Legal Question in Real Estate Law in New York

Re: Landlord Responsibility

If the landlord has a "commercial general liability" insurance policy, then it almost certainly has a coverage called "medical payments to others" that responds when anyone (even a trespasser!) sustains injury in the building, regardless of whose fault it is or even if there is nobody at fault.

The problems here are (1) it's not your insurance, (2) the landlord may not even know this coverage would pay your bills (3) the landlord may think that it's an admission of fault and (4) the landlord probably did not notify his insurance carrier of the occurrence, which means that the company might not cover him for anything.

You certainly have a right to sue the landlord. You went to the hospital after being exposed to a lethal poison emitted by the landlord's equipment. You believe you have a "light" injury or no injury at all. That might not be relevant.

You should send the hospital bill to the landlord with a demand for payment and a request that he send the bill to his insurance company. Wait ten days to two weeks. If you are ignored, send a strong letter telling him that if you do not get a response in five days, you will proceed without further notice. Then file a small claims action. Sue for the jurisdictional limit due to your exposure to toxic fumes that sent you to the hospital. Get the medical record from the hospital. (you'll need it even if the record reflects that you need no further treatment.)

The alternative would be to go to a nearby shark (personal injury lawyer). You would be surprised at the kind of value these fellows are able to extract from cases that appear not to be very valuable.