Tenants announce class action suit against Atlanta apartment owners after massive fire

Attorneys from Dean Thaxton LLC. cited several issues at Reserve at LaVista Walk, including code and public safety breaches such as roof access of the couple suspected of starting the fire.

Several tenants are suing after a fire broke out at an Atlanta apartment complex, leaving many with little to no belongings.

According to WSB-TV, it took three days for fire crews to extinguish the massive blaze at Reserve at LaVista Walk, which authorities said started when two people set off fireworks on its rooftop.

On Saturday, attorneys for Dean Thaxton LLC held a news conference to announce plans to launch a class action lawsuit against the complex’s five corporate entities. They cited several issues, including code and public safety breaches such as roof access of the couple suspected of setting off the pyrotechnics.

“[The fire] totally could have been prevented,” one attorney said, WSB reported. “There is no reason people should have been allowed up there. The apartment knew people were going up there, children were going up there.”

The apartment complex has been declared uninhabitable since the fire. However, neighbors claim the “no trespassing” signs, a fence and security officers monitoring the area aren’t stopping their homes from being looted.

11Alive News reported that they received video of someone allegedly stealing several items from a unit before running from the complex. Images have also been shared on social media showing units with busted glass doors.

King Sell, whose fourth-floor apartment was ransacked and burglarized, said a security guard told him the thieves entered through a first-floor unit and then proceeded to search several floors of the building.

Keshaun Jones told 11Alive he lost everything in the fire, calling it “heartbreaking” to know so many residents are experiencing hardships.

As renters anxiously wait to hear if they will receive reimbursement for the November rent they paid, Jones said it has been challenging to deal with insurance, adding that receipts he needs for documentation are burned or he does not have access to them.

“There is a bunch of us who lost things,” he said, WSB reported. “We have had looters. We are just asking for help.”

Complex resident Alyssa Greene said she and her family could grab backpacks, their cats, cars, “and that’s it.”

“It’s too late for the hundreds of us who called the Reserve home,” Greene said, “but we hope to save tenants living in my landlord’s other properties the anguish of watching their home burn and knowing that their landlord failed in their most important duty: to maintain a safe property.”

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