$13M Distributed So Far To Former Church Street South Tenants

Over 1,100 former Church Street South residents have now received between $5,000 and $20,000 each so far, thanks to an $18.75 million class action lawsuit settlement that took effect roughly a year ago.

Local civil rights attorney David Rosen offered that update in a six-page settlement progress report filed with state court in the case Personna Noble Et Al v. Northland Investment Corporation Et Al.

The report offers a host of updates on the disbursement of payments thanks to a settlement signed into effect by a state judge in February 2021.

It states that over $13.1 million in ​“base payments” have been distributed so far to over 1,100 former Church Street South residents. It also states that $2.65 million in ​“enhanced payments” should be disbursed soon to eligible former residents who can prove that they suffered mold-related injuries while living at the now-razed former 301-unit apartment complex. 

“The settlement process has thus far been a success, vindicating the hopes of those who participated in its creation,” Rosen wrote in the settlement progress report, which can be read in full here.

After thanking a host of people involved in the case — from judges to mediators to lawyers to tenants to the landlord to a three-person team at his law firm charged with notifying as many class-eligible former Church Street South residents as possible — Rosen wrote, ​“As the Court noted at the final approval hearing, it took a village.”

The settlement marked the end of a four-and-a-half-year legal battle spearheaded by Rosen and hundreds of tenants of the now-demolished former Church Street South apartment complex that once stood across the street from Union Station. 

After years of advocacy to try to hold their landlord accountable for dangerous living conditions at the mold-infested complex — charges which the landlord, Northland, consistently denied — Rosen and the tenants were ultimately able to strike a $18.75 million deal with the landlord to end the case. 

According to Rosen’s report, the settlement administrators have distributed a total of $13,112,000 in so-called ​“base payments” to just under 1,132 adults and children who lived at the now-razed former Church Street South apartment complex between Dec. 19, 2013 and Dec. 19, 2016. 

Per the terms of the settlement, eligible class members could receive between $5,000 and $20,000 each in base payments.

“Plaintiffs are pleased to report that timely Base Payment claims were filed by or on behalf of all of the 955 authorized resident class members,” Rosen wrote in the report. ​“We think that is worth repeating: claims have been filed by or on behalf of each and every one of the 955 people who were authorized residents at Church Street South during the class period.”

A footnote elaborates on just how exceptionally successful this level of participation in a class-action settlement is. ​“A review of the literature and consultation with the settlement administrator has not identified any other case of unanimous participation in a class this large, although the Madoff Ponzi scheme class action, which had average class member payouts of $2.5 million, came close.”

In addition to those 955 ​“authorized” class members in the Church Street South case (roughly four of whom were ineligible to receive payouts because they had previously filed and settled their own separate lawsuits against Northland), Rosen’s firm was able to find an additional 177 people who proved they lived at Church Street South at some point during that class-eligible, three-year time period. 

That means that in total, roughly 1,128 people have received base payments — with an average recipient getting around $11,600.

Rosen singles out for praise Anna Maria Chicoine, Marley Connor, and Sarah Rosen for their work in ensuring that as many eligible former Church Street South residents as possible could benefit from the settlement. ​“They worked literally day and night to find every former resident and explain how to claim the benefits of the settlement,” he wrote. ​“They used telephone; text messages; email; voicemail; google searches; searches of other internet sites including a for-pay site; regular mail; house calls; and, near the end, a private investigator. They were tireless, and, importantly, they earned class members’ trust by being gracious and empathetic as well as helpful.”

In a phone interview with the Independent on Thursday, Rosen said that most of the Church Street South class members still live in the New Haven area — many in New Haven, as well as in East Haven, Hamden, and other surrounding downs. Less than 10 percent wound up moving out of state, he said.

Another footnote in the report states that the settlement agreement set aside $13.25 million in total for base payments. Per the terms of the agreement, the ​“residue in the Base Payment pool” — that is, the amount between what was set aside and what was disbursed — ​“has been used to cover costs of notice and, principally, settlement administration.”

Rosen’s report also states that the settlement’s so-called ​“special masters” are still evaluating claims from class members looking to receive a portion of the additional $2.65 million set aside in the settlement for those who suffered ​“enhanced injuries” — such as mold-related injuries or property damage — during their time living at Church Street South.

“All class members making Base Claims, for themselves or as parents or other fiduciaries, were invited to apply for Enhanced Payments,” Rosen wrote. ​“A total of 187 claims were submitted by the deadline, which was twice extended. This number included 113 adults and 74 minors. While the initial applications called for an explanation of the claim, the Special Masters determined that a more detailed questionnaire was needed, and JND [the settlement administrator] is sending an additional questionnaire to each of the claimants. The Special Masters are also offering each claimant an opportunity for an interview, in person or by Zoom, to explain their claim. As provided by the Settlement Agreement, the Special Masters will then assign a score from zero to 15 to each claim in order to determine the amounts payable.”

In addition to the $13.25 million set aside for base payments and $2.65 million set aside for enhanced payments, the settlement included $2.85 million in attorney fees for Rosen’s firm, and granted displaced former Church Street South tenants 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.