Second resident files lawsuit against Champlain Towers South Condo Assoc. after collapse
- A second resident has sued the Champlain Towers South management after the collapse last week.
- Steve Rosenthal alleges that the condominium association was negligent in fixing structural cracks in the building.
- He said that recent construction on top of the condominium was "the straw that broke the spine" of the building.
A second resident of the partially destroyed Champlains Tower South condos in Surfside, Florida, has filed a lawsuit against the condo association for a construction defect.
The building partly collapsed last Thursday, leaving 10 dead and at least 151 people still unaccounted for as rescue crews continue to search for survivors.
Steve Rosenthal, who survived the collapse, became the second resident to sue the Champlain Towers South Condominium Association. Unlike the first lawsuit, Rosenthal's is not a class action case.
In the lawsuit, Rosenthal sues the condominium association for its alleged negligence in fixing structural problems that arose and even added to the building's stress by adding additional weight to the roof.
"The search and rescue operation continues," Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said on Monday, adding, "Right now our top priority is search and rescue and find the people."
The condo building in Surfside, Florida, collapsed last Thursday, around 1:30 a.m. local time.
A separate resident had filed a lawsuit in 2015, arguing that one of the building's outer walls was poorly maintained, court records seen by Insider showed. Rosenthal's lawsuit similarly notes that several residents allegedly complained that the building would vibrate when the neighboring establishment was under construction.
"We do obviously need to identify why this happened," Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said on Monday.