Rental-injury liability follows a principle worth memorizing: responsibility follows control. Landlords control common areas and the building’s bones; tenants control their unit’s daily condition — and the injured guest’s claim lands wherever control over the hazard lived.
- Landlord territory: stairwells, lobbies, sidewalks, railings, structural and system defects — plus in-unit dangers they knew of and left (the reported leak, the failing step), and code-violation conditions.
- Tenant territory: transient in-unit hazards of daily living — the spill, the clutter — where guests’ claims run to the renter’s liability coverage.
- The overlap fights: notice of disrepair (repair requests are gold — keep them written), negligent repairs by either, and security failures in negligent-security patterns.
- Lease clauses purporting to waive injury liability: largely unenforceable against negligence — bring the lease, don’t obey it.
Frequently Asked Questions
I’m the tenant and I was hurt by my building’s broken railing. Can I claim against my own landlord?
Yes — common-area and known-defect injuries are exactly the tenant-versus-landlord claim, and your lease didn’t waive it. Written repair requests you sent are the case’s spine.
My guest was hurt in my apartment. Am I personally on the hook?
Your renter’s insurance responds if the hazard was yours; the landlord’s if it was structural or known disrepair. This is why renter’s policies exist — and why the control question gets analyzed, not assumed.
What does hiring you cost?
No attorney’s fee unless we recover; percentage and cost handling are in the written fee agreement. Consultations are free.
Questions about your situation? Call (215) 464-4600 or contact us online — free, confidential consultations, contingency-fee representation.