Suit claims Renters Warehouse violated Seattle's RRIO safety law, leaving dangerous conditions uncorrected.
BELLEVUE, Wash., Dec. 16, 2025 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Kode Law has filed a personal injury lawsuit in King County Superior Court (Cause Number: 25-2-35149-1 SEA) alleging that Renters Warehouse Washington, LLC and Vito Anthony Labellarte, IV failed to comply with Seattle's Rental Registration and Inspection Ordinance (RRIO), resulting in catastrophic, life-altering injuries to 45-year-old Pamela M. Ramos. The lawsuit was filed via Summons and Complaint on Monday, November 24, 2025.
Seattle's RRIO requires all rental housing to meet certain safety and basic housing maintenance requirements. Not only must rental property owners, or their agents, in Seattle register their properties with the City, they must Declare that the property meets, or if units are vacant, that they will meet the requirements prior to being rented. Then City certified inspectors will make sure all registered properties comply. The "RRIO Inspection Checklist" shows what must be inspected in a rental unit. Items with an asterisk (*) are serious issues that must be fixed before you can register, rent, or pass inspection. Items without an asterisk are minor issues—they should be repaired but won't stop you from renting or passing. Some of the issues that have an asterisk are interior stairs, handrails and guardrails, which are the subject in this lawsuit.
In the Ramos v. Renters Warehouse Washington, LLC, et al., the Complaint alleges:
- Vito Labellarte, the owner of the property, and his hired property management company, Renters Warehouse, knew that this law applied to this property;
- Each of them had previously registered at least one other Seattle property with RRIO; and
- Yet, neither registered the subject property until after the incident.
According to the filing, Ramos was an invited guest that entered her friend's home on September 10, 2022, and attempted to use the bathroom. The bathroom door was positioned directly beside an unlatched, unmarked basement door. The basement door opened away from one's body directly over a steep stairwell, with no landing to step onto, no handrail at the top or a guardrail. When Ramos opened the door and stepped in, thinking she was entering the bathroom, she plummeted to the bottom with no way to catch herself. Ramos fell down approximately 12 stairs and came to a rest against the exposed stone and concrete wall with her face in a pool of blood. She suffered catastrophic injuries requiring emergency spinal fusion surgery, extensive hospitalization, and continues to live with severe neurological impairments even today.
"This incident was no freak accident—it was a predictable result of a complete failure in property management oversight," said attorney Preet Kode. "Seattle created RRIO to stop exactly this type of preventable tragedy. Renters Warehouse, the expert in the field, ignored those safety requirements, and our client paid the price."
Renters Warehouse is a nationwide property management company that is operated and controlled by a Delaware limited liability company called RW OpCo, LLC. RW OpCo, LLC is owned and controlled by GA Technologies USA Inc., which is a wholly owned subsidiary of tech giant, GA Technologies Co., Ltd., a publicly traded Japanese corporation (TSE: 3491).
About Kode Law
Kode Law is a boutique personal injury firm based in Bellevue, Washington, representing clients throughout the state. The firm handles cases involving catastrophic injury, traumatic brain injury, motor-vehicle collisions, premises liability, medical negligence, and wrongful death. Kode Law is known for providing personalized representation and achieving significant results for clients, including multi-million-dollar settlements.
Media Contact
Vishal Kode, Kode Law, 1 (206) 312-2355, [email protected], https://www.kodelawfirm.com/
SOURCE Kode Law
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