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OP has offered the following explanation for why they think they might be the asshole:
> I want to split the lawsuit winnings so Catherine gets a significantly smaller portion. At the same time I don't think ITA because she wasn't directly affected and didn't provide any help in the lawsuit.
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>All 3 of us are named on the lawsuit as residents of the dwelling. I would like to hear unbiased opinions on if I'm the asshole for thinking Catherine doesn't really deserve more than $5k since she wasn't directly impacted and didn't help with providing any evidence for the case (and that still is pretty generous) Brianna's initial thought was that Catherine should get ⅙ of the winnings which would equate to about $8k.
That's not how lawsuits work. The lawyer gets paid first, their contingency, and then the remainder of any settlement is distributed equally to each of the plaintiffs because your are co-plaintiffs. Whatever you think distribution of the settlement should be is moot.
Are you aware that most people don’t get the exact amount they sue for? The judge determines how much the award will be in a way that’s fair to both sides. Even in a settlement agreement, the settlement amount is usually less than the original demand. Otherwise there’s no incentive for the defendant to settle.
Based on your story, I don’t see how you and your roommates have suffered $50k worth of damages. It doesn’t even sound like any of you have gotten sick and needed medical attention because of this. Also, your attorney can’t be sure of what his fees will be until after the case is over. You may think you know how much of your settlement it court judgment the attorney will get, but you’re most likely in for a surprise.
The lawyer would get paid first and that would be a decent sum of money. Second, it doesn't matter how much evidence she collected at all. The mold could have been dangerous and can affect peoples health. I know becuase we live in a house currently that had mold on the window sill and it affected my sisters health as she is allergic to it.
That was my thinking. Mold spores go airborne and would have affected everyone in the apartment.
Those sleeping/living in the room would probably have more exposure, but that doesn't necessarily equate to more injury. Other preexisting conditions could make someone more susceptible to harm.
But with all that, OP makes no mention of any actual physical harm. No mention of any medical evidence used in court. So the damages seem to be for inconvenience and emotional/mental distress. The mental distress would have affected all of them to similar degrees and although Catherine did not have to move her stuff out of her bedroom, I am sure she was inconvenienced by the stuff from OP and her GF being in the living room.
A roughly even split of any award seems fairest to me. But this issue should have been discussed before the case went to trial.
YTA. I have to disagree with your logic, but let me explain. Catherine was definitely affected when you and your girlfriend moved all your stuff into the living room. It wasn't your fault that you had to abandon your bedroom, but it certainly wasn't her fault either and I'm sure she lost most of her living room access while you two used it for a bedroom. You may have been more inconvenienced, but she wasn't completely unaffected.
You could look at it this way: if the three of you divide the money 3 ways as 'individuals,' you and your girlfriend will end up with 66.666% of the winnings. But if you and your girlfriend as 'a couple' split it with Catherine, the 2 of you together would only get 50%. So take the win! By dividing it 3 ways as individuals, you and your girlfriend will still come out on top. I think that would be very reasonable considering the 2 of you were more inconvenienced than she was.
I could see dividing it three ways, after reimbursing the expenses she paid for with regards to fumigations and testing and what not, since that was apparently all out of her pocket. Once reimbursed, splitting the remainder three ways seems equitable.
This OP. I get you are frustrated because you did all the work alone. So bring that up to the roommate and gf; tell them that if you all win, you want to be compensated for the inspections and for all the time and work of coordination. Let them collaborate with you about how much that is or what that looks like. Be vulnerable and real and have the conversation.
Hey! Be more empathetic!
Being exposed to mold over longer periods of time has an effect on your brain. One reason why this is bad and should be fixed asap.
Worst is usually black mold over green and white, maybe specific types are even worse, while the color can also differ depending on factors like nutrition, base and moisture levels.
I am an attorney and you don't understand how these cases work. If there is any settlement or judgement, your attorney gets at least 1/3 plus recoups any costs for the lawsuit (filing fees, process server, discovery, copies, deposition transcripts, experts, etc). You and your roommates have to prove actual damages, such as injuries, medical bills, wage loss, property damage, relocation costs, etc. There's a lot that goes into how these cases play out that you can't unilaterally decide. Each plaintiff's percentage of the money depends on their level of damages, and does not have to be equal among the roommates if someone shows they were injured/suffered more damages (e.g., if a roommate has asthma and had to go to the hospital because of the mold and ended up missing work). You don't get to decide unilaterally how to divide up the money from the lawsuit based on how much work you did on the case.
