A one-year-old child was a tenant of defendant’s apartment when he was poisoned by lead paint (58 bdl). The defendant was a professional landlord with multiple rentals. The landlord admitted knowing about the risks of lead paint poisoning but claimed not to know that its apartment had lead paint. The apartment had chipping and peeling paint that went un-repaired by the landlord. The landlord further tried to claim that the child was not a legal tenant because he was a new grandchild who moved in after the apartment was rented.
The firm produced evidence that children’s toys were throughout the apartment and front yard when the landlord came to collect monthly rent, proving that the landlord did know that a young child was residing there. The firm further located, through a private detective, a previous tenant, an unwed mother who agreed to testify that the landlord did rent to families with children (they had rented to her and her four-year-old daughter). The defendant settled quickly thereafter for a confidential amount.