Carbon Monoxide

[Dwayne Buckner]

Hi Friends, I am writing this quickly, as I have to leave for the hospital soon. My nephew was recently taken from his apartment almost DEAD. THANKFULLY, someone check on him, as he was late for work. It was quicly determined that he had been exposed to CO gas--the heating company confirmed the unit was faulty. He almost died. He was life flighted to the SF bay area where there is a hyperbaric O2 chamber-- with a huge bill. I spoke with the landlord who claim he had never had his heating units expecteds (natural gas) and "Not my fault:. Where do I go??? Should a landlord have an occassional heating inspection where natural gas is concered. More later when I get back from the hospital. Thank you for any input--this happened in California. Without having time to read the statutes, I believe the liability to maintain and have inspected the heating/cooliing systems lies on the landlord.. Your opinion please.

[Michael Rossi]

Of course, you're right Joe (some of that Ohio common sense) and that is part of the reason from my original sarcastic post. However, this incident DOES provide a useful lesson for any new landlords on the forum. TENANTS AND THEIR RELATIVES ARE ALWAYS LOOKING TO MAKE A BUCK VIA THE "LANDLORD LOTTERY" (suing the landlord for anything and everything).

As the others have said, the landlord could have had this unit inspected and it pass with flying colors. Ten minutes later the heat exchanger could crack and flood the apartment with carbon monoxide. Yet, the relative of the renter (and maybe the renter himself) will be thinking of how to sue the landlord even before they dial 911! SAD!

In our socialist society, NO-ONE is responsible for themselves. The tenant could have bought a carbon monoxide detector if he thought that was an issue. Why didn't he? If he expected the landlord to know when the furnace was going to fail, then I think the TENANT should have known when it was going to fail. He lives there - doesn't he? Or more appropriately, maybe the socialist government in Oregon or Kaleefornia (wherever this happened) should have known ahead of time. I thought that they were protecting the sheeple from cradle to grave! Sounds like a breakdown of our beloved government to me! Maybe they should pass a new law requiring furnaces to be inspected weekly!