Landlord Tenant Injury Disputes and Lawsuits

An essential part of being a landlord involves keeping your rental properties in good repair and performing routine maintenance as needed.  Unfortunately, landlord liability is an all too common occurrence that leads to a fair number of landlord tenant disputes.  By doing so, you can help avoid potential property liability for injuries that might be sustained by tenants living in your rental properties. 

 Landlord Liability for Tenant Injuries

Generally speaking, landlords may be liable for rental tenant injury when they are negligent in maintaining or repairing the property, and their negligence directly causes a tenant’s injuries.  In other words, the landlord must have a duty to repair or maintain the defect in the property in question; repairing the defect would not have been unreasonably expensive or difficult; a serious accident resulting from the defect was foreseeable, and, in fact, did occur, thus causing genuine injury to the tenant. 

Common Situations Leading to Landlord Liability for Rental Tenant Injury

There are a variety of situations that might lead to landlord liability for injuries to a tenant.  For instance, a landlord might be liable if:

• A tenant breaks her leg on a broken step that has gone unrepaired for two years.
• A landlord fails to repair a leaking roof to the point where it causes property damage not only to the rental unit, but to the tenant’s personal property.
• A landlord does not repair a door lock on the rental unit, which causes the theft of the tenant’s property.
• A tenant suffers lead poisoning when a landlord does not properly maintain the premises, thus allowing lead-based paint to peel and otherwise deteriorate.

Help from a Personal Injury Lawyer

If you are a landlord and a tenant has claimed that you are liable for his or her injuries due to your failure to make repairs and/or maintain a rental unit, you should immediately contact a lawyer who is experienced in landlord tenant disputes and landlord liability for assistance.  A lawyer can assist you in defending yourself against a tenant’s lawsuit seeking compensation for his or her injuries, which may include medical bills, damage to personal property, and other costs.