 Three days after the disaster , the city sued the owners and managers of the building in the Housing Court due to a number of breaches in building regulations . Those named in the complaint included LG Properties , the company 's president Philip Pappas , and George <unk> , the contractor who built the balcony . The city was reportedly seeking $ 500 per violation for each day the structure was in existence , totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars , and a court order for the replacement of the balcony . The apartment block was legally uninhabitable until the balconies were replaced , as they provided mandatory emergency exits . The city 's Buildings Department inspected forty @-@ two other buildings owned or managed by Pappas and / or LG Properties for similar violations . The city also claimed that twenty @-@ one other buildings owned by Pappas had similar problems . They did , however , note the fact that he had since made " dramatic improvements " to all twenty @-@ one porches . 
