Long Beach : Renters of Rat-Infested House Win $62,500 in Suit

A judge has awarded $62,500 in damages and attorney’s fees to a Carson couple who sued their landlord charging that the central Long Beach home they lived in for two years was infested with rats and uninhabitable.

Sara and Clifton Atkins, who now live in Carson with their six children, won the award by retired state Court of Appeal Justice Vincent S. Dalsimer, who decided the case with agreement of both parties.

Los Angeles attorney Robert N. Jacobs said the testimony showed that landlords Raymond and Betty Spitzer of Long Beach failed to adequately maintain the home at 540 New York St. between 1983 and 1985 when the Atkins lived there.

“This case tells slumlords to get their houses in order,” he said.

Jacobs said the Spitzers spurned the family’s numerous requests to rid the house of rodents. The house, since renovated, had gaps in walls and ceilings where rats and mice could hide. Jacobs said the Atkins’ used big mouse traps to catch as many as they could.

At one point, one infant developed a rash over most of his body that was believed due to an allergic reaction to a rodent bite, Jacobs said.