Landlords are supposed to keep up the dwellings and buildings they rent out to people. When a landlord doesn’t properly maintain buildings and grounds, serious injuries can occur. Sadly, some landlords don’t fix problems, even if the tenants let the landlord know of an issue. A recent case filed in Cook County Circuit Court brings this issue to light.
The lawsuit was filed by a mother who says her child was injured while closing an apartment window. She says that she told the landlord about the problem with the windows in her unit several times, but that he never acted on those notifications.
She alleges that the landlord negligently failed to repair the window, allowed the window to remain in a dangerous condition, and carelessly maintained the rental property. She is seeking costs plus damages of more than $50,000 in connection with the emotional stress and physical injury her daughter suffered when the window shattered as she was closing it.
There is never a good excuse for a landlord to not keep up a rental property. Landlords accept money in exchange for a property, so they should put in the money it takes to keep the place in good repair. This woman’s case shows what can happen when landlords don’t keep up a property. A child was injured and now her mother wants compensation for her child’s pain.
Any renter who has been injured because of dangerous property conditions caused on a rental property that were the landlord’s responsibility to fix might opt to seek compensation for the injuries. Determining the types of claims and amounts of compensation to seek will help to get the process moving along.
Source: The Cook County Record, “Injury from shattered window results in lawsuit against property owner,” July 2, 2014.