Legal Question in Personal Injury in Florida

We lived here about 2 1/2 months when the LR ceiling fell down; it was quickly repaired, then crashed down again 31 days later, 10X bigger, injuring my 70-yr. old veteran husband, as a huge piece of 1- 1/2" thick cemented sheetrock fell on him as he was sitting on our couch watching TV. According to the previous resident, the ceiling fell when they were living here, as well, so the management co knew about this recurring problem, which originated when their maintenance crew ignored a leaking water heater in the apt. above us. Our large fabric sofa (with a Simmons bed & headrest) & chairs were saturated with dark yellow, watery liquid , from the EPA website description, is most likely, a toxic chemical called chlordane. We, an elderly couple, were abandoned here to survive without assistance from the several much younger, healthier guys on the maintenance crew, so , twice, I cleaned up huge fallen ceiling disasters, with no reduction in our rent. A couple of months later, there is pink mold growing on our sofa. I was getting sick, but still had no idea about the chlordane or the pink mold. I suspected the AC in our bedroom & we had to cut the front removable plastic grill from the wall because maint. had sealed it with compound/plaster. Inside our bedroom AC, we found maint. had not removed the manufacturer's plug so the condensation could drain out. In the full, standing water, were huge spores, according to internet photos, Aspergillus niger or Stachyboctrys. James was bitten by a spider while sleeping (at home, in our bedroom) a week earlier, went to the doctor & was treated with antibiotics, which he has shared with me. We have now found our building seems to be infested with this spider. I took photos - I believe it is the Brown Recluse Spider. Please The management co has told us there is nothing they can do to place us somewhere else, and the owner has not called us back at all yet. We are elderly, with very little money & no where to go. Literally, we are afraid for our lives. Please help! James Dickson; 786-970-5609 or [email protected]


Asked on 11/16/15, 1:25 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Barry Stein De Cardenas, Freixas, Stein & Zachary

Writing on this website with your personal information is not going to get you the help you need. You need to consult with an attorney. There are several problems occurring. The failure to fix and now to exterminate the spiders. The second is the injury suffered due to the ceiling and the third is the injury suffered as a result of the bite. You need a personal injury attorney to assist with the physical injuries. Those would need to be permanent in nature to get any compensation. For the lease you need an attorney familiar with landlord tenant issues to review your written lease and walk you through the process of enforcing your rights.

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Answered on 11/16/15, 1:36 pm


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