{"id":349935,"date":"2026-06-25T13:06:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T13:06:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/349935\/"},"modified":"2026-06-25T13:06:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T13:06:09","slug":"cooper-apartment-tenants-still-waiting-for-legal-relief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/349935\/","title":{"rendered":"Cooper apartment tenants still waiting for legal relief"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the initial weeks and months after a six-alarm fire<\/a> displaced 834 tenants of The Cooper apartments near downtown Fort Worth in June 2025, residents rallied around each other. The neighbors held protests, a town hall and shared information in a social media group as they searched for answers about the state of their apartments and when they would be able to get their property back.<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s not the only thing they did. On August 6, 2025, dozens of residents filed a lawsuit against the companies and people who they believe are responsible for the fire, loss of personal property and emotional pain they say the fire and management issues caused.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat happened at The Cooper is unfathomable,\u201d Varghese Summersett attorney Katie Steele said in a statement at time of the lawsuit filing<\/a>. \u201cNo one should lose their home due to negligence \u2014 and then be shut out from recovering what little remained. This is cruelty piled on top of catastrophe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s where the lawsuits stand now, almost a year later.<\/p>\n

Who do the tenants want to hold accountable?<\/p>\n

The tenants\u2019 attorneys filled a lawsuit<\/a> in a Tarrant County district court against The Cooper Fort Worth LLC, the property\u2019s owner Lightbulb Capital Group, the previous management company Cushman and Wakefield, new management company RPM Living, electrical contractor Cano Electric Inc. and company owner Larry Cano, as well as Armando Rodelo, the electrician who worked on an HVAC unit and replaced a breaker on the day of the fire.<\/p>\n

The Star-Telegram reached out to the defendants\u2019 lawyers for comment for this story but did not receive a response.<\/p>\n

Dozens of tenants initially signed on with lawyers and more followed later. Now at least a hundred former tenants are seeking more than $1 million in damages, with the amount to be determined by a jury.<\/p>\n

\"Fort Fort Worth firefighters helped collect personal items on Monday, June 30, for residents displaced by the June 23 fire at The Cooper apartments on West Rosedale Street. Glen Ellman Fort Worth Fire Department <\/p>\n

Some residents lost everything due to the fire and the subsequent mold caused from the water used in putting the fire out.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day, a lot of people just wanted their stuff, because a lot of the things can\u2019t be replaced through any sort of money or monetary compensation,\u201d Steele told the Star-Telegram recently.<\/p>\n

Tenants said they believe a prolonged lack of electricity and inability to retrieve items added to the level of damage and loss of property in their units.<\/p>\n

Some tenants previously told the Star-Telegram<\/a> they thought the insurance that they were paying as part of their rent would cover all damages. They found out after the fire what they were paying for was only for property damage that happened because of the tenants, or people visiting them, and did not cover any personal property damage due to fires.<\/p>\n

They said they felt misled by Cushman and Wakefield, and had they known, they would have paid for their own renters\u2019 insurance.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think my views on landlords and stuff are a little bit more radicalized now,\u201d said former Cooper resident Sid Telidevara.<\/p>\n

Telidevara said he was lucky to be able to find a new home from a private landlord and not a large corporation.<\/p>\n

The tenants also allege that their units were accessed and items went missing<\/a> during the period of time when they were locked out of their units by the management company.<\/p>\n

\"Residents Residents of The Cooper protest a lack of communication from the management and owners of the apartment complex on Monday, July 7, 2025. Residents, who have not been able to occupy their residences for two weeks following a six-alarm fire, were demanding to speak with management. Amanda McCoy amccoy@star-telegram.com <\/p>\n

\u201c There\u2019s not really any way of telling who or why or how things were stolen,\u201d Steele said. \u201cBut there\u2019s not a single client that I have that doesn\u2019t have some sort of theft claim or report that items were missing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not all the tenants suffered property loss. Those who lived in units farther away from the fire damage were able to retrieve a lot of their belongings.<\/p>\n

Steele said that it took until January of this year to resolve the issue of tenants\u2019 property being removed from the property.<\/p>\n

After signing a waiver acknowledging that items in their units may be contaminated and hazardous, the company allowed residents to have a moving company move their things out.<\/p>\n

Steel said that 18 clients who lived in the demolished units lost most of their things.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were allowed to get five items out of those units, but that was it, and trying to whittle down your whole life to five items is a huge ask,\u201d Steele said.<\/p>\n

\"The The Cooper residents protest outside the building in Fort Worth on Wednesday, July 23, 2025. Residents planned a protest to mark one month since the The Cooper apartment fire displaced its residents, leaving them without their belongings. Chris Torres ctorres@star-telegram.com What caused the Cooper fire?<\/p>\n

An investigation from the Fort Worth Fire Department concluded that electrical issues caused the fire.<\/p>\n

A maintenance worker told investigators that he was working on the building\u2019s HVAC units breakers and wiring on the roof when the fire started.<\/p>\n

According to previous reporting from the Star-Telegram<\/a>, fire department spokesperson Craig Trojacek said the structural design of the building\u2019s roof made it hard to extinguish the fire.<\/p>\n

Where does the lawsuit stand now?<\/p>\n

Cano Electric, the company whose electrical apprentice was working on the HVAC system on the day of the fire, has since filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.<\/p>\n

Steele said the bankruptcy filing temporarily put a hold on the lawsuit, but the hold has since been lifted and the case is now moving onto the discovery phase.<\/p>\n

According to Steele, the bankruptcy trustee is now dividing the company\u2019s assets, and the Cooper residents will likely only recover a small amount from the electric company.<\/p>\n

The lawsuit is expected to last well into late 2027 with discovery and other legal motions. A pre-trial hearing is scheduled for July 5, 2027, according to court documents.<\/p>\n

The Cooper Apartments has started leasing units in building two after remediating and refurnishing them according to Steele and tenants who saw the listing on The Cooper\u2019s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The new construction company that was hired by the company has filed commercial building permits with the City of Fort Worth to begin construction on the stacks of demolished units in building one of The Cooper apartments.<\/p>\n

William McReynolds, another former Cooper tenant, said that all the issues after the fire could have been avoided if the complex was run by a more \u201ccompetent\u201d management company.<\/p>\n

Willilams said when a company is responsible for peoples’ homes, they should have a plan or playbook for how to manage the property during a crisis.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like they very well could have orchestrated that in a manner that has their tenants best interest at heart,\u201d McReynolds said. \u201cI feel like that was absent in The Cooper\u2019s case.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related Stories from Fort Worth Star-Telegram<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Fousia Abdullahi<\/a><\/p>\n

Fort Worth Star-Telegram<\/p>\n

Fousia Abdullahi is a Fort Worth Star-Telegram news reporter who covers suburban cities including Southlake, Colleyville, Grapevine and Keller. She enjoys reading and attending local events. Send tips by email or phone.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the initial weeks and months after a six-alarm fire displaced 834 tenants of The Cooper apartments near…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":349936,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[116,118,117],"class_list":["post-349935","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-worth","tag-fort-worth","tag-fort-worth-headlines","tag-fort-worth-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349935","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=349935"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349935\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/349936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=349935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=349935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=349935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}