Derek Scheider, a former UW student, was awarded more than $8,600 in damages suffered in a lawsuit versus Madison Property Management Inc. this month.
The lawsuit marked the second large-scale case against MPM this month.
The other suit was settled last week and MPM was awarded $7,700 after four UW student tenants at 116 Broom St. were deemed responsible for unpaid rent. The students filed a countersuit in that same case, and MPM was ordered to pay the students $5,500 for illegally renting out the house as a four-bedroom.
Scheider's case ended April 5, but actually came about in the summer of 2004. During that time, Scheider lived in an apartment managed by MPM at 133 Lathrop St. and reported to Madison Building Inspection that the apartment needed renovations.
Scheider's Attorney David Sparer said the plaintiff was rewarded for rent lost during unnecessary renovations and attorney fees.
""The judge found that [MPM] had retaliated against the tenant and tore apart the apartment on purpose in retaliation for a call made to the building inspector,"" Sparer said.
According to the complaint, Judge David Flanagan ordered MPM to repay Scheider for damages suffered during the construction. Nearly $2,100 of the $8,600 MPM owes Scheider stems from damage to his computer and the loss of his tropical fish.
Michael Grieber, a member of MPM's corporate council, said it was ""improbable"" for both cases—one stemming from 2004 and the other 2005—to be settled this month. He said it was bad timing and pointed out those are the only two large-scale cases in the last seven years.
""They're fluke cases,"" Grieber said. ""When we have nearly 1,000 campus units to have two large lawsuits in a seven-year period is not even a blip on the radar the scene.""
Still, Grieber said in Scheider‘s case, MPM went in for renovations and decided it was appropriate to fix other problems as well. He said crews were in the apartment no longer than 10 days working on the ceiling.
""It's not uncommon, when we have work to do at a property, that we do more than what's ordered by the city,"" Grieber said. ""The issue became ... did those things render the apartment uninhabitable during the time of the work, and the judge said ‘yes.'""
