In this tragic case, our legal team was able to help a family from out of town who lost a husband and father in a dangerous and poorly managed parking lot. The management company of the strip mall allowed a tenant running a mechanic shop to alter the sidewalk to the strip center in front of their store to create a sidewalk. Then, the tenant created two vehicle bays in the strip mall space and used the sidewalk as its waiting room. There were no protections or warnings to prevent people from walking in front of the vehicle bays.

The lease prohibited using “common space” such as the sidewalk. But the owner and its management company did nothing to enforce the rules since the tenant paid rent on time. Unfortunately, our client was a customer of this business waiting to get his car inspected. A vehicle backing out of the vehicle bay without any warning or protection to the public struck our client. He suffered fatal blunt-force head trauma. After the incident, our legal team discovered that the owner of the mechanic shop deleted the video on the security system and moved our client’s vehicle to Kroger’s area of the shopping center’s parking lot. When our client’s family came looking for him, they lied about what happened. However, our legal team proved the truth. Unfortunately, the tenant did not have insurance as required by the lease, and only the management company was held responsible.