Every year, many people are hurt while in someone else's home or place of business. People may be injured on a flight of stairs, on a patch of ice or snow, or by a defect in the building. The law provides that property owners must keep their premises reasonably safe for people who are on the property lawfully. In some situations, such as those involving businesses that encourage the public to come in, the law may say that the property owner has the duty to inspect its premises, and to discover dangerous conditions. If you have been injured while on property belonging to someone else, it is essential that you seek legal counsel from experienced personal injury attorneys.

In some states, a property owner (including a tenant in possession of property) has a duty to exercise reasonable care for the safety of people lawfully on the property (that is, people other than trespassers). This rule means that the owner has the obligation to inspect the property. If the owner finds dangerous conditions, he or she must either repair those conditions, or warn of them. If he or she knows about a dangerous condition but does nothing about it, the owner may be liable to lawful visitors injured by that condition.

In other states, a property owner's responsibility will depend on the legal status of the person who was injured. If the person who was injured was on the premises at the invitation of the property owner (for example, a restaurant patron), the owner may be liable if he or she did not take reasonable steps to provide for the safety of the injured person. For others, there is no duty to take affirmative steps to make the property safe.

The duty of a property owner depends on many different factors, and will vary from state-to-state. An experienced personal injury litigation attorney will advise you about the rules that apply in your state for your case.

If you have been injured on someone else's property, you need to consult with an attorney to learn what your rights are in your particular case. An experienced personal injury litigation attorney will be able to analyze your case and tell you if you have a legitimate claim for your injuries.

Q: Can a tenant take his/her landlord to court for failure to maintain and make repairs to the rented premises?

A: Yes, a tenant might recover from his or her landlord under three different legal theories. The first is the concept of the "implied warranty of habitability," which establishes a certain minimum level of "habitability," or providing adequate shelter from the elements. Next, many state or municipal landlord-tenant ordinances permit tenants to seek court orders if the landlord fails to maintain the premises.

Q: If someone falls and hurts him or herself on a hotel's premises, does he or she have any recourse against the hotel?

A: A hotel might be liable if someone slips or trips and falls on hotel premises. For example, if someone slips on spilled food or drink in a hotel bar or restaurant, snow and ice that has not been cleared from a walkway, or on wet tile floors or other slick surfaces, the hotel might be liable if it knew or should have known about the danger and failed to warn visitors or clean it up. A hotel could also be liable if someone is injured because of a design or building flaw (such as steps that are too steep) or the hotel's failing to light an area properly.

Q: Can a hotel be held responsible if someone is the victim of a crime at or near the hotel?

A: A hotel cannot be held liable for crimes committed on or near the hotel unless it should have anticipated the crime (for example, the hotel is in a very high crime area) and could have prevented it, either by providing sufficient warnings or taking better security measures. In such situations, the hotel's general duty to warn you about dangerous conditions may extend to a duty to warn about crime in or around the hotel. Furthermore, the hotel's actions such as failure to install proper locks on windows and doors, provide adequate lighting in parking areas or take adequate measures to ensure that passkeys are not used by criminals may make the hotel at least partially liable.

Q: Can a college or school be held liable for an attack on a student that occurred on campus?

A: A student attacked on a college campus might have a negligence action against the college. In a developing area of premises liability law, courts have found entities such as universities, motels, convenience stores and shopping malls liable for attacks because they did not exercise reasonable care in preventing victims from being harmed by a third person. In general, a hotel must provide adequate security and not permit people to loiter. In a case involving a college campus, a court would look at the facts and ask whether similar attacks had occurred previously in the same area. If so, the court would ask what security precautions the college had taken, and might find that the steps taken were insufficient, holding the college liable.

Q: If someone falls on a broken piece of a city sidewalk and is injured, can they sue the city?

A: In many states, statutes giving local governmental entities immunity prohibit recovery in many kinds of cases against cities or towns. If there is not such a statute or ordinance in place, however, someone may have a case against the city. Municipalities have a duty to keep streets and sidewalks in repair. An injured party might have a successful case against the city if he or she can show that it failed to maintain the sidewalk properly. There are very important deadlines and requirements for giving municipalities notice of such claims, however, about which a lawyer should advise you.

Q: Can someone attacked after withdrawing money from an automated teller machine (ATM) hold the bank responsible for the attack?

A: Under the legal theory of premises liability, customers have sued banks for failing to protect them from assault at ATMs. While there used to be no duty to provide security against such crimes, a duty has been recognized by the law in recent years. In such a case, a judge or jury would determine if there were past attacks and if a likelihood of a crime was foreseeable. If so, they may hold that the bank had a duty to protect people using that machine, and find the bank liable.

Q: Do building owners have to have safety precautions, such as sprinklers and posted escape routes, in case of fires?

A: Building owners and/or management are required to exercise reasonable care to prevent injuries in case of fire, and should help people on their properties escape, which would probably include having sprinklers and posted escape routes.

Q: Who is liable if a person is injured while walking on a public sidewalk next to a construction site, on a brick from the site?

A: In some circumstances, the injured person will be able to recover damages from the construction company, which has a duty to take reasonable steps to keep public sidewalks near its construction site free from bricks and other debris. If the company fails to remove such obstructions and someone trips and falls, the company may be liable. Construction companies should also tell pedestrians they could get injured if they stray from the sidewalk. Posting a sign is usually not enough. If a company fails to place barriers and warning lamps by a building pit, for example, it may be responsible if anyone falls into it and gets injured.

Q: What if someone gets injured while at the home of a neighbor, who invited him or her there for a party?

A: Social guests are sometimes able to recover from their hosts, depending on how their injuries happened. Homeowners must tell their guests about, or correct, any dangerous conditions that guests are unlikely to recognize. For example, if an injury was caused when a guest tripped on a throw rug, he or she may be able to recover if he/she could prove that the host knew other people had tripped over it and the guest was unlikely to realize its danger. The host probably should have warned guests about it, removed it during the party, or secured it to the floor with tape or tacks.