Can the owner of a motel be sued for renting room that did not have carbon monoxide alarm installed?

While an owner of a motel in Oregon does have a duty to install and maintain carbon monoxide monitors and fire alarms, the bigger issue here is the liability for the source of the carbon monoxide that actually caused the death of the tenant or other person in the room. Under standard tort law, a landlord has a duty to maintain his or her property in a reasonably safe condition and can be liable for the failure to deal with reasonably predictable hazards. A secondary issue is whether the failure to maintain an active, operational CO alarm was in fact the proximate cause of the death. In order to make any further comment on the matter, we would need a complete factual history of the matter.

There may be a valid claim for wrongful death if the absence of an alarm was a significant factor in causing the death. As with any case, a thorough and comprehensive assessment by an experienced attorney is needed. You should contact an attorney to discuss the unique circumstances of this tragedy.