A recent South Carolina college graduate is nearly three-quarters of a million dollars richer after winning a legal dispute with his landlord.
In September, a jury found that the property management company behind Rowan Apartments unlawfully moved Ansel Postell’s property, violated the South Carolina Unfair Trade Practices Act, breached a contract, and was liable for negligence.
As such, Postell was awarded $230,000 for damages sustained and $462,500.24 in punitive damages.
Postell initially filed his lawsuit in 2022, when he was an honors student at Benedict College, an HBCU. In the court docs, Postell claimed that, leading up to the expiration of his lease, he received an email with move-out instructions from an employee at the leasing company.
Postell said he forwarded the leasing company’s email to his mother, who proceeded to renew her son’s lease and pay six months of rent. However, when Postell returned to the apartment, he allegedly found the unit empty and his belongings missing.
Upon notifying his mother of the situation, employees at The Rowan allegedly admitted that Postell’s “personal belongings were improperly removed and also not stored correctly and were therefore ruined or destroyed.”
In conversations that followed, The Rowan employees allegedly “assured Postell and his mother that the items would be replaced or just compensation would be given.”
When that didn’t happen, Postell and his mother obtained legal counsel. As a result of the situation, the docs claim that Postell had to deal with replacing and paying for missing items and missed days school, thus putting his scholarship at risk.
The amount of damages is equal to two years of interest at 8 percent per year, Postell’s lawyer, Todd Lyle, told The State. Two years ago, Lyle offered to settle the case for $75,000. He said the defendants countered with an offer of $7,500.
“I’m glad I was given the opportunity for this to be taken up in court,” Postell told the outlet, “and the jury was able to make a decision on the evidence that we provided.”
The Rowan and its lawyers have yet to speak out about the ruling.
The post College Grad Wins Nearly $700k After Landlord Throws Out All His Stuff appeared first on VICE.
The post College Grad Wins Nearly $700k After Landlord Throws Out All His Stuff appeared first on VICE.