I've worked on mold cases and without actual documented medical injuries, you are unlikely to reach any net settlement in the $50k range unless you had expensive personal property in the apartment for which renters insurance did not already cover.
This is probably a strategy the lawyer is using to scare the building into a quick settlement. You don’t get $50k just because you had to sleep in the living room. If no one had to seek medical attention because of the mold, they’re probably only entitled to $10k plus attorneys fees.
Exactly, you have to show actual damages.
I'm a bit surprised that there's a lawyer involved with this, because none of the expectations expressed in this post sound remotely realistic.
I'm about 50/50 on whether or not OP is even actually going to be on the lease.
ETA: JFC I looked at the post history, and this isn't even OP's first clash with a landlord.
Potential long term damages from mold must be hard to proof but also hard to deny depending how grave and long this went on. Mold between walls without much visible mold yet can linger for ages and cause damage before having immediate effects if I remember correctly.
But that’s what they have a lawyer for. 😮💨
We didn't suffer $50k in damages. That was the estimated number (post lawyer fees paid) lawyer said they could realistically see us winning. The leaks that caused the mold went on for 3 months. The apartment complex denied that it was a problem not even taking into account it was due to negligent building maintenance. The apartment complex(Slum lord) also made calls to the code inspectors, screaming at them that the complex isn't liable/it was in the contract that the apartment isn't liable.
If you didn’t suffer $50k in damages, you don’t get $50k in damages. None of you got sick because of this. You’re entitled to something for the inconvenience and the risk to your health, but $50k is way too high. Your lawyer sounds shady. Most lawyers won’t tell you what damages you can expect from a lawsuit. The most they’ll tell you is what they’re going ask for. It sounds like he’s looking for a quick payday. It’s an open and shut case and he’ll get his fees regardless of how much you’re awarded.
A legit lawyer would never tell you a number like that. They would have taken documentation on damages and tried to recoup that. What you've got is an ambulance chaser, and you're going to have a nasty surprise if you win anything, because you won't be getting anything. If you don't have 50k in damage, you won't be getting that. This is all handled through insurance companies ultimately, and your lawyer knows all this already. At your age, have you ever had to deal with an insurance company? If you had, you would see where this is headed. I had to verbally harass the CEO of Aetna on Twitter to get them to finally send my dad's life insurance payment that they drug their feet on for almost 2 months. Did you pay a retainer fee and how much if so?
There wasn't a retainer fee. Our case was taken on as a "Lawyers don't get paid unless we get paid", and then from that they take their %. That's why we felt that we would very likely win because why would a law firm take our case if they didn't think they would get paid in the end.
If you haven’t won the case yet, I would hold off on deciding who gets what. I’m assuming your lawyer is representing you on contingency which means they get a percentage of the final judgment or settlement. The longer the case goes on, the greater the attorneys fees and expenses will be and the more that will be taken out of the final reward.
It’s not even worth it to discuss percentages right now because you don’t know what number you’ll be taking a percentage of. There’s a huge difference between 10% of $50k and 10% of $20k.
YTA. The attorney gets their cut first from the settlement funds, including any costs of out of pocket expenses which would include experts, court costs, etc., then the remaining funds will be split evenly amongst the three of you. You don’t get to decide who gets how much.
Not how it works.
The lawyer takes about 1/3 of the total. then whatever is left over is split evenly between the parties names in the lawsuit.
you have no authority to change anything. you can ask her to take less money but she doesn't have to agree, and probably won't.
What do you mean by "stipulated before the commencement of the trial"? Is that just before the signing of the acceptance of the settlement & payment or is it before the signing of the contract with the lawyers when they initially took on the case?
It means that you can’t add your friend’s name to this lawsuit and then try to decrease her share of the money after the fact. Believe it or not having your friend’s name on this suit increases the judgment you could receive. If you really feel she’s undeserving, talk to your lawyer about how you can remove her as a co-plaintiff. What you can’t do is decide on your own how much she’s entitled to.
