The Region : Tenant Sues Landlord Over Rat Attack

Claiming she was attacked by rats in her apartment when she was seven months pregnant, causing her to miscarry, a Los Angeles woman filed a personal-injury lawsuit against her landlord. The Superior Court suit, which names building owner Lance Jay Robbins and other rental agents, also claims Gregoria Hernandez’s daughter, Alondra Ramos, was bitten and scratched by rats. Tenants of the building at 801 S. Union Ave. filed suit against Robbins earlier this year, seeking $10 million in damages and a court order to clean up the premises. But attorney Stuart Parker said Hernandez’s personal-injury case is a different approach to the problem. “Usually, habitability problems give rise to claims like emotional distress. You don’t often have a case like this accompanied by an actual injury740763424unspecified compensatory damages and $100,000 in punitive damages.