Woman won $2.5 million from homeowners association after being denied permission to remove carpet from apartment
After more than ten years of fighting with her condominium homeowners association over the constant use of pesticides and their refusal to remove the carpet, which the woman said was harming her health, an Illinois resident won a federal court case and received compensation.
According to ABC7 Chicago, a federal jury awarded Prospect Heights resident Chris Kraszynski $2.5 million in a case filed under the U.S. Fair Housing Act. The lawsuit concerned whether the Rob Roy Country Club Village Condo Association failed to provide adequate accommodations considering her disability and health issues related to pesticide exposure.
According to the publication, as early as 2009 Kraszynski requested permission to remove the carpet in her apartment, stating that it contained pesticides harmful to her health. She provided letters from her doctors to support her claim, but the association denied the request.
Kraszynski reported that the carpet was never removed. Instead, in 2010 the association sued her, claiming she violated internal rules requiring apartments to have wall-to-wall carpeting.
ABC7 Chicago reports that a default judgment later resulted in nearly $600,000 in fines, court costs, and interest after Kraszynski missed a court hearing, citing illness as the reason.
The woman also stated that landscape pesticides and other chemicals continued to be sprayed near her residence despite her repeated complaints about the health risks.
According to ABC7 Chicago, the awarded $2.5 million is the result of a separate lawsuit against the condominium board and is intended to compensate for the health damage Kraszynski suffered due to prolonged pesticide use. However, the court decision does not require the association to stop using pesticides.
The publication notes that homeowners associations and condominium boards in the U.S. have repeatedly been accused of blocking changes that residents believe could improve quality of life or reduce costs.
"I hope to use these funds to create my own organization or charity to help people who are in the same situation as I am," the woman said.
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