Invitation Homes to pay $30 million over boy's near-drowning at rental pool

Carpenter & Zuckerman has secured a $30 million settlement from corporate landlord Invitation Homes Inc. in a catastrophic injury case involving a 3-year-old boy with Down syndrome who nearly drowned at a Highland rental property.

Attorneys allege the Dallas-based landlord ignored repeated tenant complaints about defective pool safety equipment, leaving the child with permanent brain damage and dependent on 24-hour care.

The case centered on Victor Angelo Hipolito, who on June 4, 2019, accessed a family member's backyard pool through a malfunctioning sliding door.

According to the firm, the door would not close properly, rendering the required pool alarm ineffective despite the family's repeated reports. Lawyers argued the setup violated California's Swimming Pool Safety Act, which requires at least two protective measures. The Highland property relied solely on door alarms that were inoperable without functioning doors.

"One of the many tragic details about this case was the effect from it occurring just prior to the COVID-19 outbreak," said Pejman Ben-Cohen, a partner and supervising trial lawyer. "After Victor was released from the hospital from his initial stay, he was transferred to a pediatric care facility called Totally Kids Rehabilitation Hospital. During COVID--I think the family said it was a year or maybe over a year--they couldn't even see their child. We wanted to make sure this would never happen again."

John C. Carpenter, name partner at the Beverly Hills firm, said Invitation Homes chose the least expensive safety option but failed to maintain it.

"If Invitation Homes as a corporate entity is going to choose the cheapest way to ensure pools are safe--ways that require working doors to operate--then it's incumbent upon them, if they're renting or leasing properties en masse, to make sure that the safety feature they've chosen out of available options the city provides, including having gates around pools and more durable options, works properly."

Victor has remained at Totally Kids Rehabilitation Hospital since the incident, with Medi-Cal costs exceeding $2.8 million. The settlement, attorneys said, will allow his family to purchase a home with accessibility features and to undergo training to care for him.

"What the family is now doing with the settlement is putting in motion everything we said they would: purchasing a house with all the accessibility features, going through all the training as parents--everything from removing the feeding tube and cleaning the breathing apparatus to CPR training--so they're prepared to bring him home and live with them," Carpenter said. "That's the beauty of the story through tragedy--this incredible family was able to push beyond the tragedy by envisioning a better and hopeful life beyond this case."

Carlos A. Hernandez, senior trial lawyer at the firm, emphasized that the case highlights the limits of public oversight.

"He had the will to live through a very difficult birth, the will to live as a child with Down syndrome, but most importantly, continued to demonstrate to his parents that he had a will to live even after this near drowning."

Ben-Cohen added, "For us, our goal wasn't about the money--yes, $30 million is a lot of money--but our goal was making sure we had enough money to bring this kid home so the family could take care of him on a daily basis."

Invitation Homes, which went public in 2017 and owns about 80,000 homes nationwide with a market capitalization more than$20 billion, did not respond to requests for comment.