When it comes to premises liability, many people tend to think of situations pertaining to landlords and apartments. Maybe someone slipped on the stairs, or a person’s apartment just wasn’t up to code. As a result, the injured or affected party filed a lawsuit against the landlord or property owner.
However, there are many other ways that premises liability can come into effect. Let’s take a look at some of the more intricate ways that an injured or affected party could file a claim against someone for premises liability:
- Hotels. You can sue a hotel if you slip and fall on the premises and they failed to warn you or adequately address the situation. However, depending on state laws, you may not be able to sue them if you are robbed or injured by another party on the hotel’s premises.
- Sidewalks. Let’s say you injure yourself after falling on a dilapidated curb or a broken piece of concrete. Could you sue the city? Usually state, cities or municipalities have legal protections in place that forbid you from pursuing liability claims against them — but there are situations where you could pursue those claims. In addition, sometimes the property owners near the damaged sidewalk can be held liable; or if construction is going on at or near the scene, the contractors or site managers could be held liable.
- Using an ATM. It wasn’t until recently that banks were obligated to provide ATM users some protection from attack. ATM users can now hold banks liable if they attacked while using the machine.
Source: FindLaw, “Premises Liability FAQ,” Accessed Aug. 6, 2015