A $19.25 million settlement has just been announced (October 20th) and awaits court approval in a class action lawsuit between Essex Property Trust and former tenants who claimed that the company withheld security deposits in violation of state laws. According to the Times of San Diego, the former tenants also claimed that they were charged for work performed by third-party contractors without receiving invoices.
One man said that he was charged almost $2,000 by Essex, but when he received an invoice directly from the contractor, he found that the actual fee was just $907. Other tenants said that they had been charged for work that was never performed.
The cash payout is only part of the story, though. According to one of the attorneys who worked on the case, Essex will also forgive $8.7 million in turnover debt for tenants…