Multi-unit apartment buildings provide a safe space for people to live. They can store their belongings, meet basic needs and sleep safely there. Unfortunately, the comfort and safety of tenants and their visitors depend in no small part on the efforts made by their landlords.
Inadequate maintenance, delayed repairs and other safety concerns can lead to tenants or their visitors sustaining major injuries at a residential property. In some cases, the people injured at an apartment building could potentially assert that the landlord is liable. Premises liability makes a property owner or the party managing a facility accountable in scenarios where other people sustain significant injuries.
Particularly when people can make a credible claim that negligence contributed to their injuries, they may be able to file a premises liability insurance claim or a lawsuit. Any of the obvious and well-known hazards below are easy for landlords to predict and address, potentially leading to a credible claim of negligent facility maintenance.
Poorly-maintained stairs
Many apartment buildings have at least one stairway. Safety issues in stairwells include improper lighting, loose or missing handrails, poorly-maintained flooring and dirty facilities. Slip-and-fall or trip-and-fall incidents in stairwells are often preventable with clean spaces, adequate maintenance and sufficient lighting.
Negligent outdoor security
Parking lots are a key feature at many apartment buildings. People need a location to park their vehicles off the street for safety purposes. Unfortunately, parking lots see a lot of crime. Particularly when landlords do not invest in adequate outdoor lighting or visible security cameras, opportunistic criminals might target people or vehicles in a parking lot.
Inadequate interior security
Many landlords restrict access to their buildings by using codes, keys or even digital cards. This prevents those with criminal intentions from getting access to the property and to all of the homes of the tenants who live there. Providing adequate security at each individual unit is also important. Tenants generally need to be able to secure their doors and windows.
Dangerous hallways
Clutter and inadequate lighting are not just safety concerns in stairwells. People can trip, slip or fall due to poorly-maintained flooring, poor lighting or clutter in common spaces, including hallways.
Construction areas or other hazards
Landlords having work done at a property generally need to limit access to the construction area with ropes or tape. They also generally need to post clear, easy-to-read signs about hazards, such as an unstable balcony that residents should not access. Failing to warn people of dangerous circumstances can constitute negligence in some cases.
Recognizing that risk factors are easy to identify and address could give injured tenants or property visitors the confidence to pursue a premises liability lawsuit. Holding landlords who don’t properly maintain their facilities accountable can help people cover their medical expenses, property damage losses and lost wages after an injury or criminal incident.