Five UC Santa Barbara students, who were injured when a balcony collapsed in April 2013, will receive $1.6 million from the property management company of their fraternity house. Two other students settled in a separate case for $50,000.
The collapse occured when about 20 students were partying on the balcony during the middle of the day. The plaintiffs believe the property management company was negligent in dealing with problems that the deck had with dryrot and termite damage.
“Every case is different,” said the plaintiff’s attorney. “As the case went on, they knew they had problems.”
A termite inspection report, from February 2012, stated that there were signs of termites throughout the deck. Areas of dryrot and fungus were also noted. The report recommended that the deck be repaired and the entire building be fumigated.
Another witness also contacted the property management company about repairing the deck, four years earlier. He had told them that he could put his finger right through the wood.
It is a wonder that no one died in this case. In a similar incident, five students at UC Berkeley died after their balcony collapsed in June 2015. They believe that collapse was due to dry rot and construction defects.
Have you had your balcony inspected lately? Call us at (949) 631-7348 and we’ll schedule an appointment at your convenience.
