What determines a landlord’s negligence and likelihood of being held responsible for a tenant’s injury?
Negligence is determined by facts of each situation. As an example, if a landlord violated a law requiring a safety measure and the violation led directly to the tenant’s injury, the landlord will likely be held liable. A landlord does have a general duty to take reasonable precautions to protect tenants from foreseeable criminal acts and property crimes. In evaluating a tenant’s claim, whether or not the landlord will be held responsible for the injury depends upon answers to several key questions.
To determine whether there was a dangerous condition on the rental property that the landlord had the legal duty to address (a duty of due care), the following questions are raised:
Did the landlord control the area where the tenant was hurt or control the item that caused the injury? A landlord will be held responsible for injury if he was legally obligated to maintain and repair an injury causing factor.
Was the accident foreseeable? A landlord may be held responsible for an injury if the tenant can demonstrate that an accident was foreseeable.
How difficult or expensive would it have been for the landlord to reduce the risk of injury? A landlord is likely to be held responsible for an accident if a response/action at a reasonable price could have avoided an accident. If there is a greater risk of injury, a landlord is expected to spend the amount of money it takes to avoid an accident. If there is a great risk of injury, the landlord knew about the risk, and failed to repair or remedy the risk, the landlord would be held liable for any accident that did occur.
Was a serious injury likely to be the result of the problem? If a major injury would likely have been the result of a dangerous situation, a landlord would be expected to immediately remedy the problem.
If answers to the above questions prove a landlord’s legal duty to remedy a condition on the rental property that posed a danger to tenants, the following questions apply.
Did the landlord fail to take reasonable steps to prevent an accident? A landlord is required to take reasonable precautions to shield tenants from conditions that pose some risk.
Did the landlord’s failure to take reasonable steps to keep tenants safe cause an injury? There is a critical connection between landlord negligence and tenant injury. Not every dangerous situation will result in an accident. A tenant has the burden of proof to show the injury was the result of landlord negligence and not as a result of some other reason.