Complaint Against Lindsey Management Shifts to Federal Court
by July 23, 2013 11:40 am 839 views
Fayetteville-based Lindsey Management Company Inc. has successfully transferred a case filed against it last year to U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas.
The suit, originally filed in Saline County Circuit Court in November by disgruntled former tenants, alleges that Lindsey rented out roach-infested and filthy apartments at the Fountain Lakes complex in Benton. The case was moved to the Eastern District on Monday and assigned to U.S. District Court Judge James M. Moody, according to documents on file with the court.
The suit says Lindsey violated the Arkansas Deceptive and Unconscionable Trade Practices statute and committed fraud by systematically showing tenants a model, clean apartment, but putting them into dilapidated units after the leases were signed.
Tenants who refused to sign a lease before seeing the apartment they would actually rent were denied the return of their security deposit, according to the suit.
Plaintiffs are seeking an unspecified amount in damages. Attorney Mickey Stevens of Benton, who represents the plaintiffs, said Tuesday he would try to have the case brought back to Saline County, where discovery rules might favor the plaintiffs.
He also said he will try to have the case certified as a class-action suit so that former tenants from as far back as five years can join the complaint.
Lindsey, in its argument to have the case brought to federal court, said the potential class of plaintiffs could exceed 100 people, that total claims could exceed $5 million, and that within the class of plaintiffs, some will no longer reside in Arkansas.
In addition to Lindsey Management, the defendants are Fountain Lakes, a limited partnership, and Fountain Lakes Management Co., entities controlled by Lindsey Management, according to the suit.