How Does a Lease Affect Your Right to Sue Your Landlord?

Premises liability cases involve a personal injury that you sustain on someone else’s property. But how does this work if you are a tenant on someone else’s property? For example, can you sue your landlord for a slip-and-fall accident that occurs in your apartment or a common area of the building?

Court of Appeals Partially Revives Lawsuit Brought by Twice-Injured Tenant

These types of cases often involve two different sets of rules. The first set deals with traditional premises liability claims. The second deals with the contractual obligations between the tenant and the landlord.

A recent Georgia Court of Appeals decision, Sneed v. Place at Midway, LLC, offers an illustration of how judges address both of these obligations. In this case, the plaintiff rented an apartment in a building owned by the defendants. She alleged that during her tenancy, she was seriously injured when she tripped on an improperly maintained outdoor walkway leading to her unit. After this accident occurred, the defendants moved the plaintiff to a different unit in the same building. This new unit contained a ceiling fan, and several weeks after her first accident, she was injured a second time when the fan detached and fell on her head.

In response to the plaintiff’s subsequent personal injury lawsuit, the defendants moved to dismiss, citing a provision in the lease that barred any “legal action” against the owner or management company brought more than 1 year after the fact. In this case, both of the plaintiff’s accidents occurred more than 1 year before she filed her lawsuit.

The trial court sided with the defendants and granted their motion to dismiss. The Court of Appeals saw things differently. The appellate court explained that a claim arising under a contract–in this case the lease–can be considered “separate and apart from a premises liability tort claim” against a property owner. In other words, the lease only imposed a 1-year time limit on claims arising under the lease itself. It did not apply to a personal injury claim that was “independent” of the lease obligations.

Here, the Court of Appeals noted that a landlord can be held liable when “defective construction or failure to repair” causes injury to an invitee on the property, which in this context can include a resident who leases an apartment. The plaintiff could therefore proceed with a personal injury claim on that basis, although she was still barred from alleging any injury based solely on the lease.

Contact Hawkins Spizman Trial Lawyers Today

If you have been seriously injured due to a property owner’s negligence, it is important that you seek out timely legal advice as soon as possible. Our Atlanta personal injury lawyers are here to help. Call Hawkins Spizman Trial Lawyers today to schedule a free consultation. We serve clients throughout Georgia including Atlanta, Dunwoody, Alpharetta, Cobb County, Fulton County, Gwinnett County, Johns Creek and Sandy Springs.

Source:

scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=17650632007011953197