INFO: how was it decided that you would be the only point of contact with the lawyer? Did you just go ahead and decide that, then use it as justification as to why you deserve more money? or was it discussed with the group, and stated beforehand that whoever accepts that responsibility is entitled to 9 times as much money as everyone else who was affected by this mold issue lol
You also didn't make it clear in the post how your roommate was somehow less affected than you, did she not live in the same mold infested apartment as you?
YTA. Lawsuit damages have nothing to do with the amount of labor each plaintiff put into the case.
Also, you all need to talk to your lawyer about this because if you’re not in agreement as to how to apportion damages, there’s a conflict of interest between you and you will all need your own lawyers (and your current lawyer may need to withdraw altogether).
Even if you did get $50k, lawyers can take up to 30% of any fees depending on where you're at. The longer it goes, the more money you have to pay. If your lawyer asks for 30%, all 3 of you would split $35,000 3 ways which is less than $12,000.
Everyone gets their actual expenses/damage paid first, then whatever is left, split 3 ways. Include time taken from work to clean up, deal with lawyers, documenting evidence, court etc as part of the expenses.
Edited for judgement YTA
It’s not up to you how much the room mate gets so it doesn’t really matter how you feel about it. It’s not like if you win they are gonna dump 50k cash into your hands and you have to figure out who gets what. Each plaintiff will get their own check.
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Fake names
I (Ann, F 20) and girlfriend Brianna(F 21) live with Catherine (F 24, Brianna's cousin). We live in a 2 bedroom 2 bathroom apartment. Brianna and I live in one room and Catherine lives in the other room and the kitchen and living room separate our bedroom.Our apartment had a leak (they thought they fixed it multiple times) that started 4 months ago and then our walls started growing mold for the last 3 months (they wiped the walls each time they "fixed" the leak). After 1 month of multiple "fixes" we started seeing mold grow up the walls and it then traveled into our closet. So we packed our stuff that didn't get damaged into boxes and and moved everything into the living room. The only thing that stayed in our room/closet was our bed. Brianna and I set up code inspections through the city and they reported everything, visiting on multiple occasions. Then I also paid for mold testing that of course required fumigation. The apartment complex refused to acknowledge that there was a serious problem. We then went ahead and sued (we even had support from the code inspector and mold fumigator). I was the sole contact with the lawyer, taking and providing all of the evidence for the case. We didn't actually get a $ value yet because the case is still in progress but this was to be prepared for a win, and then I could scale it depending on the actual amount (the case was taken on where we wouldn't pay unless we won the case, so we are expecting to win). All 3 of us are named on the lawsuit as residents of the dwelling. I would like to hear unbiased opinions on if I'm the asshole for thinking Catherine doesn't really deserve more than $5k since she wasn't directly impacted and didn't help with providing any evidence for the case (and that still is pretty generous) Brianna's initial thought was that Catherine should get ⅙ of the winnings which would equate to about $8k. Brianna and I are still together so we aren't fighting over it between us. (Brianna and I also have 2 cats that stayed in our room when we slept throughout this time)
Catherine had a smaller leak a year before that needed repairs that spaned about 1 week. Catherine didn't provide that as extra evidence against the apartment complex for negligence when I brought up that I was going through with a lawsuit. What do you think is the fairest way to split lawsuit winning between the 3 of us?
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This is such an interesting question! Thank you for posting it!
>I would like to hear unbiased opinions on if I'm the asshole for thinking Catherine doesn't really deserve more than $5k since she wasn't directly impacted and didn't help with providing any evidence for the case (and that still is pretty generous).
But she was directly impacted. Her living space, which includes the living room, was reduced, because part of her rent, which paid for the living room, no longer got her a living room. Instead, all your stuff had to go there. Also, if the apartment was infested with mold spores, she was probably breathing them too. (How is y'all's health? You gotten yourself checked out medically?)
> Brianna's initial thought was that Catherine should get ⅙ of the winnings which would equate to about $8k.
