Premises liability lawsuits can be filed against just about any owner or occupier of land provided that a person is injured on the land under unreasonably unsafe conditions that the owner or occupier knew or should have known about and fail to warn or neutralize the unsafe condition. Although landlords rent or lease their land to others, landlords can still be held liable in premises liability lawsuits under certain conditions and circumstances.
Landlord Negligence Resulting in Injury
Landlords have a duty to act reasonably under the circumstances. This includes maintaining common areas and repairing conditions that make the property unsafe. Landlords must check all exits and entries, common rooms, elevators, stairways, parking lots, and other common areas to ensure that unsafe conditions do not exist. When a landlord knew or should have known or is put on notice of an unreasonably unsafe condition and injury results, premises liability lawsuits can be filed by all that are injured. This includes residents, their guests, and in some cases even trespassers.
Criminal Activity
Generally, a landlord must ensure the safety of the rented or leased premises. Premises liability lawsuits are often filed after a renter is injured or suffered property loss as a result of criminal activity. Landlords have a duty to act reasonably under the circumstances of the criminal activity. If the landlord is aware that a rented or leased premises is unsecure, such as the lack of working locks on windows and doors, and a break-in occurs the landlord may be held liable. When there is a history of criminal activity on the premises and a landlord ignores the problem and someone is harmed, the landlord may be held liable if the landlord did not act as a reasonable and prudent landlord would have acted under like conditions and circumstances.
Landlord Liability for Nuisance
Premises liability lawsuits may be filed against landlords where a condition, under the control of the landlord, interferes with the use and enjoyment of the property by one that it is rented or leased to. This may occur in situations such as renting to a known drug dealer, ignoring complaints of constant loud music late at night, and failing to enforce leash requirements for pets.
If you have rented or leased a property and have been injured and you feel that the landlord failed to do something that they should have done, you should consult with a premises liability attorney. A consultation with a premises liability attorney will likely be free especially if personal injury is involved.
To schedule a free initial consultation with an attorney experienced in premises liability lawsuits, contact Needham Kepner & Fish LLP today. We handle injury cases on a contingent fee basis, which means that you pay us nothing unless you recover compensation.