3 Common Negligence Claims Between Tenants and Landlords

 3 Common Negligence Claims Between Tenants and Landlords

At Eisenberg Law Firm, we can answer your questions about landlord-tenant laws and let you know if you have a claim against your landlord if you are injured while on their property.

A Landlord Must Keep Their Property in Good Repair

A landlord can be held negligent or responsible for an injury if they did not exercise their duty of care to maintain the property in a reasonable fashion.  An example of this would be if the steps leading up to your rental house or apartment were in decay or loose and you inform the landlord of the problem, but they fail to fix it. If you then tripped or fell on the stairs because of the disrepair, the landlord would be negligent and liable to pay for your medical expenses and pain and suffering.  Any time that a landlord fails to keep the property in good repair, they are creating the opportunity for you to become injured.

A Landlord Should Warn You of Danger

A landlord could also be negligent for injuries if there was a dangerous area for which they failed to provide a warning.  For example, there should be warning signs to stay out of the area housing electrical equipment, and that room should be locked at all times. If they failed to have a warning sign on the door or keep it secure and your child was injured by entering that space, they could be negligent and responsible.

Your Landlord Must Keep the Property Secure

A landlord could also have liability if a tenant was injured due to the property being unsafe because of a lack of security.  For example, if they fail to secure the property and allow people to walk in off the street and assault you, your landlord could have responsibility and be considered negligent.

We Must Prove Negligence

In order to have a case against your landlord, you would need to prove negligence. In most cases that requires proving that the landlord either knew about the danger or should have about the danger, that they had the opportunity to correct it, and failed to do so. If, for example, you are injured on a slick sidewalk in the middle of a snowstorm, it would be unreasonable to think that your landlord would be able to salt the sidewalk fast enough to prevent your injury. However, if you are injured due to a decayed step, it would have taken time for the step to get into disrepair and your landlord should have been aware of the problem if they were properly maintaining the building. Or if there is an icy buildup over time, your landlord might be liable if you fall and hurt yourself.

Schedule a Consultation

The best way to find out if you have a legal claim against your landlord is to call our office and schedule a consultation.  We can provide you with sound legal advice.