In Georgia, a landlord may not always be liable if a tenant slips, falls and suffers an injury. In some cases, the law will presume that the person who slipped and fell could have taken care to avoid that injury. The law may also find that the property owner was not liable for an accident if due care was taken to prevent slippery conditions from existing.
For instance, if a leaky roof led to slippery conditions within a home, the owner of the home may not be liable if efforts were made to improve drainage. However, if the owner did not know about the leaky roof, he or she may still have been found liable for the injuries. This is because a property owner must take care to fix a potentially dangerous condition if he or she should have reasonably known about it.
A property owner may also be held liable if the owner knew about it and didn’t fix it or created the conditions that led to the accident. However, proving that the owner either knew or should have known about the issue can be tricky. Ultimately, a judge or jury will decide based on the evidence presented in court.
When an individual is hurt within the confines of his or her rental property, the landlord may be liable for certain costs related to that injury. It may be worthwhile to consult with a premises liability attorney to help with cases involving slip and fall accidents. An attorney may be able to show that the landlord of a rental property should have been aware of, or failed to take action to prevent, a potentially dangerous situation.
Source: Findlaw, “Proving Fault in Slip and Fall Accidents“, November 05, 2014