Tony is on a role with the educational lessons today! Let’s read what he has to say:
A number of different theories exist for claiming negligence by a landlord to a tenant or his/her guest. The most common occurs when a tenant/guest sustains an injury over an area that the landlord retains control of. Most accidents happen in common areas of the building such as stairs and hallways.
When a tenant/guest injures himself from a slip and fall in a common area, the injured party contends that the landlord was negligent by failing to exercise reasonable care in maintaining the property. A landlord has a duty to inspect, maintain, and/or repair parts of the property under the landlord’s control. This includes the common areas and the premises within the tenant’s apartment.
However, the landlord’s duty to inspect, maintain, and repair is not absolute. In some slip and fall cases, landlords claim the defense of notice, saying that they did not know of the defect which caused the injury and therefore cannot be held liable.
Clients always ask me, “What is this notice defense and will it bar me from going forward with a case?” Well That depends. If you were injured on someone else’s property I invite you to call us. We can explain this and other defenses raised by landlords and owners or property. For more than 25 years, the Law Office of Anthony Carbone has been successfully representing injured victims despite the defenses that are raised.