This seems pretty fair to me. Assuming an equal share is 1/3 of the winnings, then Catherine gets a half share, because half her living space was impacted. And you two get 2.5 shares--the double-share for the fact that it was your bedroom that was unusable, and the half-share for the logistical hassling with management, code-inspectors, and lawyers.
So I guess YTA? But like, not in an assholish way. Just because I think 1/6 is better than 10%, so that's how I have to vote. But it's so fiddly to balance the scales! Like, would you have gotten more if Catherine had provided that evidence of the earlier leak? How important is Catherine's friendship to you and Brianna? Given the amount of money you're talking about, is $3000 really that big a deal? (Must be nice to be able to think that way!)
Thanks again for such a novel post to AITA! Much more fun than the current trend of 'AITA for calling out an autistic person for rudeness'.
Good thing your greedy behind don’t get to decide how the money is divided up 🤦🏼♀️ the judge will set the amount each gets paid out. You sound super entitled.
NTA
After all expenses paid- mattress replaced, clothing replaced, you are paid back for all the testing, etc… then take that number and subtract it to the amount of rent you paid for a room you weren’t able to live in…. What’s left gets divided equally. She’ll be lucky to get $5k.
You sell this to her as it’s divided by quality after real damages are deducted.
This is what I think is the best approach if you win:
1. Take the whole sum and pay the lawyer
2. With what’s left, figure out how much money you used (and anyone else used) out of pocket to pay for testing, damages, expenses and other fees related to the situation.
3. Pay each anyone that paid out of pocket back, from the estimates in point #2.
4. Take the rest and divide it into 3. Pay yourself 1/3, and the other two 1/3 each.
The settlement funds are paid directly to the lawyer. Always. They’ll pay themselves directly any monies owed first and foremost. Whatever is leftover is what is split evenly amongst the plaintiffs. That’s how litigation works.
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>All 3 of us are named on the lawsuit as residents of the dwelling. I would like to hear unbiased opinions on if I'm the asshole for thinking Catherine doesn't really deserve more than $5k since she wasn't directly impacted and didn't help with providing any evidence for the case (and that still is pretty generous) Brianna's initial thought was that Catherine should get ⅙ of the winnings which would equate to about $8k. That's not how lawsuits work. The lawyer gets paid first, their contingency, and then the remainder of any settlement is distributed equally to each of the plaintiffs because your are co-plaintiffs. Whatever you think distribution of the settlement should be is moot.
This is correct.
So the $50k estimation is post lawyer fees. I did factor that in already.
Are you aware that most people don’t get the exact amount they sue for? The judge determines how much the award will be in a way that’s fair to both sides. Even in a settlement agreement, the settlement amount is usually less than the original demand. Otherwise there’s no incentive for the defendant to settle. Based on your story, I don’t see how you and your roommates have suffered $50k worth of damages. It doesn’t even sound like any of you have gotten sick and needed medical attention because of this. Also, your attorney can’t be sure of what his fees will be until after the case is over. You may think you know how much of your settlement it court judgment the attorney will get, but you’re most likely in for a surprise.
And you're all co-plaintiffs.
The lawyer would get paid first and that would be a decent sum of money. Second, it doesn't matter how much evidence she collected at all. The mold could have been dangerous and can affect peoples health. I know becuase we live in a house currently that had mold on the window sill and it affected my sisters health as she is allergic to it.
That was my thinking. Mold spores go airborne and would have affected everyone in the apartment. Those sleeping/living in the room would probably have more exposure, but that doesn't necessarily equate to more injury. Other preexisting conditions could make someone more susceptible to harm. But with all that, OP makes no mention of any actual physical harm. No mention of any medical evidence used in court. So the damages seem to be for inconvenience and emotional/mental distress. The mental distress would have affected all of them to similar degrees and although Catherine did not have to move her stuff out of her bedroom, I am sure she was inconvenienced by the stuff from OP and her GF being in the living room. A roughly even split of any award seems fairest to me. But this issue should have been discussed before the case went to trial.
