Title: When a Landlord Can Be Held Liable for Tenant Injuries | AllLaw
Headings: When a Landlord Can Be Held Liable for Tenant Injuries
When a Landlord Can Be Held Liable for Tenant Injuries
In order for a tenant’s personal injury suit against a landlord to be successful, the tenant must show that the landlord’s action (or inaction) naturally and foreseeably caused the injury.
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When a Landlord is Negligent
Landlords’ Duty of Care When Dealing With Minor Tenants
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A Landlord Might Be Liable for Criminal Acts

Content: Likelihood of serious injury. When there’s a great risk of serious injury, it’s likely that a court would require a landlord to fix the situation as soon as possible, no matter the difficulty of the repair. For example, a raised deck with rotten support beams must be removed, replaced, or at least marked “off limits”—regardless of the cost—because the rot creates a high likelihood of collapse that could lead to catastrophic injuries. Failure to take reasonable steps to prevent accident. The law doesn’t require landlords to take drastic measures to protect tenants from every condition that possibly poses a risk. Rather, landlords should exercise reasonable care to prevent tenant injuries (except when dealing with tenants who are minors—see sidebar). Reasonable care is the amount of care an average, competent landlord would use when faced with similar circumstances. For example, a landlord who ignores a broken step for months is likely not taking reasonable measures to prevent injury to tenants. However, a landlord who routinely checks staircases and hasn’t seen or been notified of the broken step might successfully argue that his inspection met his duty of keeping the staircases safe. Landlords’ Duty of Care When Dealing With Minor Tenants
In most cases, landlords owe tenants who are children a duty that goes beyond "reasonable care."