Premises Liability - Landlord Forum thread

Premises Liability by Anonymous on April 4, 2012 @19:16

Don't want to sue the landlord, actually, just want to think this through from every point of view before coming to a decision about how to proceed. Everyone here has addressed this problem from the point of view of landlord-tenant law (ie, inhabitable vs uninhabitable).

But what about from the point of view of premises liability law? Specifically, a property owner must keep his property in a safe condition and provide notice of any known dangers on the premises. As part of these duties, the property owner must regularly inspect the property for any dangerous conditions.

I'm not entirely sure if a tenant would be classified as an "invitee" or a "licensee," but in both cases it is the property owner's responsibility to avoid dangerous conditions due to gross negligence and to warn the invitee/licensee of any dangerous conditions that are not readily noticeable.

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Re: Premises Liability by Nicole (PA) on April 4, 2012 @19:56	[ Reply ]

I don't know anything about sink holes. Of course I have no idea if the property owner did or didn't know prior to renting that there were issues. As a landlord, my problem with you as the tenant would be that pursuant to your lease you are to let me know about repairs needed to the property. You appear to be "getting your ammunition/story" ready prior to contacting the landlord. What if he has no idea something is wrong and you're allowing months to pass without notifying him?

Re: Premises Liability by Anonymous on April 4, 2012 @20:17	[ Reply ]

Thanks for the advice, I appreciate all the different points of view!

Re: Premises Liability by Anonymous on April 4, 2012 @20:07	[ Reply ]

Regularly inspecting a single family rental home can mean different things. It can mean 6 month, yearly, or inspect when the tenant brings forth a request for repair. As a tenant you are entitled to the quiet enjoyment of the premises which means the LL cannot make himself a habitual guest without sufficient reason. Tenants really gripe over that because they feel they are being harassed for no reason. You seem to want him to be their every week just to check up on the property. But if he did do this you would probably have issue that he is "lurking" about and shouldn't come by unless he gives you notice for a legitimate issue or you ask him to come by. Let you landlord know that there is a problem. See how he responds and take it from there. He can't fix something he doesn't know is happening within the home.

Re: Premises Liability by Agni (Pa) on April 4, 2012 @22:45	[ Reply ]

As a Landlord, absolutely, i want to know what is going on in my property. "The Tenant will promptly notify the Landlord of ANY damage,or of any situation that significantly interfere with the normal use of the Premises or to any furnishing supplied by the landlord" and i added "notification MUST be in writing,delivered personally by tenant and signed by the tenant and the landlord".I live next door and i am not going to drive 10 miles to the post office to pick a registered letter up. Plus i want him/her to talk to me in the time i am signing a letter, set an inspection appointment and finally i want to stick this letter to refrigerator so my husband can see it every morning when he riches his milk- but not longer than 2 days-unless it is emergence. By the way...read your lease carefully Now this is what will happen next you Landlord...will make inspection...discover that you did not notified him about the problem-he believes he fixed it-and he will sue you, not only for the breech of the lease, but also for damages caused by your neglect. So be careful what you hiding...

Re: Premises Liability by Anonymous on April 5, 2012 @00:11	[ Reply ]

"you Landlord...will make inspection...discover that you did not notified him about the problem-he believes he fixed it-and he will sue you, not only for the breech of the lease, but also for damages caused by your neglect. " Not in Florida! The landlord has the duty to keep the property in repair as per State law. The landlord already knows about the problem as the landlord tried to repair it already.

Re: Premises Liability