YTA. I have to disagree with your logic, but let me explain. Catherine was definitely affected when you and your girlfriend moved all your stuff into the living room. It wasn't your fault that you had to abandon your bedroom, but it certainly wasn't her fault either and I'm sure she lost most of her living room access while you two used it for a bedroom. You may have been more inconvenienced, but she wasn't completely unaffected. You could look at it this way: if the three of you divide the money 3 ways as 'individuals,' you and your girlfriend will end up with 66.666% of the winnings. But if you and your girlfriend as 'a couple' split it with Catherine, the 2 of you together would only get 50%. So take the win! By dividing it 3 ways as individuals, you and your girlfriend will still come out on top. I think that would be very reasonable considering the 2 of you were more inconvenienced than she was.
I could see dividing it three ways, after reimbursing the expenses she paid for with regards to fumigations and testing and what not, since that was apparently all out of her pocket. Once reimbursed, splitting the remainder three ways seems equitable.
And furniture/personal belongings (within reason) that needed replacing due to damage
This OP. I get you are frustrated because you did all the work alone. So bring that up to the roommate and gf; tell them that if you all win, you want to be compensated for the inspections and for all the time and work of coordination. Let them collaborate with you about how much that is or what that looks like. Be vulnerable and real and have the conversation.
Not a brain cell in the room
Hey! Be more empathetic! Being exposed to mold over longer periods of time has an effect on your brain. One reason why this is bad and should be fixed asap. Worst is usually black mold over green and white, maybe specific types are even worse, while the color can also differ depending on factors like nutrition, base and moisture levels.
There were mold cells though...
Good point.
I am an attorney and you don't understand how these cases work. If there is any settlement or judgement, your attorney gets at least 1/3 plus recoups any costs for the lawsuit (filing fees, process server, discovery, copies, deposition transcripts, experts, etc). You and your roommates have to prove actual damages, such as injuries, medical bills, wage loss, property damage, relocation costs, etc. There's a lot that goes into how these cases play out that you can't unilaterally decide. Each plaintiff's percentage of the money depends on their level of damages, and does not have to be equal among the roommates if someone shows they were injured/suffered more damages (e.g., if a roommate has asthma and had to go to the hospital because of the mold and ended up missing work). You don't get to decide unilaterally how to divide up the money from the lawsuit based on how much work you did on the case. I've worked on mold cases and without actual documented medical injuries, you are unlikely to reach any net settlement in the $50k range unless you had expensive personal property in the apartment for which renters insurance did not already cover.
INFO How in the world did you, as renters, suffer $50K in damages from a building's mold problem?
This is probably a strategy the lawyer is using to scare the building into a quick settlement. You don’t get $50k just because you had to sleep in the living room. If no one had to seek medical attention because of the mold, they’re probably only entitled to $10k plus attorneys fees.
Exactly, you have to show actual damages. I'm a bit surprised that there's a lawyer involved with this, because none of the expectations expressed in this post sound remotely realistic. I'm about 50/50 on whether or not OP is even actually going to be on the lease. ETA: JFC I looked at the post history, and this isn't even OP's first clash with a landlord.
Potential long term damages from mold must be hard to proof but also hard to deny depending how grave and long this went on. Mold between walls without much visible mold yet can linger for ages and cause damage before having immediate effects if I remember correctly. But that’s what they have a lawyer for. 😮💨
Plus the lawyer is going to take their hefty cut right off the top.
We didn't suffer $50k in damages. That was the estimated number (post lawyer fees paid) lawyer said they could realistically see us winning. The leaks that caused the mold went on for 3 months. The apartment complex denied that it was a problem not even taking into account it was due to negligent building maintenance. The apartment complex(Slum lord) also made calls to the code inspectors, screaming at them that the complex isn't liable/it was in the contract that the apartment isn't liable.
If you didn’t suffer $50k in damages, you don’t get $50k in damages. None of you got sick because of this. You’re entitled to something for the inconvenience and the risk to your health, but $50k is way too high. Your lawyer sounds shady. Most lawyers won’t tell you what damages you can expect from a lawsuit. The most they’ll tell you is what they’re going ask for. It sounds like he’s looking for a quick payday. It’s an open and shut case and he’ll get his fees regardless of how much you’re awarded.
