Thursday, April 4, 2013

I was injured on someone else’s property. What Can I Do?

Most , property owners, including entities such as the city and state, are responsible for injuries that occur as a result of a dangerous or hazardous condition that exists on their property, which the owner either knew or should have known about. The hazard can  be obvious (such as ice on steps) or hidden (such as a hole in a lawn that is partially covered by grass). In some cases it may not be apparent, as in flooring that appears normal but is very waxy and slippery. The dangerous condition could be permanent, such as broken concrete  or temporary, such as a slippery spill in a market aisle.
Legally a property owner will be considered to have knowledge of a dangerous or hazardous condition if it is permanent in nature, because the owner knew, or should have known, about the condition before the incident occurs.
In the case of temporary conditions , the length of time that the condition exists prior to  the incident occurred is important. If the spill occurred just before the incident, the property owner may not be liable to the plaintiff, because the owner could not have known about the spill (and would not have been able to do anything about it) before the injury occurred. If, the spill however, was present for some time before the incident, or occurred in an area subject to liquid spills, or is a recurring event in the area, the owner may be liable, even if he or she did not know about this particular spill.

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