Brad Pitt’s troubled Lower Ninth Ward housing project is heading back toward court, with homeowners seeking to move their long-running fight over rot, mold and structural damage into a class action. The next hearing could determine whether residents can pursue those claims together instead of being forced to battle over each deteriorating house one by one.
WDSU reports that a class-certification hearing is scheduled for next Monday in New Orleans. The lawsuit, filed in 2018, alleges that Make It Right homes were built with materials and designs poorly suited to the Deep South, leaving some homeowners dealing with severe damage after paying roughly $150,000 for the properties.
The complaints go beyond peeling paint and an unfortunate repair bill. Homeowners’ attorney Ron Austin said residents have reported being unable to use their restrooms or invite guests over, while also being blamed for not knowing how to care for their homes, according to WDSU’s report.
Make It Right was created after Hurricane Katrina to build affordable, sustainable homes in the Lower Ninth Ward. The project produced more than 100 houses, many marketed as environmentally friendly and sold below construction cost, but residents later reported water intrusion, mold, rotten wood, electrical problems, plumbing failures and poor ventilation, as documented by The Guardian.
Pitt remains personally involved in the litigation, though the case has not established that he or the foundation is liable for the alleged defects. In an April ruling, the Louisiana Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal vacated a lower-court decision that had found two insurers owed no duty to defend or indemnify Pitt, saying the pleadings raised possible coverage for claims involving property damage, mold, air-quality problems and emotional distress, according to the appellate court’s decision.
The homeowners were once told the dispute could be resolved through a proposed $20.5 million settlement. That deal unraveled after Global Green, the nonprofit that stepped forward to fund it, did not actually have the money available, leaving residents waiting and sending the original litigation back into motion, Axios New Orleans reported.
What The Hearing Could Decide
Class certification is a procedural decision, not a verdict on whether the houses were defectively built. The judge will be weighing whether the homeowners share enough common legal and factual questions for their claims to proceed as one case, including whether the alleged design and construction problems affected residents in a sufficiently similar way.
If the class is certified, the homeowners could pursue a coordinated case involving damages, repair costs and other claims tied to the homes’ conditions. If certification is denied, residents may still have individual claims, but the legal fight would likely become more fragmented, expensive and time-consuming.
For Lower Ninth Ward homeowners who have spent years watching a post-Katrina promise deteriorate along with their houses, the hearing offers a fresh procedural milestone. It does not guarantee repairs or compensation, but it could decide whether the residents get to make their case as a group.
