Owners, leasees and those who otherwise control a property are required to provide safe and secure premises for visitors and tenants. This area of law is known as premises liability.
According to California law, a person who owns, leases, occupies or controls a property is has a “basic duty of care.” Property owners are negligent if they fail to use reasonable care to keep the property in reasonably safe condition. Unsafe premises may expose people who use the property to dangerous conditions such as uneven pavement, cracks, holes, exposed pipes, ice, slippery substances and other physical hazards. When considering if a property owner or manager has used reasonable care, courts typically consider matters such as:
The property’s location;
The nature of the use of the property;
The likelihood of harm;
Whether the property owner knew or should have known of the condition that created the risk of harm;
The extent of control the property owner had over the condition that created the risk of harm;
Whether prior similar incidents had occurred at or around the property.
Victims of violent crimes committed on another’s property may also have claims against the property owners in certain cases. If you have been the victim of a crime on someone else’s property, you should file a police report and, if possible, file criminal charges against the perpetrator. You should also contact a negligent security attorney in California to learn about filing a premises liability lawsuit against the property owner.
Do not be afraid to speak with an attorney about your case. Most premises liability lawyers work on a contingency fee basis, meaning you owe no attorney fees unless you recover compensation and then your fees come out of a part of your recovery.
The attorneys at Bohn & Fletcher, LLP can help you bring and win your premises liability lawsuit as they have done many times before for others. Let our team fight for you.