Landlord Charged With 4 Counts of Reckless Homicide

[Jason T.]

Read the story here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110502/ap_on_re_us/us_monoxide_deaths_landlord_charged

A landlord is being charged with 4 counts of reckless homicide after giving a tenant a portable generator to temporarily heat the house. Unfortunately, the tenant and her three children went to sleep with it on and never woke up. This is a very sad story but it brings to light an issue that all landlords need to be conscious of. First and foremost, you must provide your tenants with a safe living environment.

The landlord in this case is facing up to 20 years of prison due to his negligence. Aside from the financial hardship this will bring him and the potential for facing prison time, can you imagine living with yourself after an incident such as this? Yes, the tenant should have known better but so should the landlord have.

[Marc Freislinger]

From the article, it sounds more like a guy trying to help a friend. No good deed goes unpunished right?

1) The unit was not ready, but she ASKED to move in anyway.
2) He gave her his personal property while she (presumably) waited on the electric/gas company to turn on utilities. (It didn't say these items weren't working because of the landlord)
3) The "tenant" ran the generator inside the home, ignoring the labeling on the generator itself.

It's sad when people die, sure, but I'm not convinced the landlord is to blame in this case.