VERY IMPORTANT POSTI could not sleep at all tonight with all this on my mind. I still felt like more information on our legal rights as tenants is needed.
To all who have posted so far...I say: Let the management continue to dig their hole deeper & deeper! It only adds to the case against them and showcases their negligence!
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IF YOU HAVE NOT ALREADY MET WITH MANAGEMENT (and even if you have...) PLEASE READ THIS POST BEFORE DOING SO:-Boydell Building IS GUILTY OF FRAUD!
-They were FULLY AWARE that Universal Lofts NEVER received a Certificate of Compliance or a was registered as a rental property with the City of Detroit.
-They made a HUGE mistake accepting rental funds for July 2012 especially, since they were given notice by the city that a Vacate & Desist order was in place as of JUNE 11th, 20120 - and WILLFULLY did not share this information with tenants.***
Was does this MEAN THOUGH?
-Due to their fraudulent activity (which HAS happened in their other buildings - see my previous post), they have opened themselves up to a civil lawsuit for fraud - tort.
DEF OF FRAUD: In criminal law, fraud is an intentional deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual. The specific legal definition varies by legal jurisdiction. Fraud is a crime, and also a civil law violation. Defrauding people of entities of money or valuables is a common purpose of fraud, but there have also been fraudulent "discoveries", e.g., in science, to gain prestige rather than immediate monetary gain.
DEF OF TORT: A tort, in common law jurisdictions, is a civil wrong. Tort law deals with situations where a person's behavior has unfairly caused someone else to suffer loss or harm. A tort is not necessarily an illegal act but causes harm. The law allows anyone who is harmed to recover their loss.
- For cases of Fraud - Tort, two types of damages can be sought by Plaintiff (the person who is doing the suing).
-These are ACTUAL damages and PUNITIVE damages.
DEF OF ACTUAL DAMAGES: Compensation for losses that can readily be proven to have occurred and for which the injured party has the right to be compensated. Compensatory damages, called actual damages, are paid to compensate the claimant for loss, injury, or harm suffered as a result of another's breach of duty. (e.g., in a negligence claim under tort law). ---In this case, these would include things like any repairs in your unit that were never completed, any security deposits withheld, moving costs, etc. Real monies that had to be paid or were withheld or real damages to your unit that were not taken care of by management.---
DEF OF PUNITIVE DAMAGES:
Now THIS is the area that Boydell Building LLC will be brought to their knees on. They DO NOT WANT TENANTS TO KNOW THEY HAVE THE RIGHT TO SUE FOR PUNITIVE DAMAGES! This is why they are trying to get people to sign documentation releasing them of responsibility for this whole situation - WHILE REFUSING TO EVEN NOTIFY TENANTS IN WRITING OF ANYTHING THEY ARE SAYING AND DOING. WHEN YOU READ ABOUT PUNITIVE DAMAGES - KEEP IN MIND: WE ARE NOT THE FIRST BOYDELL BUILDING & GROUP OF TENANTS TO BE FORCED OUT OF OUR HOMES VERY SUDDENLY BY BOYDELL's NEGLIGENCE! (Please see my previous post.) AND IF WE DO NOT STAND UP - WE WILL NOT BE THE LAST!
PUNITIVE DAMAGES: Monetary compensation awarded to an injured party that goes beyond that which is necessary to compensate the individual for losses and that is intended to punish the wrongdoer. Punitive damages, also known as exemplary damages, may be awarded by the trier of fact (a jury or a judge, if a jury trial was waived) in addition to actual damages, which compensate a plaintiff for the losses suffered due to the harm caused by the defendant. Punitive damages are a way of punishing the defendant in a civil lawsuit and are based on the theory that the interests of society and the individual harmed can be met by imposing additional damages on the defendant. Punitive damages or exemplary damages are damages intended to reform or deter the defendant and others from engaging in conduct similar to that which formed the basis of the lawsuit. Although the purpose of punitive damages is not to compensate the plaintiff, the plaintiff will in fact receive all or a large portion of the punitive damage award. Punitive damages are often awarded where compensatory damages are deemed an inadequate remedy. The court may impose them to prevent under-compensation of plaintiffs, to allow redress for undetectable torts and to take some strain away from the criminal justice system.
