Premises Liability And Injuries On Your Rental Property
Here at MichiganLawsuit.com, P.C., we service a wide variety of needs when it comes to filing your lawsuit. This includes representation for personal injuries related to accidents occurring on your rental property. Landlords have a duty to provide you with a safe environment, but some cut corners and this can lead to you, the tenant, suffering harm due to their negligence. If this happens, you may have a case to seek compensation for your damages. Landlords must keep their rental properties in reasonable repair and fit for living in per Michigan law, and it is an “implied warranty of habitability,” which means that this does not have to be stated in your rental contract. Landlords must understand that this is an obligation regardless of whether or not it is in your lease that they must maintain the property.
Landlords have a responsibility to maintain the home, or, in the case of an apartment, the individual apartments, commons areas, lobbies, pools, clubhouses, etc. They’re responsible for multiple areas of your rental, including:
- Hot and cold water and heat, plumbing, electrical, ventilation, HVAC systems;
- Roofs, walls, floors, stairs;
- Extermination of pests if present;
- Prevention and/or removal of potentially hazardous materials in the environment (lead, mold, asbestos, etc.);
This is not an exhaustive list, there is plenty more that a landlord is responsible for. Additionally, under Michigan law, landlords have to report any hidden issues that are potentially hazardous and can cause injury or illness, such as the existence of lead-based paint, asbestos insulation, etc. If they fail to disclose this sort of information, they may be subject to fines, and if someone is injured as a result of these kinds of issues, they could be found liable. They are also required to correct these hazardous conditions that affect habitability and threaten the safety of you and your family. A simple disclosure of the issue on the premises is not enough. Once they’re aware of it, they must take necessary steps to mitigate the issue. However, they must be made aware of any new, potential issues that could cause injury. For example, if you as a tenant are aware of dangerous conditions inside your rental that could cause injury, but fail to request a repair or tell your landlord, and a home visitor is injured, you may be held liable instead of the landlord.
Premises liability factors in here, as the injury has resulted from an unsafe condition on a property that is not theirs. In order to consider filing a lawsuit of this manner, certain conditions have to be in play: the person being sued must keep the premises free of potentially hazardous conditions, they must have failed to meet this obligation, the injured party’s injuries must be a direct result of the negligence of the person being sued, and they must have suffered damages as a result of these injuries. For example, if your wooden stairs in your rental are in disrepair and have broken floorboards, and you injure yourself going down those stairs due to the broken floor boards, you may have a case. The damages in these cases must be significant meaning, a bump, cut, or bruise is not enough to file a premises lawsuit. The damages must be more along the lines of work loss, pain/suffering, or medical bills. Typically, the person who is liable in these cases are a company who maintains control of the property, or an individual who may be the owner.
Have you been injured on a rental property?
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