In a matter handled by PQA before the Superior Court Special Civil Part of Monmouth County, Judge McGann settled in favor with PQA’s clients, represented by Edward R. Bonanno, who filed complaint against the landlady of their private home in Rockaway of Morris County.
The complaint was filed in the wake of a mold infestation that overtook the house within a matter of three to four months. Furniture and clothes were ruined; the clients—still tenants at the time of the infestation—experienced detrimental physical symptoms such as headaches, breathing difficulties, and memory loss. The toxicity of the mold rendered the house uninhabitable. The landlady of the property ordered a superficial cleaning of the house but the mold remained. Although PQA’s clients had to vacate the house for their own safety, the landlady refused to refund their security deposit or to reimburse them for any part of the damages caused to their personal belongings.
In mediation, the court found that PQA’s clients had incurred direct damages in the amount of $9,000. PQA attorney Bonanno is pleased with the resolution, as he thinks the amount should be able to pay for and replace a good portion of what the clients lost. The maximum amount the Superior Court Special Civil Part of Monmouth County can award is $15,000.
