‘No one took them seriously’: Miami building collapse sparks resident lawsuits before the dust settles

The collapse of the Champlain Towers South condominium in Miami, Florida was as sudden as it was devastating. It took just a few moments for the 12-story residential building to come crashing down, but the cause of its fatal failure appears to have been years in the making.

There were red flags, warnings, expert reports detailing serious structural flaws and visible damage to the structure stretching back more than a decade. It is precisely because the building’s state of disrepair was so well documented that some survivors believe the collapse was not some freak accident, but the result of negligence.

As rescuers continue to pull bodies from the wreckage and search for the missing, at least three lawsuits have been filed against the condo association that manages the building. Many more are likely to follow.

“The symptoms of this building are throughout, and no one took them seriously,” says Bob McKee, who is representing a survivor of the collapse in one lawsuit. “And so, yes, it’s egregious, if they had some knowledgeable comprehension.”

That lawsuit, filed on behalf of tower resident Steve Rosenthal, alleges that the condo association — a corporation jointly owned and run by residents and is responsible for the maintenance of the building — knew or should have known that “the entire structure was deteriorating and becoming susceptible to catastrophic loss by collapse”.

It adds that Rosenthal “lost his home. He lost his personal property obtained over the years. He has been forced into a life with no home or possessions”.

It follows a $5 million (£3.6 million) class action lawsuit filed on behalf of another survivor, Manuel Drezner, and “on behalf of all others similarly situated,” which also alleges that the association failed to “secure and safeguard the lives and property” of those who live at the building.

The family of a woman who is still among the missing have separately filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the association. Relatives of Beatriz Rodriguez Guerra are seeking damages and a trial by jury of the association’s board.

None of the plaintiffs waited for an official investigation to determine the precise cause of the collapse because they believe that improper maintenance is an underlying cause regardless.

In the days since the collapse it emerged that the condominium was in need of significant repairs. A 2018 inspection report by an engineer documented “major structural damage” at the building. It also found “abundant cracking” in the concrete columns, beams, and walls of the parking garage at the base of the structure.

The report gave no indication that the building was at risk of immediate collapse, but its author, consultant engineer Frank Morabito said that “most of the concrete deterioration needs to be repaired in a timely fashion”.

It further emerged that the president of the condo association had warned residents in April that damage to the building’s basement parking garage had gotten “significantly worse,” and estimated that repairs would cost more than $16 million (£11.6 million), USA Today reported.

A mandatory recertification process for all buildings over 40 years old had only just begun at the tower, but no major works were commissioned in the years since the report.

“In this particular case, the building is very much like many buildings along the waterfront in south Florida. They are subjected to winds that drive saltwater, rainstorms, cyclones, that blow into, onto and around the concrete structures, that are really defenseless against that onslaught without regular maintenance,” McKee tells The Independent.

“You can fly an airplane for a long time with a lot of bad parts in it, but sooner or later you crash. This building crashed. I call it the chronic damage of lack of maintenance,” he adds.

That maintenance, the lawsuit claims, was not done.

McKee says the suit is not just about the money, but about using legal mechanisms to procure documentation and evidence so the full truth about what happened can be found.

“I want to start getting discovery before evidence starts getting destroyed. And that’s why I filed early. I get the court system to issue subpoenas, I want board minutes, I want town hall meetings, I want inspection documents. It’s amazing how those things disappear a year or two from now,” he says.

The numerous revelations about repairs being put off has focused attention on the condo association. McKee has years of experience in dealing with cases involving water intrusion into buildings in south Florida, and says condo associations are often simply unaware of their responsibilities.

“I find that half of the associations don’t even know what maintenance is. They say, well, we do maintenance. When we hear of a problem, we go and try and fix them. I said, ‘you realise that’s not maintenance, right?’

“They just figure that concrete pieces breaking off the building exposed concrete and rebar is a normal thing. And even though it causes some concrete to fall off of balconies or out of ceilings in the parking garage, that’s just a normal thing. And we’ll get around to it when it becomes a problem.”

Beyond this lawsuit, McKee believes there needs to be firmer regulation to ensure that buildings are subject to proper and more thorough inspections, and that the findings from those inspections are acted upon.

“The environment acts on these buildings in very substantial ways, and there must be a significant inspection and a more rapid requirement of remediation of repair and put teeth behind enforcement,” he says.

Rescuers have worked round the clock at the collapse site in a search for survivors. The death toll climbed to 18 on Wednesday after authorities identified two more victims, both children, while 145 people are still missing.