Generally, landlords are responsible for making sure that their tenants’ homes are well-maintained and up to safety regulations. So if your landlord failed to meet these standards, and you were injured as a result, he or she may be accountable. The problem is, with something like carbon monoxide poisoning, there can be some grey area about who’s responsible. So the question is, is your landlord responsible for carbon monoxide poisoning?
If your exposure was caused by something like a broken furnace, pipe, or anything else a landlord is responsible for fixing or maintaining, the landlord is likely to be held accountable — especially if you notified them that there was a problem. If they refuse to fix a problem that you pointed out to them, and you end up getting hurt as a result, they will almost certainly be held accountable.
Things can start getting tricky when the carbon monoxide exposure happens because of an appliance or device that was not broken when you moved in. For example, let’s say you have a gas stove that was properly inspected right before you moved in. Everything was fine with the stove, but a few months later you accidentally damage the stove which causes it to begin leaking carbon monoxide. In this case, your landlord probably won’t be considered responsible.
The same is true if your stove was leaking due to a manufacturing problem. In this instance, you might have a case against the manufacturer instead.
North Carolina law requires that homes have carbon monoxide detectors. If your landlord did not install a carbon monoxide detector and you suffered carbon monoxide exposure, your landlord could be liable.
