Sacramento Premises Liability Attorney

At the Wyatt Law Corp, our personal injury attorneys help clients who have been injured in an accident – whether from a car accident or in another way. If you were injured in a home, office or store, give us a call and we’ll discuss your options for receiving compensation for your injuries.

One of the categories of accident law that our attorneys regularly handle is called premises liability. We file premises liability lawsuits for our clients against negligent homeowners, landlords, large department stores like Walmart, strip malls and plazas. Below, we will discuss the premises liability laws that are applicable in the Sacramento area and we’ll answer some of the most common questions our clients ask us.

What is Premises Liability?

Every Sacramento property owner or occupier has a duty of care to provide a safe premises for those they invite onto their property.

This duty of care includes the mandate to maintain a safe premises, inspect their premises, and repair or remove any dangerous conditions that might be present on the premises. When they fail in this duty of care, and another person is injured as a result of that failure, the injured party may sue the property owner/occupier for damages related to their injuries.

What is the Statute of Limitations in a Premises Liability Lawsuit?

In California, an injured party has two years to file a premises liability lawsuit against an allegedly negligent party. Please keep in mind that the statute of limitations can be complicated, so we ask that you please give us a call to discuss the details of your injury.

What are Damages in Premises Liability Lawsuit?

Damages are the legal term for certain types of injuries, both financial and not financial. In a premises liability claim, an injured party may recover damages for:

• Medical expenses,
• Lost wages,
• Loss of earning power,
• And pain and suffering damages.
• Pain and suffering damages, considered non-economic damages, include physical pain and discomfort, emotional pain, loss of enjoyment, or lost quality of life.

Can I File a Premises Liability Lawsuit?

Premises liability lawsuits are generally filed by those who suffered a primary injury as a result of owner/occupier’s negligence. In cases where the injury resulted in death, a wrongful death action can be brought by the surviving family members or the representative of the deceased’s estate.

Types of Premises Liability Lawsuits

There are several different categories of premises liability lawsuit. Below, we will discuss each one in greater detail.

• Slip, trip, and fall accidents – These are the most common types of premises liability lawsuits and our accident attorneys help clients with these cases on a regular basis. Slip and fall cases involve an owner/occupier leaving a dangerous condition unremedied and allowing an injury as a result. To prove that the owner/occupier is liable, the plaintiff must prove that the owner/occupier either knew or should have known about the dangerous condition and did nothing to remedy it. These accidents involve icy stairs, slippery floors, broken railings, products left in aisles, and other dangerous conditions.
• Inadequate maintenance accidents – In cases where building codes are violated, a landlord can be held liable if someone is injured or otherwise sustains damages related to the violation. Landlords in Sacramento and throughout California are expected to keep common areas in buildings in fit, clean, and habitable condition.
• Negligent security lawsuits – Negligent security lawsuits allege that because an owner/occupier of a store or building did not provide adequate security measures for the building, they are responsible for any injuries caused by other members of the general public who would not otherwise have been able to gain access or harm others on the property. Bars, department stores, and apartment complexes are the most likely targets of these types of lawsuits.
  Toxic condition lawsuits – As an example, landlords can be held liable for lead poisoning if they fail to disclose the condition to prospective renters. In other cases, some conditions on a premises that results in sickness caused can result in a lawsuit.
• Dog bite lawsuits – Dog bite lawsuits are a common form of premises liability. Owners of dogs are responsible for ensuring that the public is safe from them. If the dog jumps the fence and injures another person, the owner can be held liable so long as they did not incite the dog and were not trespassing.
• Attractive nuisance lawsuits – When a minor is injured by a potentially dangerous condition on their premises, the owner of the premises may be held liable even if the children were trespassing. For instance, if a child wanders onto a neighbor’s property and falls into the swimming pool, the parents of the children can claim the owner did not adequately secure the swimming pool providing access to the child.

Defenses to Sacramento Premises Liability Lawsuits

In a premises liability lawsuit, the injured party has the burden of proving that the owner’s negligence was responsible for their injuries. While sometimes this is fairly obvious, it will not always be. California Civil Code 1714(a) outlines the duties that owner/occupiers owe members of the general public who are invited onto their property. However, an owner/occupier can claim that the accident was (at least partly) the fault of the injured party.

• Injured party was not an invitee – An owner/occupier can claim that the injured party was not an “invitee” on their property. For instance, a door-to-door salesman would have a weaker claim to a premises liability lawsuit than someone you invited over. If a member of the general public is in an area that is exclusively for employees, their claim would also be weaker.
• Owner/occupier “didn’t know” about the dangerous condition – In most premises liability lawsuits, the question of foreseeability determines whether or not the defendant is negligent. If the owner/occupier did not know or could not have known about the dangerous condition, they will not be ruled negligent for the accident.
• Injured party contributed to the accident – If a person trips over a box left in an aisle but was staring at their cell phone instead of watching where they were going, the owner/occupier can reduce their liability.

In a successful premises liability lawsuit, your accident attorney at the Wyatt Law Corp will prove that the owner/occupier either knew or should have known about the dangerous condition and failed to remedy it. Had they remedied the dangerous condition, the injury would have never occurred.

Talk to a California Premises Liability Attorney Today

If you have sustained injuries that you believe are the result of a property owner’s negligence, the litigation team at Wyatt Law Corp. can file a lawsuit on your behalf. Talk to us today to set up a free consultation.