What if I Slip and Fall on My Rental Property?

You may feel safest when you are secluded in your place of residence. But most unfortunately, if you live in a rental property, you may not be fully aware or be able to reasonably control the posed dangers on your premises. One day, you may accidentally slip, trip, and fall. If so, please follow along to find out the actions you should take after getting hurt on your rental property and how a proficient Passaic County slip and fall lawyer at the Law Offices of August R. Soltis can review your legal rights in the matter.

What is a landlord’s liability in a slip and fall accident?

Per New Jersey landlord-tenant law, a landlord is charged with keeping their premises reasonably safe for their tenants. Generally speaking, they must routinely inspect their premises for potentially hazardous conditions and repair any identifiable ones promptly. In the meantime, they should barricade and block off access to this posed hazard. A failure to follow this procedure may constitute a breach of duty. Subsequently, a slip and fall accident involving one of their tenants may ensue. Ultimately, a tenant may incur bodily injuries and associated economic and non-economic damages.

For example, your landlord is responsible for replacing a loose floorboard causing a tripping hazard or repairing a plumbing issue causing flooding within your rental unit. Throughout the complex, your landlord should fix loose handrails or missing steps on the stairwells and replace lightbulbs causing inadequate hallway lighting. When there is a snowstorm or other poor inclement weather conditions, they must clear the complex’s outside sidewalks, steps, and parking lot facilities from snow, ice, and other slippery or obstructive weather-related debris.

What should I do if I slip and fall on my rental property?

There may have been no reasonable way for you to know or a safe way to avoid the hazardous condition on your rental property. If a slip and fall is what results, the first thing you must do is get emergency medical attention for yourself. This may be accomplished by dialing 911 and having a dispatcher send a law enforcement officer and ambulance to your location, or, having a bystander do so on your behalf.

Along with consulting with an officer and emergency medical technicians, you should also contact your landlord or the property management company. That is, you must immediately report your slip and fall accident to them, preferably in writing.

Before you allow an ambulance to transport you to the emergency room for further medical examination, you should make sure to take photos of your visible bodily injuries and the hazard on the scene that prompted your slip and fall. Or again, have a bystander do so on your behalf. You should also ask bystanders to speak with the responding officer and provide their testimony on what they witnessed of the event.

After your emergency room visit, you must collect all medical records and bills related to your accident. This is not to mention attending follow-up doctor’s appointments to gather further information on the full extent of your injuries and the recommended treatment plan for your full recovery.

Once this is all said and done, you should contact a talented Passaic County personal injury attorney from the Law Offices of August R. Soltis. We look forward to hearing from you.