Tenant falls through trailer floor, blames landlords

GALVESTON - After he reportedly injured himself in a fall at his rented Bacliff residence, Eddie Chatman pursues legal action.

Chatman's lawsuit, filed Aug. 20 in Galveston County Court at Law No. 1, blames Houston residents Tuong Trong Do and Tamy Tran as well as Rebecca Griffiths for the July 25, 2012, incident in question.

Do and Tran were the owners of the premises while Griffiths acted as a property manager.

The parties had a residential lease agreement dated June 1, 2012, in which the plaintiff rented a trailer for $500 a month through last July 1.

According to the suit, on July 25, 2012, Chatman fell through the floor of the trailer.

"The plaintiff was standing in the kitchen of said trailer when the faulty floor, which amounted to an unsafe and dangerous condition, collapsed under his feet," it says.

Chatman asserts the floor's structure was "made of wood and the surface of linoleum," adding it "was not sound as it was not capable of supporting the ordinary amount of weight and pressure that would be distributed across the floor due to tenants' foot traffic in the trailer."

"The defendants knew of the existence of the unreasonably dangerous condition," the original petition says.

"The defendants did not warn the plaintiff of the faulty floor prior to or during the plaintiff's tenancy."

Consequently, the complainant seeks unspecified monetary damages and a jury trial.

He is represented by attorney Rhiannon Kelso of the Modjarrad & Abusaad Law Firm in Richardson.

The case has been assigned to Galveston County Court-at-Law No. 1 Judge John Grady.

Cause No. 70,517