Injured at a Baltimore Apartment Complex? Understanding Landlord Liability

According to the National Multifamily Household Council, roughly 39% of all renters in the United States live in apartment complexes consisting of five or more units. That amounts to over 40,000,000 apartment dwellers across the country. With so many people sharing such close quarters, it’s not uncommon for residents and visitors to periodically suffer injuries while on the premises of an apartment complex.

Even with rents skyrocketing, the unfortunate reality is that many landlords fall short of their responsibilities when it comes to ensuring their properties are safe and accessible for all. When landlords fail to properly maintain their multi-family buildings, they may find themselves on the hook for any injuries sustained on the property. Here’s everything you need to know about what Maryland law says about filing a personal injury claim for an accident at a Baltimore apartment complex.

Are landlords responsible for injuries that take place on their property?

When filing any sort of personal injury claim, injured parties are expected to demonstrate that their injuries were directly caused by another party’s negligence. This expectation holds true in cases involving landlords and apartment managers, but the standard of negligence in these cases is more narrowly linked to a legal concept known as “premises liability.”

Premises liability refers to the legal responsibility property owners have to maintain reasonably safe conditions for people lawfully on their property. If a landlord is aware of dangerous conditions or safety hazards on their property, they have a legal obligation to address the issues to ensure the safety of their tenants and visitors. As a result, if a property owner knows about a potential safety hazard but chooses not to address it, that individual could be held liable for any injuries caused by the hazard in question.

Landlords may also be held liable for hazards they reasonably should have known about, based on routine inspections or other circumstances. For example, if a landlord fails to repair a loose tile in the building’s lobby and a resident twists their ankle, the resident may be able to file a  claim for personal injuries sustained. Even if the tenant cannot demonstrate that the landlord had express notice of the condition before the accident, the tenant could argue that the condition should have been discovered by way of routine property inspections.

Common causes of apartment complex injuries

Apartment buildings typically feature a combination of private dwellings and common areas like lobbies, laundry rooms and resident lounges. Safety hazards can easily present themselves in any part of an apartment building or complex and pose legitimate risks to tenants, guests, prospective residents and employees alike. Some of the most common causes of apartment complex injuries include:

1. Slip and fall accidents

Slip and fall accidents are some of the most common sources of personal injury claims. At apartment complexes, landlords must stay on top of maintaining their floors, stairs and sidewalks in order to prevent residents from falling and injuring themselves. Here in Maryland, winter weather can present additional maintenance challenges, as sidewalks can accumulate dangerous amounts of ice and snow. If a landlord fails to take steps to prevent or remove snow and ice accumulation, they may be responsible for any slip and fall accidents that take place on their sidewalks or other outdoor spaces.

2. Broken stairs

Multi-story apartment buildings often feature multiple staircases that must all be maintained. Falls on stairs can be particularly dangerous to individuals of all ages and mobility levels, so proper stairwell maintenance is vital to ensuring the safety of tenants and visitors alike. Landlords are tasked with ensuring there are no obvious safety hazards in their stairwells while also adhering to strict building and accessibility codes in order to prevent accidents and injuries.

3. Insufficient lighting

Dim or non-functioning lighting in hallways, stairwells and parking lots not only increase the likelihood of dangerous falls and accidents but can also lead to an increase in criminal activity in and around a complex. Dark stairwells and parking lots often serve as hotbeds for illicit behaviors that can cause harm to others in the immediate vicinity. Failing to provide sufficient lighting in and around a building could constitute a dereliction of the landlord’s maintenance obligations and open the property owner up to premises liability claims.

4. Inadequate safety features

In areas with higher crime rates, landlords may have a duty to implement reasonable security measures, especially if prior incidents made the risk foreseeable. Failure to do so can make them liable for physical injuries resulting from assaults on the property. Additionally, landlords have a legal responsibility to mitigate fire and CO2-related hazards across the entirety of a multi-family property. This means landlords must provide, install, maintain and replace smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors within their residential units.

When to file a claim

In Maryland, landlords aren’t automatically liable for every injury that happens on their property. For example, if a resident burns their hand on the stove in their own unit, the landlord would not be considered responsible for their injuries purely as a function of being the legal owner of the property and the stove. Instead, injured parties must demonstrate that their injuries were caused by a landlord’s failure to adequately maintain their property and address safety concerns in a timely manner.

If you have suffered an injury on the premises of Baltimore apartment complex, you should consider filing a claim if:

• The injury caused you verifiable harm
• The injury was the direct result of the property owner’s negligence
• You were on the property legally
• You were not injured while engaging in any illegal activity

In short, if you suffer an injury at an apartment building and the injury can be easily traced back to a landlord’s actions or inactions, you may be within your rights to file a claim for damages.

One important caveat: Maryland follows a contributory negligence model in personal injury cases. Under this strict rule, if an injured party is found to have contributed in any way to their accident or injuries, they are barred from recovering compensation from any other party.

What to do after an accident

If you suffer an injury on rental property, taking the right steps early on can make a big difference in your ability to file a successful claim. Here are a few critical things to cross off your to-do list in the aftermath of an apartment complex injury:

1. Report the Injury to the landlord or property manager immediately and request an incident report, if available.
2. Document the hazard or conditions that contributed to your accident by taking photos and videos of the accident site.
3. If anyone witnessed your accident or the hazard that caused it, you’ll want to get their contact information as soon as possible so they can be interviewed later in your case.
4. Even if your injuries seem minor, get checked by a doctor as soon as possible. Medical records are key to proving your claim, as they provide clear documentation of your injuries as well as a rough timeline of when they occurred and how they may have progressed.
5. Avoid giving any recorded statements to a landlord or their representatives without first consulting with an attorney.
6. Contact an experienced premises liability attorney ASAP so you can begin building an effective case for compensation.
7. Meticulously document any and all expenses related to your injuries, i.e. medical bills, lost wages, transportation costs, etc.

The sooner you can take action in a personal injury case, the better. Keeping accurate records, consulting with a professional premises liability lawyer and seeking the medical care you need can all play a vital role in ensuring you later receive the compensation you need to navigate your recovery.

Next steps

If you or a loved one has been injured due to unsafe conditions at a Baltimore apartment complex, don’t wait to get legal help. In Maryland, the statute of limitations in personal injury cases is three years, which means every second counts in the days, weeks and months after an accident.

At Plaxen Adler Muncy, we believe injured victims deserve the best possible care and representation while navigating their claim. With over 40 years of experience supporting clients in Baltimore and the surrounding areas, our team knows exactly what it takes to set clients on the path to a successful personal injury claim. We’re prepared to fight tirelessly to help you recover all economic and non-economic damages you deserve.

Give us a call or fill out our online contact form today to schedule a free consultation with a member of our premises liability team. We’re here to answer all of your questions and offer expert insight you can count on during this difficult time.