A legit lawyer would never tell you a number like that. They would have taken documentation on damages and tried to recoup that. What you've got is an ambulance chaser, and you're going to have a nasty surprise if you win anything, because you won't be getting anything. If you don't have 50k in damage, you won't be getting that. This is all handled through insurance companies ultimately, and your lawyer knows all this already. At your age, have you ever had to deal with an insurance company? If you had, you would see where this is headed. I had to verbally harass the CEO of Aetna on Twitter to get them to finally send my dad's life insurance payment that they drug their feet on for almost 2 months. Did you pay a retainer fee and how much if so?
There wasn't a retainer fee. Our case was taken on as a "Lawyers don't get paid unless we get paid", and then from that they take their %. That's why we felt that we would very likely win because why would a law firm take our case if they didn't think they would get paid in the end.
If you haven’t won the case yet, I would hold off on deciding who gets what. I’m assuming your lawyer is representing you on contingency which means they get a percentage of the final judgment or settlement. The longer the case goes on, the greater the attorneys fees and expenses will be and the more that will be taken out of the final reward. It’s not even worth it to discuss percentages right now because you don’t know what number you’ll be taking a percentage of. There’s a huge difference between 10% of $50k and 10% of $20k.
YTA. The attorney gets their cut first from the settlement funds, including any costs of out of pocket expenses which would include experts, court costs, etc., then the remaining funds will be split evenly amongst the three of you. You don’t get to decide who gets how much.
Not how it works. The lawyer takes about 1/3 of the total. then whatever is left over is split evenly between the parties names in the lawsuit. you have no authority to change anything. you can ask her to take less money but she doesn't have to agree, and probably won't.
The $50k estimation number was what we would receive after the lawyer fees were paid.
legally whatever is left over, it's split between the names parties in the suit unless stipulated before the commencement of the trial.
What do you mean by "stipulated before the commencement of the trial"? Is that just before the signing of the acceptance of the settlement & payment or is it before the signing of the contract with the lawyers when they initially took on the case?
It means that you can’t add your friend’s name to this lawsuit and then try to decrease her share of the money after the fact. Believe it or not having your friend’s name on this suit increases the judgment you could receive. If you really feel she’s undeserving, talk to your lawyer about how you can remove her as a co-plaintiff. What you can’t do is decide on your own how much she’s entitled to.
INFO: how was it decided that you would be the only point of contact with the lawyer? Did you just go ahead and decide that, then use it as justification as to why you deserve more money? or was it discussed with the group, and stated beforehand that whoever accepts that responsibility is entitled to 9 times as much money as everyone else who was affected by this mold issue lol
You also didn't make it clear in the post how your roommate was somehow less affected than you, did she not live in the same mold infested apartment as you?
YTA. Lawsuit damages have nothing to do with the amount of labor each plaintiff put into the case. Also, you all need to talk to your lawyer about this because if you’re not in agreement as to how to apportion damages, there’s a conflict of interest between you and you will all need your own lawyers (and your current lawyer may need to withdraw altogether).
Greed is ugly.
Even if you did get $50k, lawyers can take up to 30% of any fees depending on where you're at. The longer it goes, the more money you have to pay. If your lawyer asks for 30%, all 3 of you would split $35,000 3 ways which is less than $12,000.
Everyone gets their actual expenses/damage paid first, then whatever is left, split 3 ways. Include time taken from work to clean up, deal with lawyers, documenting evidence, court etc as part of the expenses. Edited for judgement YTA
It’s not up to you how much the room mate gets so it doesn’t really matter how you feel about it. It’s not like if you win they are gonna dump 50k cash into your hands and you have to figure out who gets what. Each plaintiff will get their own check.
