Americana at Brand buyer successfully sues Rick Caruso’s firm in small claims

A Glendale man has won $5,000 from Rick Caruso’s development firm in court after claiming his condo at the Americana at Brand was 78 square feet smaller than advertised.

Paul Abramson bought the apartment in 2011 for $567,000 thinking it was 1,338 square feet. Two months later, he found out from his neighbor that the units are actually 1,260 square feet, the L.A. Times reported.

In court, Americana Housing argued that a disclosure statement given to Abramson said the square footages in sales materials were “approximate.” But the small claims court in which the suit was filed sided against Caruso and ordered the developer to pay Abramson $4,999 in damages.

Abramson told the Times that he’d actually overpaid by more than $30,000 for the unit, but mistakenly thought the maximum he could receive in small claims was $5,000.

“It’s more of a moral victory, and at least makes this developer aware they can’t do the same thing to other consumers out there, because it’s out there now,” he said. “I’m happy that justice was served.”

Caruso Affiliated was recently granted approval to proceed with its massive Pacific Palisades project. [LAT] — Cathaleen Chen