Are Landlords Liable for Tenant Injuries?

Personal injury can be stressful, debilitating, and difficult to deal with. Personal injury can keep you out of work and even make daily tasks hard to impossible to complete. It can especially be difficult to deal with if you get injured in your home or apartment and feel your landlord should be held liable.

In the state of Florida, the landlord is liable for the tenant’s injuries if the injuries can prove to have been caused by the landlord’s negligence. Whatever caused the injury must have been part of the landlord’s responsibility to maintain. The injury also must have been foreseeable. Whatever caused the injury also should have been part of the landlord’s duty to fix or prevent the accident. The injured tenant also must be able to prove that his or her injury has caused them genuine pain.

In other words, the landlord must maintain a standard of care. The standard of care is a term that describes the minimum level of reasonable care that a landlord must maintain for his or her tenant. When you enter into an agreement or contract with a landlord, it becomes their responsibility to ensure your safety and wellbeing in foreseeable circumstances. For example, the space must be cleanly and safe to live in. An example where a landlord may be liable is if a floorboard has a crack in it causing a gap in the floor. The landlord is aware of this crack and it is easily fixable. If the tenant somehow trips on this gap and breaks his ankle, the landlord may be liable. A tenant may be able to file a lawsuit against his or her landlord for restitution. This could include pain and suffering, lost wages, and medical bills.

With the stress, pain, and confusion that come with personal injury, figuring out whether your landlord is liable or not can be even more frustrating. Franco Law Firm help ease some of the stress that comes with on the job injuries. To learn more and to schedule a free consultation, please call us at (813) 872-0929.