Need advice from any DU lawyers re: Landlord safety violation

[Katherine Brengle]

Something very scary happened in my apartment today. My sister has been complaining for a few days that she thought she smelled gas from our space heater, but I couldn't smell it so I told her she was nuts. This morning, my 22 month old daughter was hyperventilating and coughing and crying uncontrollably, so I called my gas company and had them come and check for a gas leak.

The man who tested the heater told me that it wasn't gas--it was carbon monoxide--three times higher than the level a person can safely breathe.

Now, this is very troubling to me. He said that the problem was some glass in the front of the heater that was broken and allowing the cm to escape into the air. The glass has looked that way since I moved in here two years ago. Also, last year, my neighbors in the building told me that the woman who lived here before us moved out because she had carbon monoxide poisoning from the heater. I foolishly assumed that the problem had been corrected by the landlord before renting the apartment again, which it was not.

What I want to know is this--are there any grounds for a lawsuit against the landlord for endangering me and my family? This is not the only problem he has ignored in the building, but we could have died--my daughter could have died because of this.

If anyone knows anything about this, please let me know. Thank you.

[elehhhhna]

1. Call local legal aid.. And please, PLEASE, buy a

carbon onoxide detector. They're inexpensive and worth every penny.

[Katherine Brengle]

12. Okay, I called them as soon as I had everything under control but

it's a holiday so I could only leave a message.

I am going to buy a carbon monoxide detector this afternoon.

[elehhhhna]

25. We rented a house when we moved here to Houston suburbs--

it was in early March, really cold (high 30's!) and I felt nauseous afor the first week we were here. Then the furnace conked out. Repair guy said it was emitting a LOT of C. monox., and unit was replaced.

My kids could have died. We could have suffered brain damage. I understand how freaked out you are.

In this case the Homeowner/landlord had no idea--he's lived there himself 'til a few months before we rented it, and the hosue was only 8 years old. Given our climate, the heater wasn't exactly busy compared to up north. Turns out the TX hunidity is hell on the steel, it rusts, the rust piles up in fromt of something, and blocks the whatever thingy.

Get more info from the nosy neighbor--preferably in writing--re: the earlier problems.
That landlord sounds negligent as all hell.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

2. Get thee to a lawyer pronto!!

Make sure you take the names of the tenants who told you about the former occupant, and her name if you can get it. make sure you get the report from the gas company too. should be open and shut.

Good luck

[rfranklin]

3. MOre important--that condition should be repaired....

that should be priority number one...you can call the town and get him fined and forced to repair that condition.

[Katherine Brengle]

7. it has been repaired--i am calling the gas co. back in a minute to have

them come and retest it to make sure it is working properly.

[serryjw]

4. Get the hell of there NOW!

Go to a motel. This is deadly. Don't screw around with this. I am no lawyer but worry about that later.....or there may not be a tomorrow. People DIE from carbon monoxide poisoning

[Katherine Brengle]

9. We did leave--my daughter is with my mother in law right now and I had to

stay to be here for the repairman but I waited outside.

I am just so angry... My daughter is so small--she really could have died--we all could have...

[elehhhhna]

26. You may want Toots examined at the pediatrician.

Although she'd be sluggish or puking if there was a problem, IIRC

[proud2BlibKansan]

5. Call your local health dept.

[LostinVA]

6. Call the CITY'S inspection unit ASAP

Before you call a lawyer, and see what they say. If they do nothing, call Legal Aid ASAP.

[LiberalEsto]

8. Call your local health department ASAP

If there is a severe health hazard, the health department can force the landlord to fix it by not allowing him to collect rent from you until it's done. Of course laws vary by state and jurisdiction.

The health department might also be able to get you temporarily relocated in a hotel until it's fixed.

[Matariki]

10. not a lawyer but I'd recommend calling your local public health dept.

Or the local Fire Department.

