The owners of a Towson apartment building have settled a lawsuit brought by about 80 tenants after a Jan. 19 fire in which the building’s alarm and sprinkler systems allegedly malfunctioned.
James Kelly-Lieb, an attorney representing the Berkshires at Town Center apartments, disclosed the agreement Monday to a district judge in Catonsville, averting a civil trial scheduled to begin the same day.
The terms of the settlement are confidential. The tenants had sought remedies under a recent state law, the Tenant Safety Act of 2024, including lease termination, rent abatement and payment of relocation expenses, legal fees and security deposits.
“It has been a difficult time for these residents and we are pleased this case is now resolved,” the tenants’ attorney, Kenneth Frank, said in a text message Monday.
Edward Maher, a lawyer representing the Berkshires, said in an email that the settlement included no findings of liability.
“Defendants were happy to reach a fair resolution of the matter,” he wrote.
The tenants in February sued six LLCs that own the building, weeks after a three-alarm fire that hospitalized 14 people.
As the blaze sent dense, black smoke throughout the 12-story complex, the alarms and sprinklers never activated, the tenants alleged. A police report noted that water to the sprinkler systems on at least two floors was shut off for maintenance.
Without working alarms, tenants were initially unaware that the building was on fire, the lawsuit alleged.
By the time residents discovered the plumes of smoke filling the hallways, it was too late for many of them to escape. Some fled to their balconies or climbed onto 14-inch ledges outside the building, where firefighters rescued them by ladder.
There were no fatalities, but some residents suffered smoke inhalation, broken bones and post-traumatic stress disorder.
The lawsuit further alleged that building management knew of fire-safety issues at the high-rise well before the fire and repeatedly failed to correct them.
Baltimore County inspectors had issued warnings since 2024 that the building’s emergency systems were in disrepair, according to records reviewed by The Banner. Last summer, the building was fined $15,000 after inspectors found the backup generator and emergency lights didn’t work, the alarm system’s required inspection was overdue, and the fire pump, which boosts water pressure for the sprinkler system, was broken and later replaced without the required permit.
Even after the fine, the building lagged in completing many of the required repairs and failed additional inspections, records show. In December, weeks before the fire, the county Board of Appeals upheld the fine and called the building’s inaction “unconscionable.”
Citing the building’s long history of safety violations, residents filed the lawsuit under the Tenant Safety Act, which requires landlords to keep rental housing free of safety hazards and repair dangerous conditions within a reasonable time.
In a statement provided in March, representatives for the Berkshires called complaints about the building’s conditions “unsubstantiated and without merit.” Repairs took time because they were complex and some equipment was delivered to the wrong location, Maher said.
Police and fire reports listed the cause of the January fire as “undetermined.”
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