Manhattan women sue landlord for $1M over bats in apartment


Women say they found bats in their 640 Fort Washington Avenue apartment

Two tenants in Washington Heights are suing their landlord for $1
million after bats appeared in their apartment only a few days after
they moved in, the New York Daily News reported. Irene Katehis and
Dimitra Malliaros moved into 640 Fort Washington Avenue July 25, but
on July 31, a bat flew out at Malliaros from behind the curtains
on a bedroom window. Four days earlier a bat had been flying around in
another room of the apartment. A super managed to catch the bat in the first instance and
removed it, and the women complained after the second bat appearance.

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They had been paying $36,000 to Fairline Management in rent and fees
for one year. But according to the lawsuit, while the landlord had
promise to call them back regarding the problem, he never did end up
responding to them. Katehis and Malliaros, who have been staying with
relatives, said they had to get painful rabies shots after Katehis
noticed marks on her arm. “Plaintiffs have been experiencing severe
anxiety and are having trouble sleeping,” the suit states. Fairline
did not respond to requests for a comment. Other residents said they
had never seen bats in the building, but they had seen skunks,
raccoons and squirrels nearby. According to the bedbug registry, the first Google search result for the property, there have also been about 14 reports of bedbugs at the building. [NYDN]