I had a similar situation once with a gas leak. The difficult part was that it seemed like the exposure to the gas was affecting my partner and my ability to think clearly. The guy from the gas company came in without any meters or way to detect a leak, sniffed the air and said "I don't smell anything" and tried to walk out without fixing the problem. This was after both of us living there were having headaches that lasted for days at a time and our pet iguana died for no apparent reason. Like I said, I wasn't really thinking clearly and went ballistic on the guy, threatening to lock him in the basement until he did an actual reading with something other than his nose!

When I was clearheaded again, I realized that I should have called the fire department to get it resolved. There had been an explosion in an apartment building just that month from a gas leak, so I'm sure the fire dept would have had something to say about it.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

11. The Only Legal Recourse Is Forcing Him To Fix The Problem

Also Carbon Monoxide is odorless, so that still doesn't explain the gas smell.

Thankfully you guys caught the problem before anyone was harmed. Carbon Monoxide is extremely dangerous and I would recommend immediately going out and getting a good carbon monoxide detector. Everyone should have one.

[Katherine Brengle]

15. The technician from the gas company said that the smell was being

caused by a certain chemical burning, and wasn't the smell of carbon monoxide (which is, as you said, odorless), but that it was good that something brought our attention to it.

How can that possibly be the only legal recourse? By not maitaining this property the way he is required to, he put me and my family in serious danger. Since he owns the building and the heating systems, he is responsible for maintaining them.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

17. Yes, He Is.

And as you said it has now been maintained. The reason there is no legal recourse is because you would have no way of proving this has been going on longer than the immediate present. Because no one was injured and he did fix it immediately, there is no recourse. If you had fostered complaints in the past about it not working properly and he refused to fix it which caused the problem to persist and caused harm to a member of the premise then there would absolutely be a legal recourse.

I don't like it any more than you do, but I'm fairly confident the only legal action that could've been taken was forcing him to make the repairs. Since that has been done and done promptly, I don't believe there is any other action to take.

[Katherine Brengle]

22. Thank you---

there is actually a second problem that the second inspector found when rechecking the heating system--a crack in one of the chambers inside the heater that allows the fumes from the gas jets to escape through the ventilation system, so this still needs to be repaired--I think the first guy missed it because he thought he had found the source.

Right now it is turned off waiting to be replaced and we have some electric heaters running to keep the place warm--I'm just glad it wasn't a lot worse.

Also, it turns out that Massachusetts recently passed a law requiring all landlords to have carbon monoxide detectors installed in all rented apartments, but it doesn't go into effect until March 31st. I'm going to call him back tonight and ask that he have one put in immediately so this doesn't happen again.

What a day...

[elehhhhna]

29. there is further recourse if his actions were negligent :

if he knew it was emitting C monoxide and did not repair it or inform the tenant...uh oh for him legally and karmawise.

[Warpy]

13. A lawsuit will require some legwork

such as contacting the woman who moved out due to CO poisoning, the gas company to find out if they'd identified the leak as being the same when she moved out as when you contacted them, and collecting enough backup testimony from both sources to prove you weren't responsible for cracking that glass (which is what a sleazy landlord who knowingly rents an apartment with a bad heater will try to say).

A lawyer can be of great assistance in showing you how to do these things and many will work on contingency.

If that landlord knowingly rented an apartment with a heater that was pumping out CO, then he is liable. Oh boy, is he liable!

Good luck and go get him.

(and do get that CO detector. They're generally around twenty bucks)

[EFerrari]

14. I am a landlord. First, be safe! Turn that heater OFF and

get a different way to be warm!

Second, in my state, tenants have to notify a landlord in writing about a problem and the landlord has 30 days to fix it. After that, the tenant has several options.

But please tell us that you are turning that thing OFF FIRST!

[Katherine Brengle]

16. oh yeah, it's been off for hours. n/t

[EFerrari]

18. Thank you, Katherine.

I lost a fiance to CM poisoning.

Look, when you get over this trauma a little, call your district attorney's office. They may be helpful. Also, if you're willing to disclose your state, maybe someone here can point you to resources. I'm in CA.

