• 28
  • July
    2011

For many renters, having a deck on one's apartment or condo is a huge selling point. There's nothing quite like sitting on a deck with an iced tea and the warm breeze blowing on one's face. For several Alabama victims, however, venturing onto a deck turned into dangerous disaster.

And the disaster at one apartment complex didn't happen just once last year; it happened twice within the same month. The various victims of the apartment complex's unsafe premises are still waiting for justice and fighting for it via personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits.

According to local reports of the negligence lawsuits, the first accident took place last year on Independence Day. An apartment tenant had some friends over. When they stepped onto the deck, the foundation of it collapsed, fell, hit the apartment's deck below it and crashed into the ground. One of the victims died in the likely preventable fall, and others were severely injured.

A couple of weeks after the Fourth of July collapse, another deck at the same complex collapsed. This time, no one was killed, but one victim sustained injuries and is now part of the personal injury suit filed against the apartment complex, its owners and management.

Exactly how much the plaintiffs are seeking through their legal action is undisclosed, but sources do indicate that plaintiffs and defendants have been in communication, specifically regarding victims' medical bills related to the deck collapses. If mediation between the parties isn't successful, then a trial will ensue in April of next year.

Landlords and property management have a duty to keep premises safe for their renters. When a tenant gets home from a long day at work, he should be able to feel safe within the walls - and on the deck - of the residence that he works hard to pay for.

When there is an update in this Alabama personal injury case, we will post an update.

Source

The Birmingham News: "Hoover deck collapse: Injured recovering, lawsuit unsettled," Veronica Kennedy, 20 Jul. 2011