Suing landlords is often difficult, and the terms of your lease and fear of retaliation can get in the way. However, when they are responsible for injuries, you should definitely consider taking them to court.
Lawsuits can typically be filed against landlords for injury, but only when the landlord is actually responsible. Lease agreements often dictate who is responsible for upkeep in which areas of the property, so injuries in shared spaces (lobbies, parking lots, laundry rooms) might be the landlord’s fault while injuries inside a unit (slip and falls) might be the tenant’s fault, unless they were caused by areas/systems the landlord maintained improperly (electrical, structural).
For help with your potential injury case, call Agrapidis & Maroules, P.C.’s New Jersey personal injury lawyers at (201) 777-1111.
Can Tenants Sue Their Landlord?
The first question to tackle is whether you can sue your own landlord at all after an injury. The terms of your specific lease agreement will often have details about when and whether you can sue for your injury, as well as potential limitations (such as where to file, whether you must use arbitration, etc.).
Lawsuits
If your lease agreement and local laws do not prevent a lawsuit, you are free to sue your landlord for injuries they caused.
Arbitration
Some lease agreements might have a mandatory arbitration clause. This would prevent you from suing but would still allow you to file a claim through the arbitration system. This system has an arbitrator instead of a judge and does not use a jury, but it can still result in damages.
What Areas Are Landlords Responsible For?
The lease agreement will often dictate who is responsible for what parts of a building, as well as cleaning and upkeep in those areas. For example, your lease often has boilerplate language saying that you, as the tenant, are responsible for keeping your unit clean and reporting any maintenance issues, but otherwise leaves other things to the landlord.
Inside Your Unit
The living areas inside a residential unit and the spaces inside a commercial unit are typically the tenant’s responsibility. This means that mopping up spills, warning guests of broken furniture, and otherwise keeping the area safe is your responsibility.
Outside Your Unit
Other areas inside and outside an apartment building or commercial building might be the landlord’s responsibility. This means they are responsible for spills, broken things, and other hazards.
This typically applies to
- Hallways and lobbies
- Stairs
- Elevators
- Laundry rooms
- Gyms
- Parking lots
- Sidewalks and walkways
- Playgrounds
As a resident, you may be required to report known hazards, but the landlord should also do their due diligence to monitor for dangers and hazards.
Ice and Snow Removal
The landlord should also typically take care of ice and snow removal in multi-unit buildings, but this may be your responsibility as a tenant in a single-family home.
Structures
As a renter (commercial or residential), you often have little to no control over the building itself. If the roof collapses, the floor falls through, or a balcony collapses, that is probably the landlord’s responsibility, not yours.
Building Systems
Water, sewage, and electricity are likely the landlord’s responsibility, too. If you get electrocuted or a fire starts because of faulty wiring, that should be the landlord’s fault.
Fire Safety
You may be responsible for changing the battery in your in-unit smoke detector or having a fire extinguisher in your unit, but building-wide fire safety is certainly the landlord’s responsibility, and mistakes such as these can be their fault:
- Improper or malfunctioning fire doors, fire escapes/ladders, and smoke detectors
- Nonfunctioning sprinkler systems
- Missing or improper accessible evacuation areas for elderly residents and people with disabilities.
Security
Buildings should not be accessible to everyone, and proper safety systems need to be in place to prevent unwanted entry, assault, or muggings:
- Keyed-entry or door code systems
- Security doors
- Security cameras
- Security guards, when necessary
- Well-lit areas.
Do You Sue a Landlord or Tenant?
If you were a guest, customer, or third party injured at a residential or commercial building, it can be difficult to determine whether the landlord or the tenant is responsible.
Consult Their Lease
The tenant’s lease agreement can be obtained either by requesting it or demanding it as part of litigation. This often says who controls which areas and kinds of issues, letting you know who to sue.
Duties
The separation of duties discussed above can also typically point you to the right party to sue.
Whichever party breached a legal duty is held responsible. These duties might be imparted on them in the lease agreement (e.g., dividing duties), by law (e.g., fire safety requirements), or by standards of reasonableness (e.g., preventing slipping/tripping hazards).
Partial Fault
In some cases, the tenant and landlord might share responsibility for the accident, allowing you to sue both of them. Sometimes courts assign partial damages to each party, or else they can pay you first and later decide among themselves who reimburses whom.
FAQs for Suing Landlords vs. Tenants
Is There a Difference for Residential vs. Commercial Landlords?
It typically depends on the type of property and its use, rather than the residential vs. commercial purpose. For example, a rented storefront or a rented single-family home might see the tenant responsible for clearing snow out front, while a rented stall in a mall or a rented unit in an apartment might see the landlord responsible for that.
However, many commercial spaces have other safety requirements that residential renters do not have to follow.
Can I Withhold Rent After an Injury?
Whether you can withhold rent is a completely separate issue from whether you can sue for injuries. If the injury involved a structural collapse or fire that makes continuing to use the space (or part of the space) impossible, you may be able to keep back some rent because of “constructive eviction.”
However, you cannot typically stop paying rent just because you have another legal case against the landlord and want to put more pressure on them.
Can I Be Evicted if I File a Lawsuit?
Suing your landlord can be tricky, as they might literally hold the keys to your home, but NJ law typically makes it illegal for landlords to retaliate against tenants for suing them.
How Long Do I Have to Sue a Landlord for Injury?
NJ law allows injury victims 2 years to file injury claims in most cases under the personal injury statute of limitations.
Does Renters Insurance Cover Injuries?
Your renter’s insurance doesn’t typically cover your own injuries. Instead, it is there to pay for other people injured in your apartment.
However, your landlord typically has insurance to cover you if you were hurt on the areas of the property they were liable for.
Who is Responsible for Slip and Falls on Ice and Snow at Rented Properties?
If the lease says who is responsible for ice/snow removal, that person is usually on the hook. Otherwise, it might come down to the type of building.
For example, landlords typically clear ice and snow at apartment buildings, but not single-family homes. Commercial properties might be more complicated depending on whether your store/office is totally within an office building (likely the landlord’s responsibility), has a storefront but a shared parking lot (mixed responsibility), or is a standalone building with its own walking paths and parking lots (likely the tenant’s responsibility).
Call Our Personal Injury Lawyers in New Jersey Today
Call Agrapidis & Maroules, P.C.’s Newark, NJ personal injury lawyers at (201) 777-1111 for a free case evaluation.