Negligent Apartment Maintenance

Contact a New York City Negligent Apartment Maintenance Attorney at the First Sign of Trouble

Manhattan premises liability attorneys can advise whether you have grounds for a valid lawsuit

Premises liability law applies as much to landlords as to any other property owner. Anyone who rents apartments to tenants owes a legal duty of care to those tenants to keep the building safe from preventable hazards. When they fail to live up to this duty of care, landlords open themselves up to premises liability lawsuits. If you suspect that you or a loved one was injured due to landlord negligence in Manhattan or any borough of New York City, contact the experienced personal injury attorneys at Segan, Nemerov, Singer, Sonin & Tancer, P.C. today.

Common preventable hazards neglected by landlords

The very nature of an apartment building means tenants come and go via hallways, stairwells and elevators at all hours of the day and night. So if a landlord is aware of and does not swiftly remedy dangerous conditions, the chances of those conditions injuring a tenant or passerby are far greater than in most other types of buildings. Common examples of conditions often ignored by landlords include:

Poorly lit stairwells
Broken or dangerous sidewalks
Loose or missing handrails
Faulty elevators
Wet floors and stairways
Failure to install required window guards

Can I hold my landlord liable?

Cases of landlord negligence are held to the same legal standard as premises liability cases. This means that to win such a case, your personal injury lawyer must prove that:

The landlord was aware of the hazardous condition in question.
The landlord failed to resolve the hazardous condition in a timely fashion.
The hazardous condition directly caused your injury.
You suffered financial damages as a result of your injury.

Proving that a landlord was aware of a problem and failed to fix it is often the trickiest part of the lawsuit, because a “timely fashion” is subject to interpretation. And in some cases, the hazardous condition can lead to injury in a less direct manner. For example, if the hallway leading to your apartment is poorly lit, and that poor lighting allows a mugger to hide and attack you as you enter or leave your apartment, you may have a valid negligent maintenance claim against your landlord.