Man sues co-living company Common after being housed with an accused serial killer

• Co-living company Common is accused of negligence in a new lawsuit.
• The lawsuit alleges Common housed a man with a "dangerous" roommate who was later charged with murder.
• Common disregarded safety concerns and requests for relocation, the lawsuit said.

Common, once North America's largest co-living operator, has been accused of housing a recent college grad with a "dangerous" roommate who was later charged in the serial killings of four people— and ignoring the grad's repeated pleas for help as he feared for his life.

In a 15-page lawsuit filed Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, William Castagna said that Common breached its duty to him when the company placed him with a roommate it knew to be "dangerous and unfit" and "ignored and denied" his requests to be relocated after he raised concerns about his safety.

"This is a case about a co-living real estate company that willfully disregarded its most fundamental role — to secure safe homes for its paying consumers," the lawsuit said.

Common, a New York-headquartered startup, was founded in 2015 and offered residents private furnished bedrooms in shared apartments. The company, which once operated about 7,000 units across more than a dozen US cities, filed for bankruptcy in late May 2024. At that time, Common announced that it would cease operations because it could not pay its debts.

Castagna said in his lawsuit that his housing ordeal began less than a year before the company filed for bankruptcy.

The lawsuit said Castagna's concerns over his housing situation started on his move-in day in August 2023 after Common placed him in a shared four-bedroom unit at the Los Angeles apartment complex, Common Elmwood, where Jerrid Powell had already been living.

Powell, 34, was arrested and charged later that year with four counts of murder in connection with the shooting deaths of three sleeping homeless men in Los Angeles and the fatal shooting of another man at a home in California's San Dimas. Prosecutors say the killings spanned a four-day period in November 2023. Powell, who remains held without bail pretrial at a Los Angeles jail, has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

"At the time Common offered a lease to Mr. Castagna, Common was already aware that Mr. Powell had exhibited abnormal and alarming behavior and had not paid his rent for over a year," the lawsuit said.

Representatives for Common and attorneys for Powell did not immediately respond to requests for comment by Business Insider for this story.

Castagna alleges months of living in fear

Castagna said in his lawsuit that during his roughly three months of living with Powell, his roommate displayed "erratic behavior," repeatedly made threats, including one to "slap the shit out of him," and stole his food. The lawsuit also alleges the torture of a dog inside the apartment.

In the lawsuit, which only names Common as a defendant, Castagna accuses the company of negligence and a breach of warranty of habitability.

"Common made absolutely no effort to try to investigate the complaints, to do any sort of safety assessment," an attorney for Castagna, Carrie Goldberg, founder of the Brooklyn-based law firm C.A. Goldberg, told BI.

Castagna said in the suit that Common forced him to "endure an untenable and unsafe living situation that continued to escalate in severity."

On move-in day, Powell "forcefully asserted" that he owned Common and later claimed he owned Nike and BMW, the suit said. Powell also claimed to be God, Castagna alleges in the lawsuit. With shards of glass scattered around the floor, it appeared that a mirror had been punched, shattering it, the lawsuit said.

A note was later posted on the apartment's front door stating that Powell owed nearly $18,000 in back rent, the lawsuit said.

Common tried to profit from Castagna's desperation, lawsuit said

Shortly after moving in, Castagna began contacting Common to raise his concerns about his living situation, the lawsuit said. He contacted the company for help on how to proceed with his "seemingly unstable and unpredictable roommate," but received no response, the lawsuit alleges.

Within a week of moving in, the lawsuit said Castagna contacted Common a second time, explaining that he felt unsafe within the apartment, but no one responded to him until days later.

In that email to Common, the lawsuit said Castagna reported that Powell was playing "extremely loud and disruptive" YouTube videos of goats in the middle of the night. Castagna said in the suit that when he asked Powell to lower the volume, Powell said, "What are you going to do about it?"

Castagna said in the email that he feared for his physical wellbeing, the lawsuit said.

Following repeated emails from Castagna asking to transfer units, the lawsuit said Common eventually told him there would be an up-to-$500 transfer fee and an additional security deposit.

Castagna had moved to Los Angeles for a new job at a biosafety lab in a children's hospital and did not have disposable money to pay additional fees or a higher rent, the lawsuit states.

The company treated the situation as "nonurgent" and told Castagna there would be a 30-day waiting period before a transfer would be possible, the lawsuit said.

In the meantime, the lawsuit states that Powell "became increasingly menacing."

LAPD called after 'piercing sounds of animal distress'

On November 24, 2023 — just days before Powell's arrest — the lawsuit alleges that Castagna overheard "piercing sounds of animal distress" coming from Powell's bedroom, prompting Castagna to call the Los Angeles Police Department. LAPD records obtained by BI show that a 911 call was made on that date to the Common Elmwood complex for a report of animal cruelty.

The lawsuit said the LAPD knocked on the apartment door, which Powell answered, and police could not gain access.

"Mr. Castagna later saw an injured dog in the common area of the apartment with a prolapsed anus," the lawsuit alleges.

The lawsuit said Castagna contacted Common about the matter, and Common emailed Castagna the following week and said, "These allegations about Jerrid's treatment of the dog are false. There is no further action for our team to take."

Powell was arrested in connection with the killings on November 30, 2023, about six months before Common filed for bankruptcy.

The lawsuit said that it was not until LAPD officers broke through the apartment door on the day of Powell's arrest and briefly handcuffed Castagna "simply because he was living in the same apartment as an accused multiple-murderer and thus treated as an accomplice" that he was "freed from this endless loop of disturbance and fear."

"However, the emotional impact and psychological scars still remain very present and real in Mr. Castagna's life to this day," the lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages and a trial by jury, said.