Brian Slattery file photo
Church Street South, mid-demolition in 2016.
A state judge has preliminarily approved an $18.75 million settlement that would see hundreds of tenants displaced from the mold-infested former Church Street South apartment complex receive up to $17,000 each.
State Superior Court Judge Linda Lager issued that eight-page preliminary approval Wednesday in the case Personna Noble Et Al v. Northland Investment Corporation Et Al.
It represents the most consequential court ruling in years in a class action suit first filed in 2016 by local civil rights attorney David Rosen on behalf of a handful of Church Street South tenants.
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.
Wednesday’s court order also marks the culmination of 18 months of mediated negotiations that led to the announcement in March of a proposed $18.75 million settlement. It also marks an end to the subsequent seven months of court delays, community outreach, and refinement of the proposed settlement that led to an updated submission earlier this month.
With mediator Jonathan Silbert’s assistance “over a very lengthy period, the parties engaged in an arm’s length negotiation that was serious, well-informed and sought to address the legitimate concerns of the proposed class and the defendants,” Lager wrote in her ruling. “The Settlement Agreement that resulted from these negotiations does not give preferential treatment to any class representative or any segment of the proposed class; all are treated the same.”
Click here to read Lager’s preliminary approval in full.
Under the terms of the settlement, eligible former tenants would receive up to $17,000 each, depending on how long they lived at the former complex after December 2013 and on whether or not they suffered mold-related injuries during their residence. They would also 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.
Thomas Breen file photo
Attorney Rosen at a March community outreach meeting.
“We’re glad to be moving forward,” Rosen told the Independent Wednesday in response to the judge’s granting of a preliminary approval. “And we’re glad the court said what everyone involved in this case knows: this has been a very hard-fought case that looks as though it’s heading for a fair result. The former residents of Church Street South can be proud of what they are accomplishing.”
When asked about immediate next steps in the case, Rosen said that the settlement administration company, JND Legal Administration, will be sending out notices within the next three weeks to all the eligible former residents who can be identified. That notification will let those potential class members know about how to participate in the settlement, and it will include the form they will need to send back in order to be included.
According to Lager’s approval, the class consists of at least the approximately 955 authorized tenants residing at Church Street South between December 2013 and December 2016 whose identities have been ascertained from Northland’s records. Rosen has said that his firm is in touch with over 700 potentially eligible class members.
The court order also confirms the appointment of Christopher Royston, Adamina Romána- Sánchez and Che Dawson as “special masters” charged with reviewing settlement claims of class members seeking enhanced payments because of mold-related injuries.
It confirms the appointment of former Probate Court Judge John Keyes as guardian ad litem to represent the interests of trust beneficiary class members.
And it confirms the appointment of William Clendenen, Jr. to serve as trustee charged with administering the trust designed to make it easier for minors, disabled and incapable class members, as well as the estates of deceased class members, to get paid through the settlement.
The court plans to hold a final approval hearing on Feb. 5, 2021 at the state Superior Court building at 235 Church St.
“At the Final Approval Hearing, the Court will consider whether the Settlement is fair, reasonable, and adequate and should be granted final approval; whether a Settlement Class should be finally certified; whether a final judgment should be entered; and any other matters the Court may deem appropriate.”
The settlement would set aside $13.25 million in a base fund for payment to tenants, $2.65 million in an enhanced fund for tenants who suffered from alleged mold-related injuries while living at Church Street South, and $2.85 million to cover Rosen’s attorney fees and other legal expenses incurred over the course of the nearly four-year suit.
Previous coverage of Church Street South:
• 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