San Fran tower developer sued by residents who say they were left homeless from TWO floods from pool

More than 50 residents of a luxury apartment in San Francisco are suing the building owner after becoming homeless over two massive leaks from the rooftop pool.

At least 400 tenants were evicted from 33 Tehama, a 35-storey apartment complex, after two summer leaks that dumped 20,000 liters of water into luxury rooms and hallways.

The plaintiffs are now demanding that Hines, the property’s management company, pay damages to each of them for alleged chronic mismanagement and fraud.

Rohan Mukherji, who had to evacuate along with his wife Saba Mirza, claimed that Hines deliberately misled residents about when they could return and about the maintenance of the high-rise buildings.

“It’s a chaos of just the lies and crap they’ve done because they’re incompetent and they just don’t know how to handle these things, or they’re just trying to facilitate some fraud,” Mukherji said. ABC 7.

The first leak, on June 3, flooded the apartment with 200,000 gallons of water after a pipeline leaked onto the rooftop pool of the high-end San Francisco complex.

Entire floors in the building were flooded, forcing residents to evacuate with little help or communication about what to do in the meantime

Residents alleged that the building’s owners, Hines, deliberately lied to them about the situation, accusing them of chronic mismanagement and cheating

According to the lawsuit, residents were startled on June 3 by alarms instructing them to evacuate after a pipe burst from the rooftop pool, causing water to spill throughout the building.

The residents, who paid between $1,400 and $6,000 in monthly rent, claimed Hines hadn’t adequately told them where to take shelter in the meantime or how long the maintenance would take.

The lawsuit alleges that Hines booked two downtown hotels on the night of the flooding, but residents said the temporary stay lasted just two days with no word on what to do next.

“They basically told us you can’t come back in and we don’t know when you can come back in,” Mirza told ABC 7.

Problems at 33 Tehama only escalated after a second leak from the same water pipe on Aug. 10, as some tenants in the building tried to regain their property.

After the floods, Hines said the building would not be habitable until 2023 and the company would stop all aid to residents.

Prosecutors said they were essentially “abandoned,” with many of them using their credit cards and savings to the max to survive, while others were “on the brink of homelessness.”

In a statement on the lawsuit, Hines said: Since the June water break incident, our staff has been working around the clock to assist displaced residents with emergency and permanent relocation options.

‘We have provided our residents with temporary housing and money for personal expenses. We also worked tirelessly to repair the building, enlisting leading experts to identify and address the building’s mechanical issues.

“We deny the allegations made in this indictment and we believe that in the course of the pre-trial discovery, the court and the public will understand the true magnitude of our efforts to help those who were forced to leave their homes during this unfortunate and unforeseen events.’

After the first leak in June, a second flood occurred on August 10, as residents returned to retrieve their belongings from the first incident.

Security footage from one of the resident’s rooms reportedly shows contractors snooping through their properties and stealing belongings

Hines denies all allegations, saying the apartment will be uninhabitable until 2023

The complaint against Hine’s ultimately alleges that the company “not only acted negligently in maintaining the building, but also knew there was a problem before the leak in June 2022 occurred and hid it”.

Residents allege that a city building inspector issued a violation notice against Hines for attempting to repair the pipes without permits prior to the leaks.

The company denies the allegations, saying that “all work currently being carried out is licensed by the city.”

The San Francisco Department of Building Inspection did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com’s request for comment.

In addition to the complaints against the company, residents also shared their outrage at apparent mismanagement when video footage on one of their security cameras reportedly showed contractors stealing from the damaged apartments.

Stephanie Sunwoo, whose apartment was shown in the footage, said her checkbook had been stolen, with two fraudulent checks being cashed.

“So now I kind of have an imminent fear of identity theft and my bank details are free,” she told ABC 7 while crying about her situation.

Attorney Nazi Fahimi, who represents some of the plaintiffs, claimed that Hines consistently misled residents and failed to provide proper answers

First opened in 2018, the 35-storey apartment complex offers a luxurious experience through co-working spaces, a spa, games room, gym and optional butler service to take care of odd jobs for residents.

“33 Tehama is marketed as the pinnacle of luxury, but is instead a tenant’s worst nightmare,” the lawsuit reads.

Attorney Nazi Fahimi, who represents some of the plaintiffs, convicted Hines for allegedly creating this nightmare and leaving residents with few answers and alternatives.

‘There’s a fixed theme where they didn’t get answers. Where they were essentially abandoned,” Fahimi told ABC.