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Homeowners at San Francisco sinking high-rise sue developer

Associated Press
Published | Updated

FILE - This Sept. 26, 2016 file photo shows the Millennium Tower in San Francisco. The 58-story tower has gained notoriety in recent months as the leaning tower of San Francisco. Lawyers for San Francisco's Millennium Tower homeowners association will hold a news conference Wednesday, March 29, 2017, to announce a lawsuit filed on behalf of their clients. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File) (The Associated Press)

File - In this Oct. 3, 2016 file photo, stress gauges are placed along a wall with floor-to-ceiling cracks in the parking garage of the Millennium Tower in San Francisco. The 58-story tower has gained notoriety in recent months as the leaning tower of San Francisco. Lawyers for San Francisco's Millennium Tower homeowners association will hold a news conference Wednesday, March 29, 2017, to announce a lawsuit filed on behalf of their clients. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File) (The Associated Press)

File - In this Oct. 3, 2016 file photo, Jerry Dodson and his wife Pat stand inside their home on the 42nd floor of the Millennium Tower in San Francisco. The 58-story tower has gained notoriety in recent months as the leaning tower of San Francisco. Lawyers for San Francisco's Millennium Tower homeowners association will hold a news conference Wednesday, March 29, 2017, to announce a lawsuit filed on behalf of their clients. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File) (The Associated Press)

A homeowners association representing property owners at a high-rise in downtown San Francisco is suing the developers for failing to tell residents the condominium tower was sinking at an unexpected rate.

The Millennium Tower homeowners association filed the suit Wednesday.

It's the latest of several lawsuits related to a high-profile dispute over the sinking building that opened in 2009. Lawsuits involve the developer, the city and owners of the multimillion-dollar condos.

But Daniel M. Petrocelli, the lead attorney representing the homeowners association, says California law gives homeowner associations sole authority to pursue damages for structural repairs and retrofits. So he says a fix can only be accomplished through the HOA's lawsuit.