now a Fox 5 exclusive a class action lawsuit against a National Property Management Company filed right here in DC residents of 2m apartments on M Street in Noma are fed up with avanath Capital Management a California based investment firm that TS its management of affordable housing apartment buildings across the country you have to hear their stories to believe it just harassment by neighbors or physical assault or threatening drug activity in front of our building residents of the building selling and buying the drugs this wasn't this didn't happen before 2m residents say things started to go downhill when the original property manager WC Smith sold to avanath Capital Management in December 2021 Paul Williams moved into 2m in 2016 and two years ago his worst nightmare happened inside April of 2022 I experienced a medical emergency in my unit um I was able to contact the um EMS however the building failed to provide um a key for my unit which they are required to do so they weren't able to access my unit so they had to call the fire department to break down the door Zachary Phillips and his partner faced a different kind of nightmare this is uh basically happening all over the building this is black mold it's growing it's it's worse today that it ever has been and it'll continue to be that way Philip says they told management multiple times about the mold and and it was never resolved they moved out last week and he says they can literally breathe easier now Richard Williams was rushed to the hospital where he says they thought he was dying then the doctor gave him one last check Dr Daniel Burn you know came down for to check me for the last time and he saw the fluid I was spitting out and he he got me to spit in the cup and took the fluid and he come rushing back in I was 85% full of mold Williams doctor wrote a letter to the management company telling them Williams needed to move but to no avail just weeks ago Fox 5 told you about a man lighting a neighbor's apartment door on fire while she was inside with her son a neighbor woke up to her apartment being lit on fire that tenant still lives in this building the theas salent the arsonist the attempted arsonist who tried to light our building on fire with everyone inside still lives here because a vanth can't get it act together the 2m tenants Association filed the lawsuit back in March but it's technically not a class action until a judge says so a spokesperson for avanath Capital Management says we place Community safety at the top of our priorities and are actively working to improve conditions for our residents and neighbors alongside local authorities and Community groups they're committed to keeping residents informed about these initiatives and welcome feedback so what exactly is a class action lawsuit you've probably heard of them related to environment or harmful products the most famous class actions maybe against the tobacco industry for misleading Generations about the harmful effects of smoking or the 20 billion doll case against BP for the environmental damage during the deep water Horizon oil spill class actions are when one person or group of people suit on behalf of a much larger group who all suffer similar harms from the same conduct and judges take a close close look at these filings before they agree that a class action can proceed AKA certify the class and there are actually Four requirements to have a class action numerosity that just means that enough people are harmed that it would be impractical for them to sue the same company one by one commonality the people suing and the harm they're suing over has to be similar there needs to be common legal and factual issues among class members three typicality the people representing the class they have to have claims that are typical of all class members and adequacy of representation pretty obvious but the people representing the class and the lawyers doing the work have to adequately represent the interest of the entire class you are now ready to take the bar exam Charles Ross the lawyer representing the 2m tenant says they expect to have a certification hearing early next year A lot of times tenants don't really know where to go for help right A lot of times you look you expect to speak to your property manager and when you don't get those results then you have to go to plan B and that's where I come in and this isn't where avanath legal troubles end in New York City legal nonprofit tapate rou Justice is helping tenants in one of aanat Brooklyn buildings file for rent reductions after they faced similar housing conditions that's according to City Limits and last October avanath Affiliates entered into a consent decree with the Department of Justice over allegations they violated the Fair Housing Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act at their locations in Maryland