Queens Lawyer to Sue a Rental Landlord for Injuries

When you rent an apartment or other property, your landlord is responsible for certain parts of the upkeep.  Different rental agreements and lease contracts set different responsibilities for each party, and these documents become important in many cases where a tenant sues a landlord.  If your landlord fails to keep a common area safe or allows a dangerous condition on the property to persist, you could be seriously injured by their negligence.

If your landlord is responsible for your injuries, or if you were injured at someone else’s apartment, contact Sullivan and Galleshaw’s Queens lawyers for suing a rental landlord for injuries.  Our personal injury lawyers may be able to take your case and fight to get you the financial compensation you need after a serious injury.  To schedule a free legal consultation on your case, call our law offices today at (718) 843-0300.

Suing Your Landlord for Injuries

When you are injured on someone else’s property, you may be able to sue them if the injuries were caused by a danger or defect that they should have corrected.  In your own apartment, you are often in charge of the conditions and safety, so you may not be able to hold someone else responsible for some accidents.  However, common areas outside your apartment such as hallways and stairwells are still your landlord’s responsibility, as are some of the items and utilities inside your apartment.  If one of these areas or systems injures you, talk to an attorney about filing a lawsuit.

Your landlord is typically responsible for all shared areas outside your apartment unit.  Places like hallways, staircases, elevators, lobbies, sidewalks, courtyards, and laundry rooms are probably under the direct control of your landlord or the property management company.  If there is a danger or defect in these areas that could cause injuries, your landlord should be held accountable for correcting or repairing that defect – or at least putting up a warning sign.

For example, the following dangerous conditions are all things that your landlord should repair or put up warning signs about:

• Slippery floors in lobbies
• Icy sidewalks outside the building
• Spills and slippery floors in laundry rooms
• Poorly lit staircases
• Malfunctioning elevators
• Broken floorboards on stairs or in hallways
• Exposed wiring in common areas

If your landlord fails to clean up or repair these dangers, and you are injured because of it, you may be able to seek compensation from them in court.

Additionally, your landlord might be responsible for some of the items and systems inside your apartment.  For instance, hot water is usually pumped in from a shared water boiler.  If your landlord allows a dangerous or malfunctioning boiler to pump out scalding water that injures you because the temperature limits were improperly adjusted, you may be able to file a lawsuit for your burn injuries.

Suing Someone Else’s Landlord for Injuries

If you were injured while visiting a friend or family member, their landlord is likely responsible for shared areas in that building as well.  Visiting another apartment building should not be dangerous, but if the landlord fails to repair or warn of dangers in the lobby, stairwell, elevator, or other areas of the building, you could be seriously injured.  Talk to an attorney about whether the lawsuit should be filed against the tenant you were visiting or their landlord or building owner.

Damages for Injuries at a Rental Apartment

If you were injured at an apartment, whether it was your apartment or someone else’s, you may be able to file for compensation from the landlord.  The compensation you can claim commonly includes damages for the medical expenses you faced because of the injury, any wages you missed because of the injuries, and compensation for the pain and suffering the injury caused you.  If your case includes other damages, such as property damage, you may be able to include that as well.

These damages could be paid by the responsible parties directly, but landlords and tenants in apartments may have insurance to cover these kinds of cases.  If the landlord has insurance to cover these kinds of injuries, the insurance company may contact you to follow up on the claim or try to get you to settle your case by filing an insurance claim instead of a lawsuit.

Talk to an attorney before accepting any money from these parties.  Many settlements are too low to cover your injuries, and insurance typically excludes damages for pain and suffering.  To maximize your compensation, you may need to take your case to court.

Sometimes, your lease agreement may limit how you can sue as well, and your attorney may need to handle your case to help avoid these limitations and take your case to court.  Contact an attorney to talk about your right to sue your landlord and what your case could be worth.  Your case may also have strict deadlines, so talk to an attorney as soon as you can to get your case started.

Call for a Free Legal Consult on Your Apartment Injury Case Against a Landlord or Property Manager

If you or a loved one was injured at your apartment building or any other apartment building in Queens, contact our Queens personal injury lawyers for suing a rental landlord.  Sullivan and Galleshaw is a law firm representing injury victims and their families, and we fight to get you the compensation you deserve, even if it means suing huge apartment buildings and property management companies.  To schedule a free legal consultation on your case, contact our law offices today at (718) 843-0300.