Offshore Rental Property Owners Found Liable for Electrical Burns Sustained by JMR’s Infant Client
A new decision from the British Columbia Supreme Court has found the offshore owners of a North Vancouver residential rental property and their local property manager liable for damages after a 10-month old infant was severely burned by putting a hazardous electrical extension cord that had been left in the suite behind a cabinet in her mouth during a game of hide and seek.
This was a horrific experience for Cora and our family,” said David Boyes and Jennifer Searcy, the girl’s parents. “We live with the consequences of the inaction and negligence of the owner and property manager everyday. We can’t go back in time to undo what happened to our daughter, but we hope that this case helps prevent other families from going through similar tragedies in the future.”
JMR Lawyers John Rice and Michael Elliott acted for the family in the case and made the following media statement following release of the the judge’s decision in the case:
“This is an important case for our community. Over the last several years our province has seen a significant increase in foreign ownership of residential properties, but not a lot of recent case law defining the standard of care expected of property managers, landlords and owners.”
“Our community functions best when everyone is aware of, and observes, basic civil codes of conduct. In the case of landlords and property managers, this means providing British Columbians with a reasonably safe place to live. We are pleased that the court recognized this principle.”
Media coverage of the case can be found here:
- http://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/north-vancouver-property-owners-manager-found-liable-for-infants-electrical-burns
- http://www.theprovince.com/business/north+vancouver+property+owners+manager+found+liable/11986427/story.html
Full Reasons for judgement in the case can be found here:
