My Tenants Continuously Trespass on the Roof
As a tenant in an apartment building or rental home, you may not realize that your lease guarantees you the right to a certain level of safety and security. You should be able to go to sleep at night without worrying that a careless landlord has left you at risk for an accident or injury.
If you're injured while living in a rental unit, you may be able to file a personal injury lawsuit against your landlord or the owner of your apartment complex to help pay for your recovery.
For example, your landlord may be found negligent if they fail to maintain the front steps of your apartment complex and you slip and fall, or if they fail to adequately secure your apartment complex and a third party breaks in and harms you.
Premises liability basics
The area of law that determines whether a landlord can be held liable for an injury sustained in a rental unit is called premises liability law.
In general, there are two time periods when a landlord can potentially be held liable:
- Before giving the tenant possession of the rental property. Before giving you possession of a rental property, your landlord must conduct a reasonable inspection of the property for unsafe conditions. Your landlord must then repair any unsafe conditions that are discovered or should have been discovered. If your landlord fails to do so and you suffer an injury as a result of the dangerous condition, your landlord may be held liable.
- After giving the tenant possession of the rental property. It would be unfair to require your landlord to know about and repair all dangerous conditions after you move into the rental property given that your landlord doesn't have the right to enter your rental without your permission.
As a result, most states won't hold landlords responsible for injuries on the premises that are caused by dangerous conditions that came into existence after possession has passed to the tenant, with two big exceptions:
- When the landlord had actual knowledge of the dangerous condition (this is why it's important to tell your landlords about any dangerous conditions and give them a reasonable amount of time to repair them), and
- When the injury occurred in a common area over which the landlord has complete control (for example, common hallways, exterior stairs, elevators, and sidewalks).
Slip and falls in and around the rental property
One of the most common causes of tenant injury is a slip and fall accident. Negligence on the part of a landlord or property owner is often the cause of a slip and fall accident. For example, if your landlord failed to install proper lighting or failed to remove obstacles from a stairway, they are probably negligent if you slip and fall as a result.
Every year, thousands of people sustain injuries ranging from minor scratches to traumatic brain injuries as a result of slip and fall accidents. The National Floor Safety Institute found that 50% of all accidental deaths in the home are due to injuries sustained when falling. Injuries from falls account for more than eight million emergency room visits every year.
Slip and fall accidents can result in broken bones, spinal trauma and head injuries, leaving you with costly medical bills.
According to the National Safety Council, falls in the home most commonly occur in these areas:
- Doorways
- Stairs
- Ramps
- Ladders
- Areas that have uneven surfaces
- Crowded areas
Common causes of slip and fall accidents in rental properties include:
- Uneven flooring
- Moisture on floors
- Loose rugs or mats
- Worn out carpeting
- Freshly waxed or mopped floors
- Parking lot potholes
- Defective sidewalks
- Icy stairs or sidewalks
- Poorly constructed staircases
- Cluttered Floors
- Loose floorboards
Enjuris tip:Elderly tenants are more at risk than younger tenants of suffering injuries from a slip and fall accident at home. Here are some tips for preventing falls from the Mayo Clinic..
Proving fault in a slip & fall accident
Your landlord's insurance company may cover your injuries without any pushback, or you may need to hire a personal injury attorney to assist with your claim.
Enjuris tip:It's almost always a good idea to speak with a personal injury attorney following an accident. Most initial consultations are free. However, there are instances when hiring a personal injury attorney doesn't make sense.
To prove that a property owner or landlord is liable for your injuries, you'll typically need to establish that:
- A dangerous condition existed on the rental property,
- Your landlord knew or should have known about the dangerous condition, and
- Your injury was caused by the dangerous condition
To prove these three things, you or your attorney will likely need to collect some or all of the following evidence:
- Photographs of the dangerous condition
- Proof that your landlord was aware of the dangerous condition (e.g., an email, text, or letter informing your landlord about the condition)
- Medical records
- Surveillance footage
- Eyewitness testimony
Could you be at fault for your slip and fall injury?
As a tenant, it's possible to be partially at fault for your slip and fall accident.
You might be partially at fault for your slip and fall accident if:
- You caused the dangerous condition,
- You failed to notify your landlord about the dangerous condition, or
- You were running, intoxicated, or otherwise acting recklessly when you slipped and fell
States have adopted different approaches to determine how a plaintiff's degree of responsibility may impact their personal injury claim. Here are the four major approaches that have been adopted:
- Pure contributory negligence. In states that have adopted this rule, no damages can be recovered if you're partially at fault for your injuries (even if you're only 1 percent at fault).
- Pure comparative negligence. In states that have adopted this rule, the damages you can recover are simply reduced by your percentage of fault.
- Modified comparative fault rule (50%). In states that have adopted this rule, you must be less than 50 percent at fault to recover any damages, and your damages will be reduced by your percentage of fault.
- Modified comparative fault rule (51%). In states that have adopted this rule, you must be less than 51 percent at fault to recover any damages, and your damages will be reduced by your percentage of fault.
The eggshell skull rule
The "eggshell skull rule" holds that the defendant's liability won't be reduced just because the plaintiff is more susceptible to injury than the average plaintiff.
Example:
Tenant suing an apartment complex landlord for medical bills and lost wages after a slip and fall.
John returns home to his apartment complex after being on vacation for a week. It's the middle of winter and a snowstorm has created a thick sheet of ice on the apartment complex steps. Despite several complaints by others in the apartment complex, the landlord has failed to treat or remove the ice from the steps.
As John is walking up the steps, he slips and falls on his side. John, who has hemophilia, begins to bleed excessively. He is rushed to the hospital and misses 2 weeks of work as a result of the injury.
John sues his landlord for $100,000.
John's landlord argues that an otherwise healthy person would have suffered minor scrapes from the fall and he should only be responsible for paying the damages associated with minor scrapes.
The court holds that, under the eggshell skull rule, the landlord is responsible for all of John's medical bills and lost wages.
Find out more about the eggshell skull rule
Can your landlord be held liable for the criminal acts of a third party?
Landlords typically have a duty to use "ordinary care" to protect against "foreseeable" criminal acts.
You probably can't hold your landlord liable for your injuries if your apartment was considered safe and secure before a criminal unexpectedly broke in and harmed you.
On the other hand, you might be able to hold your landlord liable if your landlord failed to maintain even basic security systems (door locks, outdoor lights, etc.), or you told your landlord that you were at risk of being harmed and your landlord failed to take reasonable steps to prevent the harm.
Employees are the landlord's responsibility
Landlords must provide careful screening for both employees and tenants on their properties. If they don't, they could be held liable if a crime is committed.
Colleen M. Quinn runs the Women's Injury Law Center out of the firm Locke & Quinn in Richmond, VA, where she is a partner. The Center once provided services for a client who was raped, stabbed and left to die by a maintenance worker at her apartment complex.
Colleen and her client launched a civil case against the temp agency that employed the worker, which failed to do a thorough criminal background check on him, and the apartment complex that did not allow tenants to install deadbolts in their apartments.
Both companies were found liable and the woman received $3 million in settlement, which helped cover her therapy and other recovery needs, including her move to a house in a safer part of town with a security system.
Victims who are raped or assaulted in their own homes may not realize that there are potential civil recoveries that they can receive from their landlords. While there can be compensation in a criminal trial, it is often minimal compared to a potential civil case outcome, Colleen said.
She notes: "A civil lawyer can make sure that every stone has been turned over and that all remedies are looked into."
When is a landlord liable for injuries to a third party?
A landlord's duties to a third party (such as a friend or relative of the tenant visiting the rental unit) are similar to the duties a landlord owes a tenant. Once the landlord turns over possession, the landlord is typically only liable for:
- Injuries to third parties caused by dangerous conditions that the landlord knew or should have known about, and
- Dangerous conditions that exist in common areas
Although it takes only a split second for a fall or criminal activity to happen in your rental home, the physical pain, emotional trauma, and medical expenses can last for the rest of your life. When the situation was caused by your landlord, whether intentional or not, you may be entitled to compensation by filing a personal injury lawsuit.
Source: https://www.enjuris.com/blog/questions/landlord-premises-liability/
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