The $1.3 million award is a record in a county where landlords are paying increasingly large jury awards and legal settlements in response to charges they rented substandard housing.
Former residents of an east Santa Rosa apartment complex who suffered years of living with mold and vermin have agreed to settle their lawsuit with the owners for a Sonoma County record of $2.7 million.
The government framework set up to protect Sonoma County renters from unsafe and unhealthy living conditions has developed such extensive cracks that it has left many tenants without public recourse.
“We were stressed out a lot, and I was sick. My kids were sick,” Orozco recalled, describing the five-year period she said was marked by constant fights with her landlords about the living conditions and requests for repairs.
For three hours, the group traded stories about problems in their rented units at Walnut Creek Apartments. They shared photographs documenting the issues: mold on walls, cockroach and rat infestations, broken heaters and stoves, faulty electrical wiring and holes in the walls.
Investigation Reveals Substandard, Unhealthy Housing Across Sonoma County .