GALVESTON COUNTY DAILY NEWS

DICKINSON — The attorney who won a total verdict of more than $1 million on behalf of 28 apartment-dwellers says the case could be an omen from things to come.

The jury in Galveston’s 122nd State District Court rendered the verdict Friday, ending a two-week trial filed against the builders of the Bay Colony Apartments, a subsidized-housing complex on the Dickinson-League City line.

The lawsuit was over damages suffered by apartment residents by mold that started collecting in the walls after the complex was built in 2001.

Alvin lawyer Robert Clements said that jurors told him after the trial ended that they were especially angry to learn that the company and the management of the complex continued to withhold information about mold in the apartments after the lawsuit was brought.

“That was probably the most important thing, that they hadn’t done anything to fix the damage,” Clements said.

Of the two defendants in the case, the jury found the Florida-based developer Vestcor 90 percent liable for deceptive business practices and property manager Charlene Elder liable for the remaining 10 percent.

Houston attorney Willard Tinsley, who represented the developer at trial, said the plaintiffs could expect an appeal.

Tinsley, who said he was surprised by the verdict, said he would also be filing a motion with State District Court Judge John Ellisor, who presided over the trial, asking him to set aside the verdict.

Clements said the award could end up being between $1.2 million and $1.8 million, depending on how the judge rules on award guidelines set forth by the state’s deceptive trade practices act.

He also said more cases could be coming against developers who hide or understate the dangers of mold infestation.

“The potential is certainly out there for Round Two,” he said.
 
 

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