Many residents of Lindley Towers are still living in emergency shelter since the collapse on Sept. 14. Another lawsuit filed Wednesday seeks relief for the displaced residents.
The City of Philadelphia on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against the owner of the Lindley Towers apartment building that experienced a partial collapse last week, declaring the property an “ongoing danger,” and demanding repairs and a judgment of nearly $1.5 million for fines and other costs.
At the same time, a legal assistance nonprofit filed a complaint demanding relief for the displaced residents, many of whom are still living in emergency shelter.
Common Pleas Court Judge Anne Marie Coyle quickly ordered a hearing on Thursday morning for the defendants to respond to the city’s emergency filing.
City spokesperson Kevin Lessard said that the legal action was initiated “to hold the defendants accountable for the condition of the building,” and that the city “has provided emergency, temporary accommodations to those who had nowhere else to go while the legal process plays out.”
Philip C. Pulley, who is named as a defendant in both complaints and identified by the city as the owner of the building, could not be reached for comment Wednesday evening.
» READ MORE: A Fishtown pizza shop and part of a North Philly apartment building collapsed within minutes
An upper portion of the seven-story building at 1220 Lindley Ave. in Logan collapsed on Sept. 14, forcing the evacuation of about 100 residents. The apartments have remained unoccupied since then. No injuries were reported.
The city said in its lawsuit that Lindley Towers remains an “ongoing danger to the public health, safety, and welfare” and asked the court for an order “to abate the public nuisance at the premises” and have the defendants “correct all violations” and pay fines and inspection fees.
According to the city’s lawsuit, the building did not have a rental license at the time of the collapse and that the most recent rental license expired on Feb. 21, 2021.
» READ MORE: Photos from partial collapse at Lindley Towers
The city alleges that Pulley and other defendants “have failed to provide relocation assistance” to displaced occupants, and then only offered on Monday to help some of the residents.
The city also alleges the defendants have failed to provide an engineering report on the current condition of the partially collapsed facade.
According to the lawsuit, the property has been the subject of nearly 50 complaints in the last two years related to conditions at the building, and has been hit with six violation notices from the city.
The city went to court earlier this year and won a judgment on Aug. 16 of $927,800, according to the lawsuit. The city did not elaborate on the current status of that earlier case.
The lawsuit filed by the nonprofit Community Legal Services on behalf of the residents alleges that Lindley Towers has been infested with mice and roaches, and residents have suffered due to faulty plumbing causing leaks, broken refrigerators and stoves, flooding toilets, and mold.
The defendants named in the city lawsuit are Lindley Tower Realty Co. LP, Old Lindley Corp., Philip C. Pulley, Paul Early, SBG Management Services PA Inc., and Pacific Western Bank.
The same defendants, excluding the bank, are named in the Community Legal Services lawsuit.
The same day as the Lindley Towers partial collapse, a building with a pizza shop in Fishtown completely collapsed. No one was hurt in the latter.
L&I has previously acknowledged that well over 1,000 structures collapse on an annual basis in Philadelphia, though officials could not provide current figures. And some 2,000 more are added to the list of properties deemed “imminently dangerous,” although that list’s size is dynamic.
Clarification: This article was updated to clarify the number of structure collapses and the number of properties deemed “imminently dangerous” each year in Philadelphia.