Dorchester Center, MA asked in Personal Injury for Maine

Q: My entire family contracted Lyme disease in the yard of our rental property. There were multiple ticks in the grass yard

(Maine) Tenants were expected to mow the yard with equipment provided by landlord. We mowed frequently and there were still many ticks right in the yard. I informed landlord and he didn’t take any measures to control the ticks. (Spraying or other preventative measures.) We even relocated because there were so many ticks that it wasn’t safe for us or our kids to be in the yard anymore. We all were bit multiple times by ticks despite taking many precautions and performing bodily tick checks. We now all have diagnosis of Lyme disease - my husband, myself, and our 2 kids. I have missed over 4 consecutive months of work and am currently the only breadwinner. The landlord is aware that we left due to the ticks. He had told us we could renew our lease. We instead moved, even though our kids will need to switch schools and the rent at the new place is almost double what we were paying. Not only did we all get extremely sick, it’s cost thousands in medical bills and we are not even done yet.

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1 Lawyer Answer
Tim Akpinar
Tim Akpinar
Answered
  • Little Neck, NY

A: A Maine attorney could advise best, but your post remains open for two weeks. This looks like it could be a difficult case. Although your family experienced a genuine ordeal, the problem could be in establishing the connection between the yard and the disease. Ticks are pervasive everywhere. I believe that issue would be raised by experienced defense attorneys. But different attorneys could see things differently. You could reach out to law firms

in your area to discuss - that would be the most reliable way to evaluate the matter. Good luck

Tim Akpinar

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