Landlord Liability For Injuries Occurring On Rental Property

Premises liability law covers a landlord’s responsibilities to individuals who are on the rental property for various purposes. This article provides a brief over of premises liability law as it relates to a landlord’s duties to tenants and other parties when an injury occurs on the premises. In short, potential liability depends primarily on when the person was on the property, why the person was on the property, and the person’s relationship to the landlord.

Liability to Tenants

With respect to tenants, the two relevant time periods are before giving the tenant possession of the rental, and after giving the tenant possession of the rental. Before giving possession of a rental property to a tenant, a landlord must conduct a reasonable inspection of the property for unsafe conditions. The landlord must then repair any unsafe conditions that are discovered or that should have been discovered. If the landlord fails to do so and a tenant is injured as a result, the landlord can be held liable.

The rules are different where the tenant is injured after obtaining possession of the property pursuant to a lease arrangement. The general rule precludes landlord liability for a tenant’s injuries after the move in date. The rationale is that it would be unfair to require a landlord to know about and repair all dangerous conditions that arise after a tenant takes possession, because the landlord does not have the right to enter the premises without permission. The courts reason that without a right to access, there should be no duty to inspect. Accordingly, California law holds that a landlord generally won’t be liable for any injuries on the premises that are caused by dangerous conditions that come into existence after possession has passed to the tenant.

There are exceptions to this general rule. First, liability can be established if the landlord had actual knowledge of the dangerous condition and the right to repair it, or when the injury occurred in a common area over which the landlord retains complete control (such as common hallways, stairs, and elevators).

Liability To Third Parties

The rules are different if the injured party is not the tenant. If the injured party is someone other than the tenant, liability hinges on the relationship that person has to the landlord. There are three broad categories of visitors or guests to someone’s property. These are:

Invitees. An invitee is a person who has been specifically invited onto a property by a landlord. This includes hotel guests, and anyone invited onto a property to conduct business, such as contractors or maintenance workers. California law states landlords have the highest level of duty toward invitees on their property, akin to the duty of care the landlord owes a tenant. The duty includes checking the property for dangerous conditions, posting warning signs near hazards on the property, and taking action to address any dangerous conditions on the grounds.

Licensees. A licensee is an individual who is allowed to enter a property and is visiting for his or her own purposes. Examples of licensees include family members or friends at someone’s apartment or other rental property. Landlords are required to provide warnings about known hazards to minimize the chance of harm to licensees, but they are not required to conduct active checks to protect licensees from dangerous conditions.

Trespassers. The landlord has minimal legal responsibility to someone on his property illegally or without permission. The sole major exception to this rule is if the trespasser is a child, in which case the landlord can sometimes be held liable for a child’s injuries.

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