Is a landlord liable for a tenant’s injury?
A landlord could be held liable for a tenant’s injury that occurred on the rental property if the landlord acted in a negligent manner and the tenant’s injury was caused by the landlord’s 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. If there is no landlord negligence, there is no landlord liability.
A key consideration is whether the landlord’s actions were reasonable under the circumstances. The following issues would be among many issues to 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 result in the landlord being 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 security or safety protections that could have averted an injury?
As part of risk management, a landlord should keep detailed records for maintenance and repair issues, property inspections, safety inspections, and general property management practices to aid in defense of claims of negligence. Adequate documentation is especially important to demonstrate that the landlord did take every care to protect the safety of the tenants.