Jurewitz Law Group Injury & Accident Lawyers / Practice Area: Premises Liability / San Diego Apartment Slip and Fall Lawyers

Apartment Premises Liability

We’ve all lived in less-than-ideal apartments at one point or another. The kind of place where the landlord never seems to be around‚ but will gladly take your check every month. The roof leaks‚ the windows are sealed shut‚ and there seems to be something wrong with the elevator just about every week.

But what happens when your apartment goes from being a nuisance property to a serious liability? After all the collective complaining and avoiding the trouble spots someone finally gets hurt? Of course‚ if the injured individual happens to be you or a loved one‚ the real question becomes – what can you do about it?

Fortunately‚ under California state law‚ deadbeat landlords and building owners can be held liable for injuries suffered on their property. If you‚ or a loved one‚ have recently suffered a broken bone or any other type of injury in your building‚ then it may be time to speak with a committed San Diego premises liability attorney.

For years‚ the Jurewitz Law Group Injury & Accident Lawyers has successfully dealt with negligent property owners who put their tenants at risk. As our track record shows‚ we are relentless in our pursuit of these careless operators.

Depending on the types of injuries you have suffered and how much your building owner’s negligence contributed to your injuries‚ you could be eligible for damages. Damages refer to the total expenses and losses an injured victim suffers after an accident. They fall under two subcategories: economic and non-economic. They may include the following:

Pain and suffering
Medical expenses
Property damage
Physical therapy
Lost wages
Lost earning capacity
Emotional distress
Out-of-pocket expenses
Physical impairment or disfigurement
Loss of enjoyment of life

Contact our San Diego personal injury law office today and schedule a free consultation at (619) 233-5020 or (888) 233-5020.

What is Negligence?

One of the most common terms you’ll hear in regard to personal injury claims is “negligence.” Negligence refers to one party’s failure to exercise a reasonable degree of care to prevent injury to another.

Landlords and property owners have a duty to maintain a certain level of safety in their buildings. If these standards are not met and their property is hazardous to those living in it and anyone visiting‚ they could be considered negligent. Negligence is a critical component of any personal injury case. To successfully establish an apartment liability claim‚ it must be thoroughly proven.

To base your case on negligence, you must show the five elements below existed at the time of your injury in the apartment complex:

Duty: The at-fault party owed you a duty of care to ensure your safety and prevent you from harm;
Breach of duty: They breached their duty;
Cause in fact: If it weren’t for their action or inaction, you wouldn’t have gotten hurt;
Proximate cause: Their breach was the direct cause of your injury; and
Damages: You suffered damages as a result.

Unfortunately, another negligence law could potentially diminish the damages you’re entitled to pursue. Under the pure comparative negligence rule, your compensation will be reduced by the same percentage of blame you share. Let’s say you incurred $100,000 in damages, and it’s discovered that you’re 20% liable for the accident. You would only be allowed to recover a maximum of $80,000 in compensation.

Common Causes of Slip and Fall Accidents

More than 800,000 people go to the hospital every year due to a slip and fall injury. Additionally, one out of five falls leads to a severe injury, such as a head injury or a broken bone. Many times, a slip and fall accident is caused by a hazard at the apartment complex. In these instances, the owner may be liable for the dangerous conditions on their property.

The most common causes of slip and fall accidents include:

Cracked or damaged sidewalk
Loose floorboard, rugs, or mats
Uneven surfaces
Poor lighting
Electrical cords and other hazards running across the floor
Wet or slippery floor
Potholes in the parking lot
Dangerous stairwells
Defective escalator and elevator
Missing or damaged handrails

How Jurewitz Law Group Injury & Accident Lawyers Will Help

Through intensive investigation and research, Jurewitz Law Group Injury & Accident Lawyers will prove that the landlord or property owner’s negligence led to your injury. We’ll review all the elements of your case and work diligently to collect crucial evidence before it’s lost or destroyed. You can depend on us to handle each step of the legal process so you can focus on what’s most important – recovering.

Our experienced team of San Diego apartment slip and fall lawyers will complete all the steps below:

Examine the building in question from top to bottom.
Review all maintenance and repair records.
Request the incident report
Reveal any past infractions in other buildings owned by the same individual or company.
Obtain copies of liability insurance policies to determine the amount of available coverage.
Obtain witness statements from other residents.
Retrieve any photographs or videos that clearly show the building owner was aware of the problem and failed to do anything about it.

It’s crucial that we start working on your case immediately. Over time, witness memories fade, and evidence becomes damaged or misplaced. The sooner we begin our investigation, the better chance we’ll have at locating everything we need to prove negligence.

Steps You Should Take If You Sustained Injuries In An Apartment Complex

There are multiple steps you should follow if you get hurt in an apartment complex. What you do in the immediate aftermath of the accident could affect the outcome of your case. You want to make sure you protect your rights and gather all the information you need to prove someone else caused your injury.

Step 1: Report the incident to your landlord or property owner. Ask to fill out an incident report, and be sure to get a copy of it. In the report, you should provide detailed information about the injury you sustained and how it happened. Also, make sure to write the date, time, and location of the accident.
Step 2: Take photos of the accident scene. If there’s damage to the property, such as a cracked sidewalk, that caused your accident, obtaining evidence of that could help your case.
Step 3: Write down the names and phone numbers of anyone who saw what happened to you. They can provide witness statements if necessary.
Step 4: Seek medical treatment. Get a thorough medical evaluation of your injury and follow up with the doctors they refer you to. Continue treatment until you recover, or your doctor places you at maximum medical improvement.
Step 5: Hire a lawyer from the Jurewitz Law Group Injury & Accident Lawyers.
Step 6: Send the apartment complex owner a notice of claim letter. Your San Diego apartment slip and fall attorney can handle this step for you. This letter will notify them of our intention to file a claim and pursue compensation from their liability insurance company.
Step 7: Keep copies of every document associated with the case. Don’t throw out medical records, letters from the insurance company, or anything else that involves your accident, treatment, and other important information.

San Diego Apartment Premises Liability Attorneys – Taking the Fight to Them

At the Jurewitz Law Group Injury & Accident Lawyers, we take apartment liability seriously. Time and time again we’ve helped innocent people‚ even children and the elderly‚ from being taken advantage of by negligent building owners throughout the greater San Diego region. If you’ve been involved in an accident in your building and believe the owner of the property to be at-fault‚ don’t wait another moment.

Give us a call and schedule a free case review with one of our San Diego personal injury lawyers. The sooner you are able to speak with us‚ the sooner we can begin investigating your claim.

The number to call is (888) 233-5020.

For more information about past apartment liability cases we have represented‚ review some of the links below:

DISCLAIMER: Please be aware that the case results described above are not intended to be representative of usual results and not every result is typical or expected of every case. Every case is different and case values turn on small facts and differences. Please contact our office to discuss your case and the range of reasonable case values for your personal injury case.

TERMS: By viewing and reading the case values on this website‚ you are agreeing not to disseminate and distribute the case results described herein. The Jurewitz Law Group Injury & Accident Lawyers retains any and all rights with respect to the use and enforcement of copywrite and trademark violations with respect to any use which violated state or federal law.