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Fire victim felt coerced into signing away rights
A family says the property management company over the Reserve at LaVista Walk forced them into signing away their rights just to get back their belongings. They were one of hundreds of families driven out of their homes after a fired gutted out the apartment building just before the holidays.
ATLANTA - A family says a property management company forced them to sign away their rights just to get back their belongings. They were one of hundreds of families driven out of their homes after a fire gutted The Reserve at LaVista Walk. They’re part of a class action lawsuit, alleging a damaged fire-suppression system and negligence on the part of the property owners.
Christine Wimberly says she had to sign a waiver saying she wouldn’t sue the company, Avenium, just so she could collect what little she had left.
Fire gutted the apartments earlier this month. "It was the scariest moment of our lives," Wimberly said.
Robert Stokes and Charnelle Gunn are accused of starting the blaze. Wimberly says her family lost almost all they owned. "To lose everything like this one day to another is just heartbreaking," she said.
From left to right: Robert Stokes and Charnelle Gunn (Credit: Fulton County Sheriff's Office)
Wimberly says days later, she and her husband tried to salvage whatever they could. But she says Avenium told them they’d have to sign a waiver if they wanted to collect their belongings.
"If we didn’t sign that waiver, we would’ve not been able to go back inside," Wimberly said. "It said that you will not be able to sue us."
Wimberly relented. "I ended up signing it because I just wanted to put everything behind and move on," she said, adding that she felt coerced. "It felt like we had to. We had no other choice."
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Reserve at LaVista Walk apartments fire aftermath
SKYFOX Drone shot these images of the Reserve at LaVista Walk apartments, located on the corner of LaVista and Cheshire Bridge roads, after a 3-alarm fire sparked by firefighters tore through half the complex. There were concerns of structural integrity on Nov. 13, 2023.
She says Avenium only gave a narrow window. "We had four hours to go inside our home and retrieve whatever we could retrieve," said Wimberly, who’s part of a class-action suit. It claims the building had a damaged fire-suppression system and management ignored residents’ complaints. The suit alleges the suppression system had broken control valves and corroded sprinkler heads and that Avenium was aware of the issues. "It makes me feel sad. It makes me feel angry," Wimberly said.
FOX 5 called and emailed Avenium numerous times for this and other stories. Avenium has not responded.
Wimberly says her family wants to be compensated for their pain, suffering and loss.