Premise Liability

Premises Liability and Personal Injury Claims: Holding Property Owners Accountable

When you step onto a business premises, enter an apartment complex, or visit a public space in California, you have a legal right to expect a reasonably safe environment. Unfortunately, property owners, property managers, and commercial tenants do not always address dangerous conditions or maintenance issues in a timely manner.

When deferred maintenance or a hidden hazard causes a serious accident, it falls under an area of law known as premises liability. Navigating a premises liability claim requires proving that the party who managed or controlled the property failed in their basic legal duty to protect you.

A California premises liability claim generally requires establishing that the responsible party owned, leased, occupied, or controlled the property, failed to use reasonable care in maintaining or managing it, and that this negligence contributed to the person’s injuries. Whether a property owner or another party may be liable depends on factors such as control of the property, the dangerous condition involved, what the responsible party knew or reasonably should have known, and the circumstances surrounding the accident.

The Legal Foundation: California Civil Code § 1714

Premises liability in California stems from a single, powerful foundational principle. Under California Civil Code § 1714(a), everyone is legally responsible for injuries caused by their “want of ordinary care or skill in the management of his or her property.”

This means that anyone who owns, leases, occupies, or controls a property generally has a duty to use reasonable care to help keep the premises safe. This duty does not just apply to traditional property owners; it extends to:

• Commercial Businesses: Grocery stores, shopping malls, gyms, and restaurants.
• Landlords & Property Managers: Responsible for keeping common areas, stairwells, and walkways of apartment complexes safe.
• Short-Term Rental Hosts: Individuals renting out properties on apps like Airbnb or Vrbo.
• Public and Government Entities: In some circumstances, cities, counties, or other public entities responsible for maintaining public property. 

Beyond the Slip and Fall: Types of Premises Liability Cases

While people often associate premises liability strictly with slipping on a wet grocery store aisle, this area of personal injury law covers an incredibly wide range of dangerous property conditions:

• Structural Failures: Balcony collapses, rotting wooden decks, collapsing staircases, or loose handrails due to severe deferred maintenance.
• Negligent Security: When a commercial property or parking garage in a high-crime area fails to provide adequate lighting, functioning locks, or security guards, leaving visitors vulnerable to foreseeable physical assaults.
• Hazardous Walkways: Severe cracks or abrupt elevation changes in private walkways, loose carpeting, or cluttered retail aisles that create direct trip hazards.
• Swimming Pool Accidents: Drownings or near-drownings caused by broken gates, unsecured pool barriers, or failed supervision in violation of California safety codes.

Slip and fall accidents are among the most common types of premises liability claims. Wet floors, uneven concrete, broken stairs, poor lighting, loose flooring, and other unsafe walking surfaces may create dangerous conditions on commercial or residential property. When someone is injured in a slip and fall, evidence concerning the condition itself, inspections, maintenance, warnings, and how long the hazard existed may become important when determining whether reasonable care was used.

Fighting Back Against the “Open and Obvious” Defense

Insurance companies routinely try to defeat premises liability claims by claiming the hazard was “open and obvious” arguing that you should have looked where you were walking and avoided it.

Whether a condition was open and obvious can affect a premises liability claim, but it does not necessarily resolve every case. The circumstances surrounding the condition, foreseeability of harm, and comparative fault may all be relevant. Even if a hazard was partially visible, a property owner may still be responsible for failing to repair or warn of a dangerous condition.

For example, if damages are established and an injured person is found partially responsible for the accident, comparative fault may reduce the amount recoverable according to the percentage of fault assigned to that person.

A California premises liability lawyer can investigate who controlled the property, preserve available evidence, review maintenance and inspection records, and evaluate whether negligence contributed to the accident. Avalon Law Firm represents people injured because of dangerous property conditions and works to identify responsible parties and pursue compensation available under California law.

Let Avalon Law Firm Investigate Your Case

Property owners or businesses may repair dangerous conditions after an accident occurs, making it important to preserve evidence as early as possible. 

At Avalon Law Firm, we work to preserve available surveillance footage, obtain maintenance records when available, and investigate whether a property owner or manager may be legally responsible for your injuries.

Every case is unique, and the outcome of any personal injury claim depends on its specific facts, the available evidence, and applicable law.

If you or a loved one has been injured due to a dangerous property condition, don’t face corporate insurance adjusters alone. Call us today at 818-251-8787 for a free consultation