By Marnie Eisenstadt
ALBANY - An 11-year-old Albany girl suffering from severe lead poisoning has received the largest-ever settlement in an upstate New York lead paint case.
The girl, known only by her first name, Rose, and her mother will receive $2.2 million through a settlement with the real estate company that managed the property, Albany County, and the estate of the woman who actually owned the property at 163 N. Lake Ave. in Albany.
Rose has permanent brain damage, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and other learning disabilities. She had to repeat second grade and is now in special education classes.
Attorney Peter Danziger, who represented Rose and her mother, said the responsible parties settled because they knew the case wouldn't play out in their favor.
"Defendants have finally realized that juries are outraged by grossly negligent conduct of landlords and property managers," said Danaiger, of O'Connell and Aronowitz.
Holland Real Estate Services has agreed to pay $1.4 million: Albany County, $600,000; and the estate of former owner Alberta K. Keator, $200,000.
Attorneys for the county and Holland did not return phone calls seeking comment.
Danziger has brought dozens of lead paint lawsuits against landlords and municipalities throughout the region.
In January, his clients in another case were awarded a $1.75 million settlement. In that case, a 7-year-old girl and an 8-year-old boy suffered permanent brain damage from lead poisoning.
Albany County agreed to pay $600,000 of that settlement.
In the case settled this week, Rose was initially exposed to high levels of lead when her family moved into the first floor of the North Lake Avenue property in 1992. A year after she moved in, the level of lead in Rose's blood was more than 10 times the normal amount, according to Danziger.
Rose had to be hospitalized and treated for lead poisoning.
Shortly before the child was tested, her mother had asked Holland Real Estate to repair a hole in the wall where there was chipping and peeling paint. The real estate company failed to do this, Danziger said, continuing to expose Rose to the sweet-tasting lead paint chips.
The Albany County Department of Health ordered the real estate company to fix the lead paint problem at the property and later approved of the work that had been done.
But the county later found that there was another problem with lead paint on the property and ordered the real estate company to again fix the peeling and chipping paint.
Rose and her family moved out of the North Lake Avenue property a short time later. But the apartment they moved into turned out to he no better, according to Danziger.
That apartment, at 314 Second St., also had a lead paint problem. When the county first inspected the apartment for lead, it found hazards but did not order the owner to fix them immediately. It was only later, after Rose again had elevated levels of lead in her blood, that the county ordered the landlord to fix the peeling paint.
Danziger said that though his various clients have received multimillion-doliar verdicts and settlements against landlords and municipalities, the lead poisoning rates do not seem to be decreasing.
"I just got another call today," he said.