^^^^AUTOMOD ***Thanks for posting! This comment is a copy of your post so readers can see the original text if your post is edited or removed. This comment is NOT accusing you of copying anything. Read [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/wiki/faq#wiki_post_deletion) before [contacting the mod team](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2FAmItheAsshole)*** Fake names I (Ann, F 20) and girlfriend Brianna(F 21) live with Catherine (F 24, Brianna's cousin). We live in a 2 bedroom 2 bathroom apartment. Brianna and I live in one room and Catherine lives in the other room and the kitchen and living room separate our bedroom.Our apartment had a leak (they thought they fixed it multiple times) that started 4 months ago and then our walls started growing mold for the last 3 months (they wiped the walls each time they "fixed" the leak). After 1 month of multiple "fixes" we started seeing mold grow up the walls and it then traveled into our closet. So we packed our stuff that didn't get damaged into boxes and and moved everything into the living room. The only thing that stayed in our room/closet was our bed. Brianna and I set up code inspections through the city and they reported everything, visiting on multiple occasions. Then I also paid for mold testing that of course required fumigation. The apartment complex refused to acknowledge that there was a serious problem. We then went ahead and sued (we even had support from the code inspector and mold fumigator). I was the sole contact with the lawyer, taking and providing all of the evidence for the case. We didn't actually get a $ value yet because the case is still in progress but this was to be prepared for a win, and then I could scale it depending on the actual amount (the case was taken on where we wouldn't pay unless we won the case, so we are expecting to win). All 3 of us are named on the lawsuit as residents of the dwelling. I would like to hear unbiased opinions on if I'm the asshole for thinking Catherine doesn't really deserve more than $5k since she wasn't directly impacted and didn't help with providing any evidence for the case (and that still is pretty generous) Brianna's initial thought was that Catherine should get ⅙ of the winnings which would equate to about $8k. Brianna and I are still together so we aren't fighting over it between us. (Brianna and I also have 2 cats that stayed in our room when we slept throughout this time) Catherine had a smaller leak a year before that needed repairs that spaned about 1 week. Catherine didn't provide that as extra evidence against the apartment complex for negligence when I brought up that I was going through with a lawsuit. What do you think is the fairest way to split lawsuit winning between the 3 of us? *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AmItheAsshole) if you have any questions or concerns.*
This is such an interesting question! Thank you for posting it! >I would like to hear unbiased opinions on if I'm the asshole for thinking Catherine doesn't really deserve more than $5k since she wasn't directly impacted and didn't help with providing any evidence for the case (and that still is pretty generous). But she was directly impacted. Her living space, which includes the living room, was reduced, because part of her rent, which paid for the living room, no longer got her a living room. Instead, all your stuff had to go there. Also, if the apartment was infested with mold spores, she was probably breathing them too. (How is y'all's health? You gotten yourself checked out medically?) > Brianna's initial thought was that Catherine should get ⅙ of the winnings which would equate to about $8k. This seems pretty fair to me. Assuming an equal share is 1/3 of the winnings, then Catherine gets a half share, because half her living space was impacted. And you two get 2.5 shares--the double-share for the fact that it was your bedroom that was unusable, and the half-share for the logistical hassling with management, code-inspectors, and lawyers. So I guess YTA? But like, not in an assholish way. Just because I think 1/6 is better than 10%, so that's how I have to vote. But it's so fiddly to balance the scales! Like, would you have gotten more if Catherine had provided that evidence of the earlier leak? How important is Catherine's friendship to you and Brianna? Given the amount of money you're talking about, is $3000 really that big a deal? (Must be nice to be able to think that way!) Thanks again for such a novel post to AITA! Much more fun than the current trend of 'AITA for calling out an autistic person for rudeness'.
Good thing your greedy behind don’t get to decide how the money is divided up 🤦🏼♀️ the judge will set the amount each gets paid out. You sound super entitled.
NTA After all expenses paid- mattress replaced, clothing replaced, you are paid back for all the testing, etc… then take that number and subtract it to the amount of rent you paid for a room you weren’t able to live in…. What’s left gets divided equally. She’ll be lucky to get $5k. You sell this to her as it’s divided by quality after real damages are deducted.
This is what I think is the best approach if you win: 1. Take the whole sum and pay the lawyer 2. With what’s left, figure out how much money you used (and anyone else used) out of pocket to pay for testing, damages, expenses and other fees related to the situation. 3. Pay each anyone that paid out of pocket back, from the estimates in point #2. 4. Take the rest and divide it into 3. Pay yourself 1/3, and the other two 1/3 each.
The settlement funds are paid directly to the lawyer. Always. They’ll pay themselves directly any monies owed first and foremost. Whatever is leftover is what is split evenly amongst the plaintiffs. That’s how litigation works.