Two New York tenants are suing their landlord for $1 million after their home was invaded by bats.
According to the tenants, they moved into their new apartment on July 25 but had to vacate in a hurry after a couple of bats invaded the premises. The first encounter occurred on July 31 when one of the tenants ran into a bat flying around the apartment. In that incident, the tenants were able to get a building superintendent to capture the bat and place it in a plastic bag. Just a few days later, the other tenant had a similar experience, when a bat flew out from behind the curtains, and towards her.
After the second bat encounter, the tenants complained to the landlord. According to them, he did not seem to be too concerned about the situation and said that he would call them back soon. He never did. To make matters worse, one of the tenants noticed strange puncture wounds on her skin one morning, and both tenants needed to have rabies shots as a precaution. Since then, the two have moved out of the apartment, and have been forced to live in a friend’s house.
Their lawsuit against the landlord claims that they have suffered severe anxiety since these encounters with the bats, and have had trouble sleeping. Other tenants in the building have not had any similar experience with bats, however.
Landlord-tenant disputes in California can arise over several issues. Often, Los Angeles real estate litigation lawyers are called in to settle disputes arising when landlords have not made necessary repairs to a property, or have not maintained a safe property. There are other reasons why you may need an Encino landlord dispute lawyer for instance, if your landlord implements an inappropriate rent increase or an eviction notice.