I'm SO glad you and yours are safe. :hug:

[sandnsea]

19. Oh my gosh

Bless your heart, how terrifying! :hug:

State laws are all different, some states have terrible tenants rights. But if it's common knowledge that the previous tenant had carbon monoxide poisoning, then yeah, your landlord ought to be held legally accountable. BIG TIME. Regardless of whether you notified them because they were aware, or should have beeen aware, of this dangerous problem. It also sounds like routine maintenance would have caught the problem, and the landlord should be responsible for that too.

I'm just so glad your daughter is safe. :hug:

[Geoff R. Casavant]

20. I'll weigh in a bit here -

Enough others have posted about turning it off, getting it fixed, etc. that I won't labor the point.

Regarding a suit against the landlord, tho, you first need to ascertain that he was even aware of the problem. Just because the previous tenant moved out does not necessarily mean she notified the LL of the specific reason, and your question doesn't indicate whether she ever gave such notice. It is also possible that whatever damage to the heater that caused her CM problem is not the same damage that caused your CM problem - it might be a different part of the system altogether.

By all means inform him now and suggest he might want to test the heaters in the other units.

[savemefromdumbya]

28. The landlord will now have to act by law

[Marie26]

21. Hope this helps

The most important thing is to ensure your safety - please make sure the carbon monoxide has gone to normal levels before you move back in. I can't give you specific legal advice, but I'd say usually the first thing to do is call the city's Housing Inspectors. They can come and make sure that the apartment is up to code, and know how to spot potentially dangerous violations. If there are violations, the city will order the landlord to repair it or he could face fines or even jail time. Also, you should notify the landlord in writing (w/copy for you) to prove you told him about the problems.

There could be potential legal violations here. If a landlord keeps an apt. in substandard conditions, the tenant can sometimes sue for a portion of the rent, or all of the rent, for the time that the violations existed. Also, if the landlord knew that these problems existed, that could create additional liability for negligence or unfair business practices. You could consult a lawyer, or call Legal Aid. Many times private lawyers don't bother with these types of claims, but Legal Aid attorneys are experts in landlord/tenant law & can help address any legal rights you may have. I hope everything works out, that sounds like a very scary experience.

[Katherine Brengle]

23. Thank you, everyone.

I just want to thank everyone who responded so quickly--I truly appreciate it. I was really worried and angry and what you all said helped me deal with the situation.

Thanks again,
KB

[dogday]

24. Get anyone who has lived there with you to

a Doctor now.. Tell them you have had continuous exposure to carbon monoxide. See if there are any health problems or maybe future health problems due to this exposure.... To sue and make it worth your while, you really need to show damages, which would be to your health....

Do that first and find out if you are ok. Contact legal aid if you cannot afford attorney, make the complex at least pay to fix the heater and the medical bills if there are no health problems....

[savemefromdumbya]

27. Happened to us a few years ago

We were getting severe headaches, dizziness and nausea for weeks and we thought it was flu but one day the CO detector started to beep outside our bedroom. I called poison control and asked what we should do. They suggested that we call the fire dept. and sure enough 3 firetrucks came out and they measured the CO levels. In the basement they wre 400 units and in the living room 200. We were lucky we had the CO detector. Apparently there was something cracked within the furnace. Since then we have CO detectors on every level.

[KT2000]

30. Medical help for child

If you are concerned your child needs to be checked out by a doctors, I suggest you do some homework first. Exposure related illnesses are seen as liability issues by most doctors you will see. Most will dismiss concerns and tell you everything is OK without testing, or doing the wrong type of testing. The reason for this is that many doctors position themselves with the party who would likely be sued in a liability issue. At the least they do not want the hassles that go along with such cases.
By giving you such an opinion - "No Problem" - they have contributed to your lawsuit whether or not you get a contrary opinion. The doctor issuing the contrary opinion is then villified in court, making the "No Problem" doctor the expert.

If you want to get your child checked out and get a more accurate opinion, look for doctors affiliated with "Physicians for Social Responsibility" or ask environmental groups if they know of doctors who can help. Do not rely upon doctor affiliated with the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine as they are corporate oriented.
The first order is to make sure the child is OK - but just know that doctors are keenly aware of the legal playing field, every doctor you see becomes part of the case (if there should be one) and not all are thinking of the health of the child first and foremost.