Products Liability
Millions of military service personnel and their families currently live in on-base military housing. A large percentage of this military housing has been privatized, meaning the housing units are managed by private companies through a contract with the government. Recent reports have found that on-base military housing managed by private contractors suffer from a number of common issues such as mold, lead paint, asbestos, and other potentially hazardous conditions.
Military families who suffered injuries or health problems as a result of poor conditions in privatized military housing can now file military housing injury lawsuits against the private companies that managed the housing. The national mass tort lawyers at Miller & Zois are currently accepting new cases from individuals who suffered serious injuries as a result of negligent management of military housing.
About Privatized Military Housing
When active-duty military personnel are stationed on-base, they must be provided with housing for themselves and their families. Traditionally, the government was directly in charge of building, maintaining and managing all military housing. In 1996, however, Congress passed a law called the Military Housing Privatization Initiative. The purpose of this new law was too improve the quality of military housing by transferring management of the housing from the government to private housing companies.
Today, private companies own and manage around 99% of housing on military bases and installations in the U.S. These housing companies are paid around $4 billion a year in rent allowances for these military housing units. The housing companies are subject to some oversight by the Department of Defense. However, in many instances, DOD’s ability to enforce its oversight authority is limited by contractual agreements with the private companies.
Reports Show Poor Conditions in Privatized On-Base Military Housing
Beginning in 2019, Reuters and other news outlets published a series of investigative reports detailing the poor conditions and slum-lord practices at privatized military housing across the U.S. These reports found that privatized military housing units were plagued by chronically poor and hazardous conditions such as:
- Faulty wiring
- Structural problems
- black mold
- lead paint
- poor water qualify
- asbestos
- Vermin and insects
Families living in these housing units suffered personal injuries and permanent health impairments as a result of these conditions. Moreover, the reports uncovered evidence that the private housing companies routinely ignored complaints about these conditions.
Military Housing Lawsuits
Military families who have been injured by dangerous conditions or forced to live in substandard private housing can file civil lawsuits against the private housing companies and get compensation. Plaintiffs in military housing lawsuits allege that the private housing companies breached their duty to provide reasonably safe and acceptable military housing and to reasonable repair and maintain those housing units.
A growing number of military housing lawsuits have already been filed against private housing contractors accusing them of failing to meet these basic requirements. The housing conditions alleged in these lawsuits include mold, lead paint, leaking pipes, sewage leaks, insect and rodent infestations and chronic disregard for maintenance requests.
Defendants in Military Housing Lawsuits
The defendants in these military housing lawsuits are not the government, but rather the private housing companies who assumed ownership and maintenance of the military housing under a contract with the DOD. There are 5 private housing companies that currently own and operate most of the military housing in the U.S.:
- Balfour Beatty Communities
- Hunt Military Communities
- Corvias Group
- Lincoln Military Housing
- Americas Lendlease
These housing companies are the primary defendants in the military housing lawsuits. Lincoln Military Housing recently sold its military housing properties due to mounting liabilities from military housing lawsuits.
State vs. Federal Jurisdiction in Military Housing Lawsuits
Military housing lawsuits can be filed in either state or federal court, depending on where the military housing was located. If the military housing was on a base or military installation that is classified as a “federal enclave,” then the military housing lawsuit would fall under the exclusive jurisdiction of the federal courts. However, for all other military housing lawsuits, the state and federal courts have concurrent jurisdiction. That means plaintiffs can filed in state or federal court.
Prior Military Housing Lawsuits
Over the last several years, a growing number of class action military housing lawsuits have been filed against private military housing companies accusing them of negligence and, in some cases, fraud.
Fort Bragg and Camp Lejeune Mold Lawsuits
Two class action lawsuits were filed in 2021 by military families in private housing on 2 North Carolina military bases: Fort Bragg and Camp Lejeune. These lawsuit allege that the private military housing companies that own and operate the housing on these bases have endangered the health of residents by allowing mold and related problems to persist in the housing units.
The lawsuits were brought against Corvias and other private housing companies in federal court in North Carolina. The housing companies moved to have the lawsuits dismissed, but that motion was denied by a federal judge.
Texas Air Force Base Lawsuits
A group of military families have also filed class action lawsuits against private companies that own and operate military housing at Sheppard Air Force Base, Lackland Air Force Base and Fort Bliss, in Texas. The lawsuits accuse the housing companies of gross negligence resulting in mold, asbestos, leaking sewage, and rodent infestations.
Fort Meade Mold Lawsuits
In 2019, a large group of military housing tenants at Fort Meade military base in Maryland filed a class action lawsuit against private housing company Corvias regarding substandard conditions in the on-base housing units. The lawsuit accuses Corvias of providing military housing that was infested with black mold as a result of the company’s negligent failure to properly maintain the housing.
The Fort Meade lawsuit claims that Corvias repairmen would simply wipe away visible areas of mold, without addressing the underlying source of the mold problem. The end result was that the mold problem persisted in the housing units, resulting in chronic respiratory health problems among residents.