A Chicago couple filed a lawsuit alleging that 20 cats in their downstairs neighbor's one-bedroom unit in Lakeview and the corresponding odors are reducing property values and violating condo association rules.
"The cat urine and feces odor emanating from defendant's unit have aggravated (the plaintiff's) cat allergies, and at times have become so offensive that plaintiffs have had to leave their unit for fresh air," according to the lawsuit filed Thursday in Cook County.
Johanna Torres and Matthew Greenberg allege that the woman who lives downstairs in the 500 block of West Surf Street has "defied all reasonable efforts to curtail the number of cats in her unit," even after the couple filed four separate complaints with their local condo association.
In addition to aggravating allergies, the couple says in the lawsuit the nuisance and odor caused by their neighbor and her cats has diminished the value of the condominium in which they've lived since 2003. Part of the problem, according to the lawsuit, is that the couple share a chimney with the neighbor, and that the neighbor's furnace closet is directly below their own.
Despite numerous improvements to their unit, including a new air conditioner, air exchanger and efforts to seal floors, the odors persist, according to the suit.
"As plaintiffs have learned, all their efforts to mask the odor cannot remedy the source of the problem: 20 cats urinating and defecating in 10 litter boxes in a confined space one unit below theirs," according to the lawsuit.
The couple is asking for more than $100,000 in damages.
The woman being sued could not be reached for comment Thursday night.
mmanchir@tribune.comTwitter @TribuneMM
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