Slip And Fall – Duty To Keep You Safe

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Intro: If you slipped and fell on someone else’s property due to a dangerous condition or hazard that they knew about or should have known about, you are entitled to bring a personal injury lawsuit against them for damages. These questions and answers will help you understand a landlord’s duty in maintaining their property and how you can tell whether they’ve breached that duty:

What Duty Of Care Do San Antonio Property Owners Have To Prevent Slip And Fall Accidents?

Regardless of whether a San Antonio property is residential, commercial, or public, owners are obligated by law to take proactive steps to prevent accidents. Specifically, San Antonio property owners have a duty of care and a legal obligation to maintain reasonably safe conditions for visitors to their property.

“Duty of care” means they are required to regularly inspect their premises and address potential hazards such as wet floors, obstructions, uneven surfaces, loose tiles or poor lighting.

If a property owner knew, or reasonably should have known, of a dangerous condition or hazard on their property, and failed to act or visibly warn you, they could be held liable for any resulting injury.

How Is A Breach Of Duty Proven In San Antonio Slip And Fall Cases?

To prove there was a breach of duty of care or negligence in a slip and fall case, you must demonstrate that the property owner either knew or should have known about the hazardous condition through routine maintenance and inspection.

There are several forms of evidence that you can rely on to establish a breach of duty of care, including surveillance footage, maintenance records, incident reports, and witness statements.

In addition to those types of evidence, you would also need to demonstrate that the hazard was not obvious to you and that you were lawfully entitled to be on the property. A skilled slip and fall attorney will help gather and present the appropriate evidence needed to prove the property owner’s negligence.

How Do Texas Courts Evaluate Whether A Dangerous Condition Should Have Been Addressed?

Texas courts seek to establish whether a reasonably careful property owner in the same position as the defendant would have noticed and corrected the dangerous condition or hazard before someone got hurt. They do this by considering:

• How long the hazard existed
• Whether routine inspections were conducted
• If there were prior complaints about or incidents involving the dangerous condition or hazard
• Whether the dangerous condition or hazard was easily discoverable
• Whether any warning signs were posted alerting visitors to the dangerous condition or hazard

Can Landlords In San Antonio Be Held Liable For Slip And Fall Injuries On Rental Properties?

Under specific circumstances, San Antonio landlords can be held liable for slip and fall injuries.

Landlords are responsible and have a duty of care for the safety of common areas in rental properties. Specifically, if an injury occurred in a hallway, stairwell, walkway, courtyard or parking lot, a landlord could be held liable.

Landlords may also be liable if an injury was caused by a dangerous or hazardous condition they agreed to repair or had control over.

By contrast, in a case where a dangerous condition or hazard is within a tenant’s private living space and not reported to the landlord, liability is not straightforward. Assessing liability in that case would require proving whether the landlord or tenant had control over the area, whether the tenant gave the landlord proper notice of the hazard and whether adequate time was allowed for the landlord to fix the hazard.

Call To Action (CTA):

If you were injured by slipping and falling on someone else’s negligently maintained property, you should know your legal rights and remedies. The lawyers of Dreyer & Mazaheri can tell you whether you have a case and the compensation and damages you’re entitled to.

Contact us at (210) 830-7639 today for a case evaluation or visit our client contact page.