Personal Injury Lawyer: Landlord Lawsuits

Most accidents happen at home. If you're renting an apartment, condo, or house, your landlord has a legal obligation to make sure that your rental is safe. Here's how personal injury lawyers can help you file a lawsuit against your landlord.

Rental Agreement

Personal injury lawyers are experts at reviewing contracts. The rental agreement that you and your landlord signed can make a big difference in how a personal injury lawsuit is litigated.

  • Indemnity clauses: these clauses are designed to limit liability by transferring risk. The rental agreement you signed was likely littered with indemnity clauses for just about any type of personal injury scenario. However, these clauses do not provide immunity to your landlord. If your personal injury lawyers can demonstrate that your landlord committed an act of negligence and/or the unit they rented did not meet safety standards, they can build a case against your landlord.

Communications

In most personal injury cases involving renters and landlords, communications between the two parties can be critical. Your personal injury lawyers can use the communications you had with your landlord to build a case against them.

  • Prior knowledge: if your personal injury lawyers can prove that your landlord knew about a hazardous situation and did not address it in a timely fashion, they have neglected their legal duties. From emails to texts, phone calls, social media messages, and any other form of communications you might have had with your landlord, your personal injury lawyers will want everything. Once they have these communications, they can build a timeline leading up to the accident. If your landlord apologized and/or admitted guilt after the accident occurred, your personal injury lawyers can also use that against them in court.

Scene Shots

Legally documenting the basic facts about the accident can be both persuasive and useful if your case ends up in court. Your personal injury lawyers can help you document where the accident happened to make sure that your narrative is substantiated by more than just words.

  • Professionals: personal injury lawyers can hire professionals to help explain the danger your landlord exposed you to. For instance, if you suffered electrocution, your personal injury lawyers can hire a licensed electrician to explain how and why the accident happened. When your personal injury lawyers are able to utilize expert opinion to back up your claims, your case is more likely to succeed in court or force your landlord to make a settlement offer.

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