The owner of a leased Van Nuys home violated his duty to provide a safe living space to a 73-year-old tenant killed when a stove exploded and the 2021 tragedy was indeed foreseeable, according to new court papers filed by the man’s relatives.
The Van Nuys Superior Court lawsuit stems from the death of Michael Stephen Sexton, who was trying to ignite a range in a garage of the home when a gas leak allegedly caused and/or contributed to by defective component parts was followed by a fire and explosion that killed the man on Feb. 5, 2021.
The plaintiffs are Ryan Stephen Beltz and Rachael Marie Beltz, the son and daughter of the decedent. Attorneys for the landlord, Ronald Conover, previously filed court papers contending that there are no triable issues in the case, saying that the plaintiffs’ claims are unsubstantiated, that the “tragic” explosion was unforeseeable and that Conover’s conduct was not a “substantial factor” in causing Sexton’s death.
But in their new court papers, the family members state that when Conover purchased the residence, he discovered the undisclosed converted garage which contained a kitchen area, a bathroom and a combination living area and bedroom, according to the plaintiff’s attorneys’ pleadings.
Based on the fact that the converted garage was not disclosed in the sale of the property and not shown to him when he toured the property, Conover knew or should have known that the conversion was illegal, the family’s attorneys’ court papers further state.
“Regardless of this knowledge, Conover installed a gas stove in the kitchen area of the converted garage and began illegally renting out the space without registering the unit with the Los Angeles Housing Department and without performing a reasonable inspection,” the relatives’ lawyers contend in their court papers.
Sexton was preparing food in the kitchen area when the explosion occurred and he told paramedics before he died that he attempted to light the stove when it exploded, according to the family’s lawyers’ pleadings.
Conover had a duty of reasonable care, even more so as a “rogue landlord,” according to the relatives’ attorneys’ pleadings.
But according to Conover’s attorneys’ court papers, Sexton never made a complaint or request for repairs that went ignored and the Beltzes cannot show the stove leaked for any measurable period. Conover is sympathetic to the plaintiffs, but he is should not be blamed for what happened and he did not have “constructive notice” of a dangerous condition just because Sexton was killed while living on the defendant’s premises, the Conover attorneys further maintain in their court papers.
Conover installed the stove in 2014, made sure it was working and made no modifications or repairs between the installation and the explosion, according to his lawyers’ pleadings.
Judge Elaine W. Mandel has scheduled a hearing on Conover’s dismissal motion for March 25.