As a landlord, am I liable for a tenant’s injury?

Yes, you could be held liable for a tenant’s injury that occurred on your rental property if you have acted in a negligent manner and the tenant’s injury was caused by your negligence.

A landlord has the duty of reasonable care to help protect the safety of his tenants. Landlord liability for tenant claims of injury can arise from the landlord’s failure to exercise the duty of reasonable care. The tenant has the burden of proof to show that the landlord knew or should have known of a dangerous condition and failed to act in a reasonable manner as any landlord would have done.

Landlord negligence would be determined after careful analysis of the facts. A key consideration is whether the landlord’s actions were reasonable under the circumstances. The following issues would be considered in determining landlord liability.

Landlord Control

Did the landlord have a legal obligation over the area where the incident occurred? Landlords are generally liable for most areas of the property such as the common areas of a building and grounds and proper supervision and maintenance of all systems and equipment used in the property management. If the landlord’s failure to properly maintain or secure these areas was determined to be the injury causing factor, the landlord could be held legally liable for tenant injuries.

Probability of risk

If a tenant can show that a reasonable person could have foreseen a high probability of risk of an accident, the landlord could be held responsible for the tenant injury. An act of nature or unusual one-time event that caused an accident would not usually hold the landlord liable for injuries.

Difficulty of risk reduction measure

The landlord’s efforts to take reasonable steps to help prevent accidents and injuries will be a consideration in determination of liability. Were there reasonable measures such as warning signs or additional lighting that could have averted an injury?

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