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Help, please.....

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Finding a Property Attorney willing to take this on will be a job unto itself.

If your bldg. owner is "connected"; as I suspect he is, ...you will probably

need \ want to look outside of L`burg.

Also, from my experience, ...if you decide to pursue this issue, the property

owner may decide to NOT renew your lease........Been there, done that !

I DO encourage you to keep posting on here though !........Also, I would

suggest you send a PM to **jpranch** again and seek additional assistance.

He is a very good source of information and other resources.

Please bear with us, ...we ARE trying to assist you as best as we can.

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Sure looks like exit discharge to me. I cannot see any other exit from your building. They also seemed to think it was necessary to provide lights and handrails on the stairs leading to the pool area.
 
I need to tell you cda, there are two other buildings in this complex with stairs and they have handrails and lights. I think for some reason they forgot about this bldg. The location of this bldg suggests it was the last one put up. There is also a stairway that leads to the pool, and yes it has handrails and a light pole.
 
Thank you North Star. I cannot believe the kindness and information you all have given me. It may not surprise you that I've called several local attorneys and they have all said there is "a conflict of interest" and they cannot help me. The owner may not renew our lease. There is a bit of harassment now. Fortunately we have always been good tenants so they cannot do anything until lease time. For now we just go along with their demands....and try to keep on smiling. My husband took a bad fall, besides his teeth missing, he has cognitive brain impairment. He has an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering, a masters in systems management. He spent his entire career in the defense industry working with all 3 branches of the military. Since the fall he can no longer do simple math problems, and has spells of dizziness. He now gets lost driving to the grocery store. the local neurologist sent us to the University of Virginia for neurological testing. They all agree my husband does not have dementia or Alzheimer's but in fact he has a brain injury. So, I'm doing this alone, but I'm going to get it done. Gotta tell you all...I've done tons of research and that stairway is an exit discharge. Thanks for the help.
 
I should add we need an attorney will do this on a contingency basis. We cannot afford to pay one at the outset. So....it's a double battle, first to find one that does not have a conflict of interest and will do it on a contingency basis. It's all good; I am going to get it done.
 
Photo

View attachment 1005

I think I did it......this should be the picture. The handrail went in after the accident. They mad a point of saying they did it because they were being kind and not because they had to.....View attachment 1005

/monthly_2014_02/572953d1a488c_Picture10.jpg.c0241388fa5d3b52dddccb1199af2919.jpg
 
looks like they are only half done! You should be able to find an attorney willing to take the case, there is money to be made.
 
do not know the civil laws in Virgina,

But we have the atorney's on tv all the time saying we will get you a milliion dollars call "1-800- sue themhard"

No one on tv like that up there??? are you a member of aarp?? or similar group that may know attorneies???

Sounds like you want to recoup for damages and the pain your husband is going through, but it is related to the handrails
 
We do belong to AARP; I'll give them a try. No TV attorneys that will take it on w/o money up front. Because the Local Bldg. Inspector/Code office will not call it a violation of codes, both the handrail and lack of lighting, they want money now to pay for "experts". If the code dept. said, yes, code violation....if only, but no. I'm not giving up. I will fight this and we will win. We have never filed a claim before, never. You see people on TV doing it all the time.......like who knew my hubby would fall on a stairway owned by a very influential citizen. I'll keep you all posted. Thanks again.
 
""""""If the code dept. said, yes, code violation....a""""""

Just because one person says it is correct does not mean it is!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Where is your insurance company in all this??? they normally like to get thier money back. They should be fighting the fight for you also.
 
Red, Quick search turned up a Randall J. Trost Personal Injury attorney. free consultation and no legal fees up front, only paid upon winning a settlement.

Also Phillips, Morrison, Johnson & Ferrell.

How were those stairs navigated without a handrail in snow and ice?
 
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They say no violation because the stairway is part of the sidewalk. We do not have an insurance company. We have Medicare and we purchase a supplemental plan to cover what Medicare won't......but neither cover teeth. If you win your case then Medicare will take 2/3 off what they paid on your medical expenses. BUT they will not assist you in winning an injury case. We must have Medicare. Once you turn 65, and if you are still working, the company will no longer cover you with their group insurance. You are forced into Medicare.
 
I tried Phillips,Morrison,Johnson & Ferrell. They were the first firm I contacted and they told me.."conflict of interest". I will try Randall J. Trost. Thank you.
 
Looks like it is a private complex so no city streets. With that said the property manager should give you the name of the apartment complex insurance carrier and you file a claim directly with them. No attorneys needed. Make sure you get the policy number to reference.

If this property ever had an insurance inspection I am sure there would have been a recommendation for installing handrails on both sides of the stairs.

It looks like this stair is used by more than 1 dwelling unit so it would be a common stair and I believe would also fall under ADA or Fair Housing regulations.
 
mtiogcabin. It is used by all tenants, comprising eight apartments. It is the common exit.
 
If it were only that simple mtiogcabin. I have been dealing with the apartment insurance carrier. They are hanging their hat on the fact that the Lynchburg Bldg./Code department said no code violation.....hence no liability. That is why proving there should have been a handrail and light there is so important. Building Code violation is objective, while plain negligence is subjective and expensive to the plaintiff.
 
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***should have said building code violation is objective......negligence is subjectivie. Where is the edit button?
 
Page 65 of the 1975 BOCA code book, under Section 2, Definitions and Classifications, in section 209.3, it states that we are a R-2 structure.
 
I would agree that the stairs should have handrails on both sides at least for today's codes but I do not have the BOCA code books dating back that far to do any research. I'm not convinced that lighting is required unless its from a local ordinance. Now we could get into a discussion about exactly where the "exit discharge" is but to what point?
 
oldred said:
Page 65 of the 1975 BOCA code book, under Section 2, Definitions and Classifications, in section 209.3, it states that we are a R-2 structure.
Click to expand...
Please take a look at chapter 10. What dose it say about handrails on stairs? I was looking in the 96 BOCA Section 1014.7 and it required them on both sides. I used to have older editions but lost them all in the move to Wyoming. Dam!
 
I don't have chapter ten. I sent for what I thought were applicable sections. Ordered them from the Chicago IFC District office. I have Article 6 which is titled "Means of Egress". Think chapter 10 became means of egress after 1975. 602.1, page 167, NEW BUILDINGS: "Every building and structure andd part thereof hereafter erected shall have the prescribed number of exitways of one (1) or more of the approved types defined in this article. Exitways, in combination with the exitway access and exitway discharge, shall provide safe and continuous means of egress to a street or to an open space with direcrt access to a street".

615.5 STAIRWAY GUARDS AND HANDRAILS; "Stairways shall have continuous guardds and handrails on both sides, and in addition thereto, stairways more than eighty-eight (88) inches in width shall have intermediate handrails difiding the stairrway into portions nor more thean eighty-eight (88) inches ide. Stairways in one and two-family dwellings may have one (1) handrail."
 
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