When a Landlord is Liable for Your Slip and Fall Case

You are renting an apartment and you’re happy to have freedom all on your own. However, you also know that when it comes to certain aspects of your home, your landlord has a duty to care for the apartment and owes you a certain duty of care. If something goes wrong, you have the right to request a change in the circumstances. So what happens if you slip and fall inside your home due to a dangerous condition that should have been fixed? Did your landlord know about the condition? What types of rights do you have?

Falls Inside and Out

Falls can happen anywhere inside and outside of your apartment. Perhaps there is a leak in the ceiling of your rental apartment and you slip and fall on the condition. Here’s the major question that will determine liability in these cases: Did your landlord know about the leak or should have known about the leak? Let’s take a closer look so you know whether or not they would be liable.

What if the leak just started when you slipped and fell, and both you and the landlord had no idea it had happened? If the landlord had not been notified because there was not enough time to do so, you will probably on the hook for your own injuries because the landlord couldn’t have fixed a leak they knew nothing about. However, if you informed your landlord of the leak multiple times and he or she promised to come look at it and never did, there is a good chance that they will be liable for your injuries. They had ample time to fix the condition but did nothing about it.

Now let’s consider the outside of your home to determine if your landlord would be liable for other aspects that happen on the property. Perhaps you slipped because there were icy conditions on the sidewalk going out the door onto the street. The sidewalk is part of the property, but you wonder if you can make a claim to recover because you aren’t sure if your landlord is liable for things that happen outside of the house. It really depends on what your lease says. If your lease states that your landlord is responsible for shoveling the snow, then they could be liable for not doing so in a prompt amount of time. If the lease states that you are responsible, then you have no right to bring a lawsuit because that was your responsibility.

In any event, you can see that it depends on the parameters of your lease or whether or not you notified your landlord about a condition. When it all boils down to it, you have a responsibility to let your landlord know about certain things, and your landlord has a responsibility to take care of the property to prevent harm.

After Your Fall

After a slip and fall accident, you should always take the time to document the condition of the property. You might be friends with your landlord, but if you go to court over these issues, you want to make sure that you have photographs and other reported evidence so that they don’t try to clean up the condition and make it look like it never happened or that it was your fault. At the Los Angeles Injury Group, we want to help you in your time of need if you have been injured on your property. Call us for more information on how we can help at 310-954-7248.

Sources:

https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/landlord-liability-slip-fall-injuries.html

https://accident-law.freeadvice.com/accident-law/slips_falls/fall_at_friends_apartment.htm

https://www.losangelesinjurygroup.com/