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Robert (“Bob”) Friedman loves sharing his knowledge of the law and 43 years experience as a New York attorney by writing books, blogs and newspaper columns; presenting seminars and webinars; serving on nonprofit boards; and mentoring law school students. He attributes his success to client education, community involvement, and a reputation for cost effective, practical solutions to legal problems.
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Robert Friedman has forty-three years experience as a Rochester, NY personal injury and landlord/tenant lawyer. Additionally he has thirty-seven years experience prosecuting building code violations as a town and village prosecutor. He is an expert on apartment security having been Director of a NY Security Guard Company; and Instructor of NY Security Guards, Landlords, Property Managers, Real Estate Brokers and Town & Village Judges. He is the author of many legal guides, including How to Survive Legally as a Landlord and Injury Victims’ Legal Survival Guide.
Under New York premises liability law, injured victims are entitled to financial compensation for the full extent of their losses. If you were injured at a New York residential rental property, we can assist you recover compensation for emergency medical expenses, long-term medical care, rehabilitation costs, current and future loss of income, pain and suffering, mental anguish, long-term disability and disfigurement.
Disputes between landlords and tenants often deal with repairs and dangers on the rental property. When tenants repeatedly inform their landlords of issues and the landlords take no action, the tenants or their guests could be seriously injured. But can these tenants sue their landlords for injuries? In many cases, injured tenants can sue a landlord for injuries at a rental property.
In most injury cases that occur because of dangers on property, you can sue the property owner. These owners have a duty to keep the place safe for guests and to clear up any hidden dangers – or at least warn people of those dangers. Typically, landlord liability cases in New York involve the landlord or property owner’s failure to properly maintain the premises, i.e., negligence in maintaining walkways. NY landlords may also be held liable for criminal activity due to negligent maintenance or negligent security in the face of foreseeable criminal conduct of third parties.
In addition to negligence, NY landlords’ premises liability lawsuits can be based on housing code violations and breach of the NY warranty of habitability.
Code violations: New York City, like other cities, has a strict housing maintenance code. Multi-family dwellings, such as most rental properties, are held to particularly high standards. The code covers many different issues, from fire exits to how construction work is to be marked off and completed. If a landlord fails to follow the requirements of the housing code, and an injury happens as a result, the landlord may be liable for the victim’s damages.
Under the NY warranty of habitability, tenants have the right to a livable, safe and sanitary apartment. This right is implied in every written or oral residential lease. Any lease provision that waives this right is contrary to public policy and is therefore void. Examples of a breach of this warranty include the failure to provide heat or hot water on a regular basis, or the failure to rid an apartment of an insect infestation. Public areas of the building are also covered by the warranty of habitability. Owners of cooperative apartments can raise the warranty of habitability but not owners of condominiums. Tenants and subtenants in cooperatives and condominiums can raise the warranty of habitability. Any uninhabitable condition caused by the tenant or persons under the tenant’s direction or control does not constitute a breach of the warranty of habitability. In such a case, it is the tenant’s responsibility to remedy the condition (NY Real Property Law §235-b).
Yes, if you are a tenant renting an apartment from a NY landlord ,you may be able to sue for injuries inside your apartment if caused by something the landlord did or failed to do. If the property had unsafe wiring that sparked a fire or a structurally unsound roof that led to a collapse, these injuries are likely the landlord’s fault. You may also be able to sue for unsafe living conditions in an apartment that caused injuries or for inoperable smoke detectors that allowed you to be injured in a fire. Talk with our Rochester, NY attorneys about wrongful deaths caused by residential house fires.
Yes, injuries that occur in common areas of the building such as lobbies, stairwells, and elevators may also be the landlord’s fault. For these injury cases, you still need to prove that the landlord did something wrong. If the danger was previously reported and the landlord did not fix it or put up a warning sign in a reasonable amount of time, the landlord should be held responsible for the injuries that danger caused. For example:
Landlords bear responsibility in cases of negligent security. If a locked door or buzzer system was malfunctioning and people without approved access got into the building and injured people inside, that could be the landlord’s fault.
Landlords are liable for criminal acts – assaults, murders, robberies and rapes – which take place on their premises. Landlords do not have a guarantee to tenant’s safety. However, they must take all economically feasible steps to provide a reasonable level of security.
A landlord may be liable for criminal assaults on a tenant where: (1) a property defect such as a broken lock or window latch, enhances the risk of attack; or (2) the landlord fails to provide specific security measures as promised.
Although landlords have no general duty to protect tenants from criminal attack, such a duty may arise when a landlord has created, or is responsible for, a known defective condition on the premises that foreseeably enhanced the risk of criminal attack. Moreover, a landlord who undertakes, either gratuitously or by contract, to provide security will thereafter have a duty to act with reasonable care.