***Under cases of fraud, punitive damages can be recoverable, if it can be established that the misrepresentation was intentional or deliberate.*** -www.czlegal.com
........OK.........But what does all that mean for us as tenants? What should we do with this information?
-My advice to all is this: Have a settlement offer in your mind when you first meet with these crooks.
-What amount of compensation would need to be offered to you as a settlement to be adequate enough for you to feel it would cover all the issues you have dealt with while a tenant at Universal Lofts, as well as for all your moving costs and all the issues arising out of this building being shut down due to Boydell management's negligence? (IE: What are your personal Actual & Punitive Damages?)
-Once you know what that is for you, if you let Boydell management know this and they refuse to provide such compensation, your only other option is to pursue legal action in civil court. Please let them know YOU ARE NOT AFRAID TO DO THIS. But - if they are willing to compensate you, do what is in your own best interest. Those who do not receive the settlement offer they seek will stand together!
-Each of the tenants of Universal Lofts can individually pursue legal action in civil court OR a CLASS ACTION lawsuit can combine all tenants complaints into one lawsuit.
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THE BENEFIT OF A CLASS ACTION SUIT is that an UNLIMITED number of Plantiffs can be added to the suit. And since we will be suing the Boydell Building company - This means the lawyer for our case will have access to searching out and bringing on board NOT ONLY the current residents of UNIVERSAL LOFTS - but EVERY SINGLE TENANT IN EVERY SINGLE RENTAL PROPERTY BOYDELL BUILDING OWNS - TENANTS FROM BOTH PAST AND PRESENT - ALL THE WAY BACK TO THE STATUE OF LIMITATIONS.
-This company has a long history of negligence so I am sure there are plenty of disgruntled tenants - both previous and current.
-Boydell Building owns at least 10+ Rental properties in the City of Detroit alone. (Visit loftsplace.com for list).
-Again, there will be people lining up to be a part of a suit against Dennis Kefallinos (head guy) and his ILLEGALLY RUN APARTMENTS!!!! Check out this other message board where there are TONS & TONS of people who already consider him "Detroit's TOP SLUMLORD" (....Ive lived a lot of places in the D.....that is a HARD TITLE TO WIN!)
atdetroit.net/forum/messages/89914/99631.html?1180537124-This man runs these buildings illegally for years and years and years (Our building has NEVER been legal and has been open for at least 5 years....it is considered "a warehouse" by the City of Detroit!) and he has not only GOTTEN away with it, not only pocketed ALL the profits from these illegally run apartments.....HE HAS THE AUDACITY TO GLOAT ABOUT WHAT HE IS DOING!!!! Read the article below:
www.modeldmedia.com/features/Kefallinosqanda910.aspxExcerpt:
"Q. You were one of the first people to build lofts in downtown. What inspired you to do it?
A. When I bought my first building in the 1980s, I didn't know what to do with it. It's not like people were knocking down my door to do something with it. I went to Chicago and I saw its downtown become popular with lofts. I went through some of its loft projects and I figured I could do something like this.
At the time I bought a warehouse on West Lafayette, it's now Lafayette Lofts, and the first thing a city electrical inspector told me was, 'What are you going to do with this? What kind of plan do you have because this isn't going to work here.' Here is a city official, a supervisor, telling me my idea isn't going to work. I will never forget that. I kept working on it and building. Finally, I opened the doors, before it was completed, and I couldn't build them fast enough. It was big hit. So many people wanted to move into our building. People were moving in and the varnish on the floors wasn't even dry yet. People love lofts. It's not even so much that they love lofts, but there is a big trend of people who want to live in downtown Detroit.
-DO NOT LET THIS CROOK CONTINUE HIS REIGN AS SLUMLORD KING OF DETROIT!
-Know your rights. Do not be intimidated by management's illegal actions! You have a right to actual and punitive damages due to their willful fraud-tort AND their negligence....and if Boydell Building LLC management REFUSES to settle with your demands out of court....then join the other tenants - past and present - who will stand up to these swindlers together - IN CIVIL COURT IF NECESSARY!
-That is ALL....for now! Sorry for the length of this post....but I feel like a lot of people are still somewhat shaky on what legal rights and what legal damages Boydell Building LLC can be held accountable for.
KNOWLEDGE ALWAYS = POWER!