A family living near Beverly Hills has filed suit against their neighbors, who they say should pay for leasing their home as a short term vacation rental to people whose presence contributed to a mass shooting at the home that traumatized the family and the neighborhood.
Leon and Sarah Chen filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court against Marc Fineman, Avital Fineman and a family trust associated with the two individuals.
The Chens live in a Los Angeles neighborhood with their two young children.
"On January 28, 2023, in the middle of the night, around 2:30 a.m., the Chens were awoken by gunshots, screams of terror, shouting, and knocks at their door by fleeing victims," the suit says. "Bullets sprayed across the Chens’ property, including one that flew through their front window, merely feet
away from their 4-year-old’s bedroom, which hit one of the Chens’ bedroom walls."
Three people who had rented the house next door to the Chens for the weekend were killed in the shootings, the suit said. The home was owned by Marc and Avital Fineman, "either individually or through the Fineman Family Trust of which they are the two co-trustees," according to the suit.
The Finemans moved out of the house about a year before the shootings and hired an agent to manage short term rentals, the Chens allege.
"What ensued was a stream of short-term renters moving in and out of the Fineman Property, loud parties, drug use, traffic, and other disturbances about which the Chens and their neighbors complained to the Finemans on multiple occasions," the suit said. "The disturbances did not stop and culminated in the horror that occurred on January 28, 2023. This kind of party-house use of the Fineman Property is not what the Chens expected when they bought their dream home, and it is not what the city of Los Angeles allows under the Ordinance governing short-term rentals."
The Chens are seeking an unspecified dollar amount for property damage,loss in value of their home, the cost of installing security measures and emotional distress. They are also seeking legal fees.
The Chens are represented by attorney Marc S. Williams, of the Cohen Williams law firm, of Los Angeles.
Chen v. Fineman, Los Angeles County Superior Court, 2:23-cv-08269.