Whether you are a tenant or a guest, the owner of the property you’re inhabiting has a legal responsibility to ensure your reasonable safety. This is the case for both private residences and commercial properties of all sizes, such as office buildings or retail outlets. Should the property owner fail to provide adequate safety standards for guests, or directly put people in harm’s way, they can be held guilty of negligence and held accountable for any injury.
Examples of Premises Liability
Premises liability can take many forms these days. Here are a few more common scenarios that you might face:
- Inadequate lighting that results in someone tripping and falling
- Inadequate security in a known high-risk area that leads to assault or robbery
- Poorly maintained appliances that lead to fires
- Consistently wet flooring
- Dangerous or unchained animal
- A pool without a fence or safety gate in place to prevent drowning
These are all avoidable situations. Should the property owner merely take a few steps to ensure the security of visitors, everyone will remain unharmed. Property owners can easily avoid lawsuits. However, many homeowners are lax on safety standards.
What if I’m Injured?
If you happen to have an accident and are injured on someone’s property, you may have a premises liability claim on your hands. To prove premises liability, you must be able to show you were (a) lawfully on the premises and (b) the owner was negligent in their maintenance of the property.
Your best option is to seek professional legal counsel promptly, as these cases are quite complicated. In fact, it’s best to hire an attorney early in the process. Doing so ensures you have the facts and knowledge to proceed forth.
Contact Us
If you’ve been injured on another person’s property, contact The Durham Firm for legal counsel by calling (214) 222-4000. Remember, we’re here for you!