Landlord Liability For Tenant Injuries in California

Holding a landlord legally liable for their tenant's injuries depends on many legalities and insurance coverage factors. When a renter suffers severe injuries and harm while traversing property managed or owned by their landlord, renters may face a retaliatory or constructive eviction for making an insurance claim against the guilty party. When dealing with these cases, the law looks for some aspects of the landlord or property manager's actions. For you to hold your landlord legally liable, each factor must apply to these circumstances of your case. This test includes discovering whether the place of accident was maintained, owned, or controlled by the landlord or their property manager. This test remains, especially if the owner knew or should have known that this would cause an accident leading to severe injury. If the damage was due to these factors, the landlord's negligence could be held liable.

Suing Landlords in Court

There are many cases where tenants sue landlords in court for their damages stemming from the landowner's negligence. If an issue exists where a tenant suffers injuries caused by the landlord's inaction, the tenant can hire a personal injury lawyer. For example, what if a tenant slips and falls on an improperly maintained floor and the renter can prove the landlord failed to maintain this "common area" for any length of time?

If you suffered an injury caused by an easily repairable dangerous property condition, you have legal rights to sue in California Superior Court for negligence premises liability. The insurance company's lawyers will answer the lawsuit you filed against the defendant landlord and their agents. Normally defendants will answer by disputing your compensation, medical treatment, pain and suffering, and lost wages claims, claiming they had no duty to repair or replace damaged and destroyed physical property.

Often, owners or operators of property can avoid many of the problems that lead to injuries in the first place. By instituting regular checks of different parts of the property and fixing issues, many questions go away.

Let the tenants know early on in the rental contract your policies on maintenance. By prioritizing further damages and fixing them, and noting tenant complaints, you can avoid costly lawsuits.

What is the Role of Insurance?

Choosing a property insurance policy is more than just watching a commercial on television. The different types of systems will have varying rates, deductibles, and coverage areas. Comprehensive General Liability policies are critical to protecting a manager, owner, or controller from future, expensive injury claims.

Insurance Policy Purchasing Decisions

When purchasing such a policy, ensure that you have enough coverage to reach all of your property, including assets such as vehicles used on the job. It should also cover what might seem like unrelated issues, such as libel, unlawful eviction, and privacy invasion. These will shore up many concerns and conditions that could come up over the years.

Landlord-Tenant Liability - Why Property Insurance Is So Important

Any property owner knows that being a landlord is not an easy business. These people deal with all types of renters and may see issues related to damages and potential natural disasters affecting their tenants. Having a great insurance policy can help landlords deal with many risks. Normal property insurance handles accidents caused by weather damage or a fire caused by lightning, a crime caused by theft or vandalism, or an earthquake, especially in California. Other property-related accident and injury risks in California must be covered by a landlord purchasing additional liability insurance.

Purchasing the right amount of coverage help pay medical payment liability costs, suffering damages, and legal defense expenses. So make sure your insurance carrier won't just make a quick premium collecting sale by making the agent sell you a policy covering property value. This insurance should cover all company vehicles used for work, including a work truck or your property manager's car. Other legal problems, including tenants claiming wrongful eviction, libel, slander, will receive a combination of coverages under many policies.

What About Other Policies Of Insurance?

Tenants also can get some protection through H0-4 Renter's Insurance. This type of insurance protects renters from robberies or fires not covered under the primary landlord's insurance. These insurance policies might cover up to $50,000 but will have deductibles as low as $250. There are vast insurance coverage ranges that may help protect renters from personal fault problems, helping the tenant feel secure and vary per company and by insurance plan. An insured party making a claim can be confident knowing there is coverage to the liable party's benefit by providing coverage and payments. 

If you want to learn more about liability issues, contact a Los Angeles personal injury attorney now (213) 596-9642.