Ceiling crashes on a sleeping woman
A WOMAN has revealed her horror after a ceiling collapsed on her while she was asleep as personal injury lawyers have issued a warning about not repairing damage or hazards at rental properties.
New Zealander Melissa Ware, 49, was visiting her sister’s home at Hollywell in October when the ceiling collapsed about 2am.
“I was fast asleep when all of a sudden there was a loud bang and I felt an enormous weight on top of me. It was pitch black, so I had no idea what was happening and panicked,” she said.
“I couldn’t see anything either until my sister and her husband opened the door to try to find out what the noise was, and a bit of light came into the room … they we shocked to find me laying under everything pleading for help.”
Ms Ware’s sister was furious because she said she had raised concerns about the ceiling cracking and sagging in the bedroom with their rental property manager about eight months earlier.
She said a maintenance worker had provided a repair quote after part of the ceiling had collapsed in another bedroom and narrowly missed an elderly relative.
“I kept contacting Ray White and asking them what was happening with it, but they kept saying they were waiting for a response from the landlord,” said Ms Ware’s sister.
“I was calling and emailing them for months, including just before my sister came to stay, but no one fixed anything. And this was after us raising the issue with them at every inspection we had over the three or four years we lived there.”
She said she phoned the real estate agency as soon as it opened the day of the collapse.
The property was ultimately deemed unsafe, and they moved out soon after. Ray White Runaway Bay principal Ali Mian said he was deeply sorry to hear Ms Ware had been hurt.
“We discovered the issues with the ceiling during a routine inspection by the property manager,” he said.
“We advised the landlord of the maintenance issue and had been waiting for instructions from the owner to engage a tradesperson. We are sorry that someone’s been hurt in this accident. The owner is undertaking a full repair and renovation of their property’s spare room.”
Ms Ware sustained head, neck and back injuries in the incident that had required pain medication and physiotherapy.
“Since this happened, I’ve experienced terrible anxiety, nightmares, hypervigilance and sleeplessness and I wasn’t able to go back into the bedroom at all … I’m constantly waiting for something else bad to happen,” Ms Ware said.
Slater and Gordon Public Liability lawyer Peter Adams said the incident highlighted the consequences of not listening to tenants’ concerns and conducting urgent repairs.
“Rental properties are legally required to be at a liveable standard for them to be occupied, so landlords and property managers have an obligation to ensure the property is not putting tenants at risk of harm,” Mr Adams said.
Mr Adams is investigating a public liability claim on behalf of Ms Ware against the landlord and real estate agency managing the property.