Most NY landlords include language in leases to try to reduce responsibility and block lawsuits. However, some of this language only applies to lawsuits dealing with rent payment and financial issues. In many cases, landlords cannot contract out of injury lawsuits. The following lease provisions are illegal:
Once your NY landlord is notified of your injuries, the landlord may try to evict you or to repair the defects and hide any evidence of wrongdoing.
You should always work with a lawyer to sue a landlord. Once you are injured and the landlord finds out that there might be legal issues with you, they may begin aggressive campaigns to try to evict you or to repair the defects and hide any evidence of wrongdoing. If you are injured, contact a Premises Liability Lawyer quickly to lock down the evidence you need and get the necessary paperwork filed for your injury case. Much of the evidence of your injury will be in the landlord’s control. For example, if someone else reported the danger or defect to them, the record of that communication should be in the landlord’s files. Your lawyer will need that communication to show the court that the landlord was on notice that the defect existed and that the defect was not repaired in a reasonable time. The landlord might also have repair logs, security camera footage, and other evidence that can help with your case. We can subpoena this evidence in court to get the full picture of what happened and use the evidence in a lawsuit. Call Our NY Premises Liability Attorneys for Help.
New York landlords have a legal obligation to ensure that their rental properties are free from unreasonable safety hazards. If a landlord fails to live up to that legal obligation, they may be deemed negligent. After an injury such as a slip and fall in an apartment, you may be wondering “Can I use my landlord?” If you have been injured due to the negligence of an NY landlord, an attorney can help you recover compensation by filing a residential premises liability lawsuit. Injuries at rental properties can occur for many different reasons. The landlord will be liable for these injuries if it can be established that they breached their legal duty to provide invited guests with reasonably safe conditions. Fall accidents are very common. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found that 2.8 million Americans require emergency medical attention because of a fall accident every year. Landlord liability lawsuits in the Rochester, NY area often involve injuries that occur due to sidewalk fall accidents, parking lot fall accidents, and stairway accidents.
Common types of Slip And Fall Landlord Liability cases are:
Yes- Landlords in New York City must install window guards at the request of a tenant and in any apartment in which a child under the age of ten resides, whether requested or not. Landlords are required to provide tenants with a form stating whether there are children residing in a household and to request installation of window guards. Tenants are required to notify their landlord when they have children of this age living in their apartment, or if they provide child care services in the apartment. Tenants may not refuse installation. Once window guards are installed, the tenant must not take down, make alterations to, or remove any part of the guard. Landlords in New York City must install Department of Health and Mental Hygiene-approved window guards. If an object more than five inches in diameter can fit through, over or under a window guard, then it is not installed properly. All approved window guards have a manufacturer’s approval number imprinted on a vertical stile of the guard, and must be appropriate for the type of window in which they are being installed (NYC Health Code § 131.15; NYC Admin. Code § 27-2043.1). Windows giving access to fire escapes are excluded. Protective guards must also be installed on the windows of all public hallways. Landlords must give tenants an annual notice about their rights to window guards and must provide this information in a lease rider. Rent controlled and stabilized tenants may be charged up to $10 per window guard (NYC Health Code § 131.15).
Disputes between landlords and tenants often deal with repairs and dangers on the rental property. When tenants repeatedly inform their landlords of issues and the landlords take no action, the tenants or their guests could be seriously injured. But can these tenants sue their landlords for injuries? In many cases, injured tenants can sue a landlord for injuries at a rental property. To hold a landlord liable for your injuries, your New York premises liability attorney will need to prove negligence. Negligence has four basic required elements:
In landlord liability cases, assessing negligence usually requires considering the following three questions:
If the answer to all three of those questions is “yes,” then you likely have a viable premises liability claim.
Our Firm Has A Proven Record Of Success With Landlord Negligence. Our firm has significant experience handling NY premises liability cases. Negligent landlords should be held accountable and we can help you make that happen. Your residential landlord has a legal duty to keep the premises of the building in reasonably safe condition. If they fail to live up to that obligation, and you are injured as a result, contact our office immediately. We will help you seek the full and fair compensation you deserve.
If a landlord fails to meet his duties, a person who suffers an injury may have a right to sue him if it can be proven that:
Speak To Our New York Premises Liability Team Today. Our renter and landlord liability attorneys are ready to help you. If you were seriously injured at a residential rental property, please contact our office today to set up a free review of your case. Our firm will not collect a fee unless we successfully secure compensation for your injuries. We represent injured victims throughout New York.
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