Families Displaced A 2nd Time — For Yale Family Weekend
• Church Street South Getting Cleared Out
• 200 Apartments Identified For Church Street South Families
• Northland Asks Housing Authority For Help
• Welcome Home
• Shoddy Repairs Raise Alarm — & Northland Offer
• Northland Gets Default Order — & A New Offer
• HUD, Pike Step In
• Northland Ordered To Fix Another 17 Roofs
• Church Street South Evacuees Crammed In Hotel
• Church Street South Endgame: Raze, Rebuild
• Harp Blasts Northland, HUD
• Flooding Plagues Once-Condemned Apartment
• Church Street South Hit With 30 New Orders
• Complaints Mount Against Church Street South
• City Cracks Down On Church Street South, Again
• Complex Flunks Fed Inspection, Rakes In Fed $$
• Welcome Home — To Frozen Pipes
• City Spotted Deadly Dangers; Feds Gave OK
• No One Called 911 | ​“Hero” Didn’t Hesitate
• ​“New” Church Street South Goes Nowhere Fast
• Church Street South Tenants Organize