How to Deal With a Landlord Who Doesn’t Care About Your Safety in Boca Raton

Boca Raton landlords are legally required to provide their tenants with safe living spaces. If you believe your landlord is failing in this duty of care, you have every right to consider your legal options. If you’re recovering from injuries due to a slip-and-fall at an apartment complex in Boca Raton, you may be able to file a personal injury lawsuit against your landlord.

See a Doctor if You’re Already Injured 

If your landlord’s negligence has already caused you to suffer injuries, you should see a doctor. Even if you’re concerned about paying your medical bills, it makes sense to prioritize your health. Perhaps most notably, it may be impossible to sue your landlord at a later date for your injuries if you cannot use medical records to prove that they’re real.

Take Photographs of Everything

If you see a safety concern, take a photograph with your phone. Make multiple copies, and consider sending them in an email to a slip-and-fall lawyer. You should also forward these photos to your landlord and explain why you’re concerned.

Examples include broken staircases, wet floors, tripping hazards, and exposed cables. If a motion-sensing light is failing to activate outdoors, you should take a video of the issue. All of these are potential tripping hazards. You might also want to photograph issues like mold, pests, failing appliances, and so on.

Report a Code Violation if Necessary

You can also report a code violation to the City of Boca Raton Code Enforcement. For example, you might notice that your stairwell lacks a handrail. Perhaps you’re concerned about a hole in your floorboards. If you see a tripping hazard, it could be a code violation. You have every right to report your landlord, and they can’t retaliate against you in any way. This includes evicting you.

Determine Whether a Lawsuit Is Possible

Assuming that you have slipped and fallen, you may want to determine whether a lawsuit is possible. First, consider whether you are responsible for your own accident. If the accident occurred inside your home, it might be unreasonable to expect your landlord to prevent it. For example, you might have tripped on a power cord for your fan. Perhaps you slipped and fell on a wet towel in your bathroom. You probably can’t sue in these situations because your landlord would have zero control over what you do in your own apartment.

It could be easier to sue for slips and falls that occur in hallways, stairwells, foyers, and other “shared areas.” Your landlord has a legal duty of care to maintain these areas, and you are not responsible for cleaning them. Aside from your landlord, you might also have the right to sue the homeowners’ association (HOA) of your complex.

Can a Slip-and-Fall Lawyer in Boca Raton Help Me?

A slip-and-fall lawyer in Boca Raton may be able to help if you want to hold your landlord accountable. If your landlord knew or should have known about a safety hazard on the premises and failed to do anything about it, you can pursue potential compensation. To learn more about the next steps, contact Steinberg Law today.

Source: 

myboca.us/344/Code-Enforcement