$465,000 settlement paid to SLO County family who lost their home in 2023 storms
Three years after he and his family were forced to leave their Atascadero home after it was red-tagged due to irreparable storm damage, Aaron Spiller finally got the compensation he’d been fighting for.
Last month, the city’s insurer paid the Spiller family a nearly half-a-million dollar settlement after a jury found the city bore half the responsibility for the damage to the property.
Even so, David Fleishman, Atascadero’s counsel on this case, said the $465,000 the city paid out was “dramatically less” than what Spiller originally asked for.
That’s because Spiller was found equally responsible, so he received approximately half of the around $900,000 he ultimately sued for, which was down from a figure that had started out closer to $2 million, according to Fleishman.
“It’s really nice to just leave it in the rearview mirror, so we can just focus on other parts of our life,” Spiller told The Tribune. “You can imagine, you know, losing your house and all the equity in your house, and that just being up in the air for three years, that consumes a big chunk of your life. Just having it done is really nice.”
What happened to the Spillers’ home?
In the winter of 2023, San Luis Obispo County faced historic rains that caused an estimated $40 million in damage to county infrastructure.
In March of that year, Aaron Spiller’s home at 1210 San Ramon Road was deemed unsafe to occupy and condemned after heavy rainfall flooded Graves Creek, which bordered the property, eroding the bank so much so that it threatened the foundation of his house.
For the first year or so, the Spillers were uncertain whether they would be able to return to their family home, he said.
For months, the family of four and their dog crammed into a one-bedroom apartment. Eventually, however, it became clear they weren’t ever going to be able to return.
“It was definitely hard for both kids, having to leave that house,” Spiller said.
In September that year, Spiller filed a lawsuit alleging the city was responsible for the property damage because it failed to properly maintain the creek during the particularly heavy rain season.
They ultimately foreclosed on the property in fall 2025, and the family is now renting a small home in Atascadero until they can save up enough money and credit to buy another house in the city they love.
“I’m from Atascadero. I grew up here. I don’t have any plans to leave,” Spiller said.
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Spiller had bought the home in 2010 for $390,000, and rhe efinanced it in 2020 with a $416,000 mortgage. In March 2023, the pre-damage property was valued at $790,000.
But when the home was red-tagged and later foreclosed on, the family lost their equity in the home.
As of earlier this month, the home was listed by the bank for a mere $97,900. It sold on April 15, according to the real estate website Redfin.
At first, the lawsuit sought $900,000 for the cost to repair the property, but since Spiller no longer owns the home, he instead sued for the same amount for the cost and emotional distress of losing the property.
Family receives settlement after three years
Now, years later, the case has finally come to a close.
“It took three years to get there, but that was just the spot we were in,” Spiller said. “We had all this damage to our house, and the city wouldn’t do anything about it.”
The city and Spiller reached a settlement on Feb. 23, but did not disclose the amount to The Tribune until the payment was finalized earlier this month.
The case was dismissed with prejudice on April 3 — meaning it cannot be brought in front of a court of law again. The Joint Powers Insurance Authority, the city’s insurance provider, paid out the settlement in March, Fleishman said.
Fleishman said it was a “shame that so many taxpayer dollars had to go toward a case that should’ve been settled much earlier.”
“We’re just glad to close that chapter and move on to bigger and better things for the city,” he said.
This story was originally published April 22, 2026 at 5:06 PM.
