Can You Sue Your Landlord for an Injury?
Overview: Injuries to tenants on rental properties is often the result of a negligent landlord who didn’t address the issue in time, but can you sue your landlord? Here’s what you need to know!
Many residents rent their living accommodations rather than own. If you do, the landlords guarantee a safe and healthy environment. However, unfortunately, not all landlords provide reasonably safe living spaces. This neglect results in getting people injured. You can make a personal injury claim if you have been injured in an apartment incident on the rental property. But can you sue your landlord, and are they liable for your injuries? That’s the real question!
The truth is landlords aren’t automatically liable for injuries tenants suffer at their rental properties. A personal injury lawsuit against a landlord is only successful if you provide enough evidence that they’ve contributed to your injury one way or the other. To prove your claim, you must come up with various types of evidence, including pictures or videos of the incident, police reports, previous records of complaints, medical records, bills, other government entity investigative documents, and much more.
The tenant must show the landlord’s action or inaction naturally or unintentionally caused their physical injury. When a landlord’s behavior is the probable cause of a tenant’s injury, the court can hold the landlord liable even if they didn’t intend any harm. An act or failure to act by the landlord is considered the proximate cause of a tenant’s injury as the landlord, despite knowing the severe nature of the situation, preferred not to stand up against it.
We have represented tenants for personal injury claims on their rental property and have seen most of the common accident scenarios one may encounter during this time span. We’re listing probable reasons you might have overlooked to illustrate how dangerous our home can be if not catered adequately by the landlords.
Tenants’ Injuries in Unsafe Rental Properties:
The theory of liability associated with rental property injury cases is known as premises liability. Under this area, your landlord is bound to fix unsafe conditions when they’re notified by the tenant and face severe circumstances should they fail to do so.
The essential components of liability premises may include:
- Fixing the problem might not have been unreasonably expensive.
- Addressing the issue would have withheld the accident.
- The injury was serious and foreseeable.
- Your landlord’s failure to fix the situation has caused your damage.
Since a number of issues can cause rental property accidents, some common causes are broken staircases, damaged floors, defective or malfunctioning railings, broken or absent smoke detectors, and many other things that weren’t taken care of during the construction process.
Furthermore, landlords should comply with all the applicable health and safety laws, and their failure will be automatically considered negligent, making them liable for any resulting incidents and injuries.
So if you’re injured in any rental property or an apartment, and you’re certain that an unsafe condition causes the injury, act immediately to protect your rights. In doing so, take the following necessary steps so you may sue your landlord for getting hurt.
Get emergency medical attention: Seeking immediate and adequate help is crucial for your health and documenting the extent and severity of your rental property injuries. Your medical reports and doctor’s potential testimony will play a huge role in convincing the jury about the amount of compensation that you deserve to be paid for the injuries you suffered.
Document the accident scene: Take pictures or videos of your body, including the clothes, footwear, and any injury that the incident has caused you — or have someone else assist you if your injuries prevent you from doing so.
Write what happened: Even if it’s written in the Notes application on your mobile phone, those are enough evidence to capture the events. We recommend you write notes right after the incident while your memory remains fresh.
Call your landlord: Get in touch with your landlord and ask them to contact their insurance provider. If the landlord doesn’t take the appropriate steps, consider reaching out to a personal injury lawyer to take care of the matter while you’re taking care of your health.
Preserve evidence of your finances: Since you’ve paid for your medical bills, transportation receipts, parking receipts, and other pay stubs preserve all those bills to strengthen your claim and get your due amount.
Who Can Sue a Landlord?
Injured tenants are not the only ones who can sue their landlords or apartment business owners for their injuries. A long list of people can sue a landlord for damages incurred on their property. The list includes visitors, renters, guests, trespassers, and even workers. Since tenants and renters live on the property, they’re the most common plaintiff in landlord-tenant personal injury lawsuits.
You may not expect this, but visitors such as immediate family members and friends of the tenant may also be entitled to compensation if they’re injured visiting the property. Outsiders, such as landscaping crews, exterminators, and/or utility company employees, can sue landlords for injuries they sustain while on the premises. Trespassers also fall under the hood and may file a claim if injured in a rental property.
3 Common Causes of Injuries At Rental Property
Slip and Fall Injuries:
The most common type of personal injury claim affecting tenants and landlords is the slip and fall accident. These accidents usually happen when a person slips/falls and suffers an injury because of an unsafe condition on a property. The types of injuries a person suffers range from minor to severe, and may result in broken bones, traumatic brain injuries, scrapes, spinal injuries, muscle contraction, wounds, or bruising.
Related Reading: Common signs of brain injury, causes, and cures
Defective Stairs and Handrails:
Being a personal injury defense, we see cases resulting from poor lighting, missing defective handrails, and broken steps. The injuries that result in such situations range from minor wounds to broken bones and even death.
Defective Walkways:
Other common rental liability claims include tripping on broken concrete that sustains a horrific injury. Often landlords, either because of mismanagement or cost constraints, don’t take much care of the property, which makes the area rundown and ultimately dangerous.
Such claims require a thorough investigation from the outset to be successful. If you face defective walkways, consider taking immediate photographs and proving them in court.
Premises Liability Law:
To win your case, you must show that the defendant owns the property where the accident occurred and how they were negligent in maintaining the property, contributing to your injuries.
Negligence occurs when the property owners fail to:
- Repair the unsafe condition.
- Give adequate warning against the dangers.
- Protect tenants, visitors, and trespassers from the hazard.
In Summary:
If you or a loved one suffered an injury due to landlord negligence, contact the knowledgeable team at William D. Shapiro Law, Inc. today. We will walk with you to review your case’s facts and help you consider your legal options. We have been representing personal injury claims for over 40 years, so rest assured, we’ll work to obtain the settlement you deserve!
William Shapiro has handled catastrophic injury/wrongful death actions for over 4 decades obtaining numerous seven and eight-figure verdicts and settlements. Honors include: 2022, 2016 and 2013 OCTLA “Top Gun” TLY; 2022 CAOC TLY Finalist; 2018 “Lifetime Achievement Award” Western State College of Law, 2021 & 2017 Best Lawyers, Lawyer of the Year; 2016 WSBCBA “TLY”; 2015 CAL-ABOTA “TLY”; 2014 “TLY” Consumer Attorneys of CAOIE; 2011 “Hall of Fame,” Western State College of Law; Fellow, American College of Trial Lawyers; International Academy of Trial Lawyers; International Society of Barristers; Diplomat, American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA); National Board of Trial Advocacy; specialist in Trial Advocacy, State Bar of California; “Best Lawyers in America” and “Tier 1 Best Law Firms” U.S. News; AV Preeminent, Martindale-Hubbell; SuperLawyers; Past President of: San Bernardino/Riverside chapter ABOTA; San Bernardino County Bar Association; Consumer Attorneys of Inland Empire; The Joseph. B. Campbell American Inn of Court; Consumer Attorneys of California; IE ; National Sec of ABOTA, Adjunct professor, Western State College of Law. Learn more here.