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Law Office Of Michael D. Payne
Premises Liability

Help For Premises Liability Accidents

The term premises liability refers to an accident or injury occurring on another person’s property due to an unsafe condition. Under the law, property owners are responsible for the safety of employees, tenants, customers and visitors.

Holding Property Owners Accountable For Injury

The Law Offices of Michael D. Payne has a strong track record of holding businesses, landlords, homeowners and other property owners liable for injuries resulting from their negligence or disregard for safety.

Do you have a premises liability case?
Attorney Michael D. Payne offers a free consultation to explore your possible claims. Call today at 1-888-964-1530. We cover the entire Los Angeles area.

When Are Property Owners Liable For Injuries?

Premises liability law says that owners are responsible when they knew or should have known of a safety issue, through regular maintenance and inspection, or through constructive knowledge such as a complaint. There must be a lasting injury and the owner must have had a reasonable time frame to take action to fix the problem or warn the public.

Examples of premises liability cases include:

We will pursue action against grocery stores, big-box retail stores, bars and restaurants, parking garages, apartment buildings, office buildings, sports venues, nursing homes, treatment centers, private homes and governmental entities that own or manage public facilities.

Liability And Property Owners

A property owner has a responsibility to keep his or her property safe from hazardous conditions. If this obligation is not met, the owner may be held liable for any accident or injury occurring on the premises. In addition to the owner, property managers, contractors, tenants and corporate entities bear that same responsibility.

Frequently from a legal standpoint, it is imperative to determine who has control of the property when pinpointing who is liable. The controlling party typically must exercise its control to the extent that the property is maintained in an attempt to prevent accidents or injuries.

If more than one person or party has the right to control the property, then all can be held accountable legally if an accident or injury occurs. Oftentimes, this can lead to a vicarious liability lawsuit.

Negligence, Comparative Negligence And Duty To Inspect

Property owner negligence: Just by the virtue of owning a property or inhabiting a real property does not automatically mean the owner or tenant is liable for accidents or injuries occurring on the property. Negligence must be proven in terms of the owner or occupier of the property. If they were aware of the unsafe condition and neglected to correct it, that person can be found at fault.

Comparative negligence: On the other hand, visitors on someone’s property have a duty to conduct themselves properly. This means that if an unsafe condition or dangerous behavior could likely end in an accident or injury, then the owner or tenant may not be at fault. If it is that blatant of a safety discrepancy, the owner may not even have to warn others about it. If both visitor and owner/occupier are at fault, a legal concept called “comparative negligence” may be applicable. In a case of comparative negligence, the percentage of the victim’s fault is compared to the percentage of the defendant’s fault. The victim’s ability to recover damages will be reduced by his or her percentage of fault.

Duty to inspect: Duty to inspect refers to the responsibility of the owner or occupier to routinely inspect the property for unsafe or potentially unsafe conditions. If an unsafe condition is discovered upon inspection, the owner/occupier has a duty to rectify the situation. Failure to do consistent inspections could ultimately make an owner or occupier vulnerable to a premises liability lawsuit.

Contact Our Premises Liability Attorney

We serve clients throughout Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties. If you have been injured on another person’s property due to negligence, call us toll-free at 1-888-964-1530 or contact us online.

We have four office locations and we offer a free consultation. If we take your case, there are no fees unless we recover compensation for you.