Premise Liability and Renters

13 Jul Premise Liability and Renters

Did you know that your landlord sometimes may be held responsible if something happens to you on their property? They're not always responsible but, if it can be demonstrated to a jury that some act of negligence on their part led to your being injured, you may be able to successfully sue them for damages.

An Example

A woman in New York recently won a lawsuit against her landlord after she was attacked in her home. The jury found that the landlord was negligent in their upkeep of the property, something that most tenants are likely familiar with, at least to some degree.

In this particular case, the landlord was found to have been negligent because they failed to fix the locks on the woman's doors after having been informed that they were defective several times. Because this allowed her assailant to get into the apartment, it was found to be the fault of the landlord.

Suing for Premise Liability

Most of the time, you can hire a personal injury attorney from a personal injury law firm to handle these cases. They will be able to work with you if you have a case to establish how negligence played a part in any injuries or property damage you suffered and how the landlord was responsible for it.

Obviously, there will be quite a few cases where the landlord is not responsible for any injuries or property damage you suffered. An attorney will have to look at the merits of your case and determine whether or not they think you have one worth pressing forward with. If they do, they may want to take you on as a client. There is way that they can take you on as a client that doesn't require you to pay upfront legal fees, which makes good legal representation affordable for anyone.

Ask the employer about a contingency agreement. Under the terms of the contingency agreement, the lawyer will not get paid unless they actually manage to win your case for you. They may win your case by getting a settlement out of the landlord or they may win your case by going in front of the jury and receiving a jury award. A jury may decide to offer you all of the award you're seeking, some of the total award that you are seeking or none of the award that you are seeking, depending upon the circumstances.