When you visit a personal residence or retail establishment, you expect a reasonable level of safety. When that is violated, you can suffer serious consequences. Slip-and-falls can cause lifelong injuries, such as broken bones, spinal issues, and traumatic brain injuries.
Lytal, Reiter, Smith, Ivey & Fronrath believe that you should feel safe when you visit an establishment or are invited into someone’s home. We protect your rights and the rights of others by bringing the defendant to justice.
If you have been injured in a slip-and-fall due to inadequate maintenance, contact our Florida personal injury lawyers today. In your free consultation, you’ll find out our course of action for your case and how we plan to get you maximum compensation.
Call (561) 867-4117 now to schedule your appointment today.
Who can you sue for inadequate maintenance?
You shouldn’t have to bear the financial and emotional losses that come with your accident alone. Lytal, Reiter, Smith, Ivey & Fronrath protect your rights to damages and help you determine who is at fault.
Our skilled team has seen many premises liability cases, is constantly keeping up with local laws, and understands the consequences that you are suffering. We put our clients first, even when it means working harder to get them the maximum compensation.
In premises liability cases, several parties can be found liable. Typically you can sue the homeowner or business owner for inadequate maintenance if it is their property. However, those individuals are not always the ones residing in the property. In other cases, you may file a claim against a homeowners’ association for not having adequate requirements, a contractor for not completing their job properly, or an employee who may have been responsible for the hazard.
Property Owners Duty of Care
Property owners, especially business owners, have a duty of care to anyone that they welcome onto their property. This does not necessarily extend to trespassers.
There is a reasonable expectation that when you visit the property you have been invited to, you will be safe. For example, if a friend invites you to a dinner party, or if a business has an “open” sign in the window.
No property owner can prevent all injuries. But if the customers or guests are injured due to inadequate maintenance, the property owner may be liable for their injuries. It must be determined that the injury is due to inadequate maintenance and that the property owner had ample time to repair or warn of this issue.
Some examples of breached duty of care are:
- The front steps are old and worn, but the property owner does not get them fixed for years
- There are no wet floor signs
- Cracked or crumbling pavement is not adequately signposted or repaired
- The ceiling crumbles onto a customer due to ill maintenance
This list is by no means exhaustive but it demonstrates some of the cases of inadequate maintenance where the customer or guest could file a claim for premises liability damages.
Seeking Compensation for Inadequate Maintenance
To seek compensation for premises liability injuries due to inadequate maintenance, you will need to prove that there was inadequate maintenance, that the owner was aware of it, and that it directly caused your injuries.
This is extremely challenging to do. Work with an experienced premises liability attorney at Lytal, Reiter, Smith, Ivey & Fronrath to protect your rights throughout this process and to prove damages.
Our experienced team has adequate constructive knowledge and legal awareness to prove that owners violated local ordinances. Where it may be challenging for you to determine whether or not the owner knew of the violation, our skilled attorneys can prove it definitively with the evidence that they collect.
Proving Negligence for Inadequate Maintenance
Citizens of the world have a duty of care to other individuals. This is a legal principle that states that every individual owes a reasonable amount of care for the safety of those around them and should not behave in a way that threatens this.
For example, an individual should not disobey traffic laws, as there is a reasonable expectation that this will cause harm to others on the road.
To prove negligence, the plaintiff must prove that the defendant had a duty of care, such as providing a safe residence for them to visit, and that they breached it. Every homeowner or business owner should be expected to maintain their property to a standard that is safe for those who enter it. If they do not, then they have breached this duty.
Finally, to seek a claim for damages, the defendant’s negligent actions must have directly caused the injury to the plaintiff.
Explore Your Options with a Premises Liability Lawyer
If you’re considering a lawsuit for inadequate maintenance, contact a premises liability lawyer at Lytal, Reiter, Smith, Ivey & Fronrath today. Our skilled attorneys are prepared to take on your case. Call us for a consultation.
