Evidence You Can Use to Show a Property Owner Was Aware of a Hazard and Didn’t Fix It

Establishing fault is crucial to any personal injury case, including premises liability. To prove a property owner or other party is financially responsible for your losses, one of the following must be true:

• The property owner or other liable party must have caused the hazard, such as a broken railing, torn carpet, slippery floor, or broken sidewalk.
• The owner or other responsible party, such as a tenant or property manager, must have been aware of the problem and not taken sufficient steps to address it.
• The property owner or other responsible party should have known of the hazard because any “reasonable” person would have recognized it and removed the threat.

Proving fault may seem simple, but it is not always easy. A careful and thorough investigation is necessary to gather evidence, including maintenance records, photographs of the scene, and eyewitness testimonies from staff, patrons, or contractors.

What If the At-Fault Party Denies Fault?

You must also be prepared for the at-fault party to deny fault and, potentially, argue that the accident was the result of your own fault in failing to see the dangerous condition and avoid it. A qualified and experienced lawyer will be prepared to deal with all defenses made by the at-fault party.

In some instances, the property owner or other party will deny knowing about the condition which caused your accident. In a careful investigation, we may gather evidence that will prove that the hazard was present long enough to reasonably expect the property owner or other party to have known about it. For example, if the condition was one that occurred over a long time such as a worn-away step surface, it is difficult for the property owner or other party to have not seen or known of the condition.

Other ways to show that a condition was long-standing include a history of maintenance requests, prior accidents or complaints, video footage, prior repair records, photographs, and witness testimony.

If You Weren’t Warned, You Can Sue

It is important to note property owners, managers, tenants, and other parties do not necessarily have to fix a dangerous or defective condition immediately. Once they learn about a condition, New York law requires that they repair the condition in a reasonable amount of time under the circumstances.

In the meantime, however, the law requires that these parties take appropriate action to warn the public of the existence of the dangerous condition by taking such actions as posting warning signs or closing off the dangerous area until a repair can be made.

Types of Hazards that Can Cause Physical Injury and that You Can Sue For

Icy walkways, wet floors, broken steps or potholes, malfunctioning elevators, asbestos-laden apartments, and other environmental hazards cause millions of injuries every year. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), unintentional injuries account for nearly 30 million emergency room visits annually in the United States. Many of these injuries are severe, requiring extensive medical care and months or even years of recovery time. Some, tragically, are fatal.

There is a broad array of hazards that can cause trips and falls and other incidents. Some of the most common types of dangers include broken or missing stairs or railings, mislaid tools, holes in floors or loose floorboards, torn carpet or unsecured rugs, and wet or slippery floors or walkways.

This list is not comprehensive. Other threats, such as unfenced backyard swimming pools, can also fall under the premises liability category, as can environmental hazards like mold, lead paint, and asbestos. If you have suffered a grievous injury or severe illness because of a property owner’s negligence, a lawyer can help you recover the compensation you deserve.