MIAMI GARDENS, FLA. (WSVN) - Residents that were burned out of a Miami Gardens condo building are filing a lawsuit claiming that more should have been done to prevent that fire.
This has been extremely difficult for more than 200 families who are named in the lawsuit. Some of them are still staying at the Betty T. Ferguson Complex, located at 3000 NW 199th St.
On Wednesday morning, Yolanda Strader, an attorney representing the main plaintiff, Shekita Whitfield, as well as the other victims of this fire, told 7 News that they’ve filed a class action lawsuit in Miami-Dade circuit court last week.
It’s on behalf of the victims of the fire that ruined many homes at the New World Condominiums in Miami Gardens.
Strader said the lawsuit proves negligence from those in charge of the community.
“Including, but not limited to, the failures to address a number of fire code violations, the failure to secure proper fire insurance or adequate insurance for property and the failure to maintain a proper fire system,” Strader said.
7News has reported that the building didn’t get its 40 year re certification and hadn’t had insurance since November 2021.
That fire happened in late January.
7News has been covering this story since then, and those families have repeatedly told 7News that they are struggling.
“I’ve never experienced anything like this. My situation is i’m going back and forth from the shelter, to my daughter’s, to a friend because trying to find a place to stay in Miami is ridiculous,” Whitfield said. “That’s why I’m still without a place. I can’t afford it.”
According to the Strader, the lawsuit stated that the condo association, its board of directors and the property management company failed to address things like fire code violations.
“We want to make sure that their stories are not lost, that they’re not swept under the rug, similarly to how their whole sense of security was swept up from underneath them once that fire occurred,” Strader said.
“Someone has to be accountable for this,” Whitfield said. “We keep hearing that there was no insurance, this and that, but we deserve, we’re the victim’s here, and, we deserve., we deserve help.”
This lawsuit is seeking more than $8.6 million worth in damages.
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