Apartment Building Injuries

Living life in an apartment in the city can be an incredibly exciting, fast-paced style of life which appeals to everyone from college students to working professionals. Living in the city comes with a long list of opportunities, but apartment buildings also come saddled with potential hazards which may result in serious injuries, and they can happen at any time. In the event you are injured in your apartment building and you believe the landlord or property owner could be liable, contact the Boston apartment injury attorney experts at Altman & Altman LLP today.

Unless you are particularly wealthy, living in an apartment building means that you are renting space from a landlord or a property owner. Landlords and property owners have an inherent responsibility under premises liability law to maintain a safe and healthy living environment for all of their tenants. When this responsibility is breached, and results in an injury, they may be held liable to help pay for the ensuing costs associated with that injury.

Property owners must take care to keep their buildings free of obvious or hidden hazards by making sure tenants are aware of the dangers, such as by posting signage or disseminating information which would make the tenant able to avoid the hazard. For instance, if the building’s elevator isn’t functioning properly, it should be cordoned off by caution tape or another obstruction, with a clear note posted as to the elevator’s malfunction.

Similarly, if a property owner knows that puddles form in the lobby of the building when it rains or snows, they have a responsibility to place a caution marker on such days or take greater care to mop up the wet spots during inclement weather. If there is no sign posted or no one on staff to make sure the floors are safe, and somebody slips and falls and injures themselves, the property owner could be liable for the injury.

Outside of basic attentiveness to possible hazards that become apparent, property owners have a responsibility to maintain their properties to a level of reasonable safety. For instance, if a property owner lets their hot water heater decay and rot until it has a major malfunction – maybe it releases ruptures and floods an apartment, or causes colder water to immediately become scolding hot, burning a resident in the shower – they could be held liable.

Some other examples of incidents for which a property owner or landlord may be held liable could include:

• Not maintaining proper fire alarm safety, resulting in tenants being unaware a fire has started. Any injuries or deaths which occur would render the property owner liable.
• Allowing dangerous mold or other unsanitary conditions to continue without remedy, resulting in tenants getting sick through means which could have been easily prevented.
• Not keeping a stairwell or common area clear of obstructions or free of ice/wet spots during bad weather, resulting in an injury from a slip and fall.
• A tenant gets injured from a falling lighting fixture or other structural part of the building which should have been repaired or taken down.
• The property owner fails to properly keep the property secure, resulting in a burglary or an assault from an intruder.

Personal injury attorneys from Altman & Altman LLP live in Cambridge, Boston and the surrounding Massachusetts area. We understand more than anybody how important it is to live in a safe, secure and well-maintained apartment building, and that property owners must take great caution to ensure these conditions for their tenants.

With over 50 years of experience advocating on behalf of injured clients, we have the expertise to turn a claim of negligence against a landlord or property owner into real financial compensation to help you pay with high medical costs or make up for missing money from being unable to work for an extended period of time.

Call us for a free consultation to discuss the specific details of your case today at 617.492.3000 or toll-free at 800.481.6199. We are available 24/7.