well, it happened today a tennant called and she is being rushed to the hosp. because she slipped and fell on the ice and hure her tailbone.
this property is in an llc. what can i expect to happen next?
should i prepare myself for legal battle?
has anyone on this board had any firsthand experience with this?
help please i am definitely in a panic.
word from my maintenance guy is that most of the ice melted yesterday but there was a little patch (that should have been and could have been walked around.
I think my husband and i better head out there for pictures of the parking lot.
Wendy
My first action would be contacting your attorney and explaining the situation. I think they would be able to advise you which direction to go. Scary situation, I wish you all the luck.
Was this a SFH or an apartment building? In Ohio, the tenant is presumed to have the duty to clean the ice, the logic being that ice and snow are such a common issue that tenants should know that ice is slippery and that they should clean it up. If your lease doesn’t say this, it should. Obviously, things may be different in your state. Checking with your attorney would definitely be advised. However, I don’t always take my attorney’s advice. It’s your building and your money and you should use your best judgement in dealing with these situations.
If this was in an apartment building, then you would normally be responsible for snow and ice removal.
Do not admit fault or offer any compensation to the tenant. In fact, the less you say the better, especially until you’ve talked to your lawyer.
Lawsuits and threats are just a normal part of the rental business. Everything will work out fine in the end. Try not to lose any sleep over this. It’s probably a small matter.
I agree with Mike, say as little as possible to the lady. You’ll most likely be required to pick up the hospital bill…this is why you have insurance. Contact your agent or company ASAP so they can manage the claim and possibly get the lady to take the med pay coverage from your policy. The smaller the claim ends the smaller your premiums will be in the future.
best of all, your insurance should pick up defense and use their attorneys to get the situation resolved. Of course, you should seek professional advice as this is only a recommendation.
…and there’s the catch 22. If you call your insurance company, even if there doesn’t end up being a lawsuit, your premium will probably go up. If there is a claim, your premiums could go up quite a bit. If you have two or three claims, even though absolutely none of them were your fault, then they might cancel your insurance! I know a landlord that had this happen.
The first thing I would do is try to determine what the law and case law is in your state. If the tenant is required to remove the snow and ice, but didn’t do it, I certainly would NOT pay their hospital bills or anything else. Just because someone is careless and slips and falls does not mean it is your fault. You don’t know what happened. The tenant may have been injured somewhere else and is claiming it happened on your property so that they can win the rich landlord lawsuit lottery. Landlords are a big target!
If you find out that you are responsible for the snow/ice removal and the slip/fall under your state’s law, then I might pay the hospital bill myself if the tenant will sign a release saying that is all they will receive. I have high deductibles on my properties and will eat any small claims. I operate like that because it’s cheaper - the premium is lower and I have very few claims.
So, the bottom line is to talk to a good lawyer and find out what the law is. Then, if you have any liability, try to find out where it happened and what the circumstances were. Is this for real or a scam? Is the tenant really hurt or just faking it? Was the tenant admitted or just treated and released? All important information.
Finally, with lawsuits, NEVER do anything in a hurry. A lot of times, lawsuits will just lose inertia and die if the lawsuit takes a long time. For a defendant, delay is the name of the game. Unfortunately, I know a lot about these frivilous lawsuits. If you are in business for very long, you will be sued.
Thankyou all for your thoughts.
I think I’ll wait til mon and call my lawyer. Idon’t want to offer to pay her hosp. bill because I own a daycare center as well and the lawyers that I have for child care say that any time you offer to pay someones bill you are admiting guilt.
She lives in one of our smaller apt. buildings and the ice is definetly our responsibility, however so much of it melted yesterday. And yes we do our best to keep up with it.
Evidently the guy that plows for us shoveled the sidewalk and then plowed the parking lot leaving a small “hill” of snow and ice that one would need to step over to get to the parking lot.
She dosn’t have bad eyesight and it could easily be stepped over.
Also she did call last night after she got home. She says she was in the hosp for exrays and they said her tail bone is broke…they gave her a shot of morphine and a perscription for vicadan but she was only there about three hours.
My brother is a chiroprcter so I’ll ask him if its possible to break your tailbone and still walk.
I’m sure she has insurance.
She had surgery on february 8 and I got her to tell me that she was on vicadan for the previous surgery sooo hmmm.
I don’t want to get out of it if its my responsibilty but i also know that when i took vicadan i had to have someone drive me home.
Maybe she’ll just submit it to her insurance and it will be over. If not, it sounds like the drugs that she is on could have played a role in this. Finally, that’s one reason I don’t have a maintenance man. After it snows, I spend the time it takes to shovel the snow and put out salt myself. That way I know it’s done correctly. Your maintenance man isn’t going to pay any judgement.
Mike you are so right. My dad always said if you want the job done right do it yourself!
Prime example.
On the other hand we arn’t quite big enough for me to quit my day job (director of my child care/preschool center) However if I can sell the business (we lease the space) I might have a couple bucks that would enable me to quit.
My husband owns a party store so he works 24/7 well really more like 12/6 but he leaves all the details of re up to me.
I’m really thinking about simplifying my life!
Like you said mike, hopefully this is the end of it!
Wendy
I want to clarify what I meant about paying the hospital bill. You will not directly pay for the bill, your insurance would probably have a section titled med-pay which offers around $5k in coverage no questions asked (good faith coverage). Do not admit fault but don’t hide the incident either. You pay premiums for a reason…file the claim and let the insurance company take care of it. If they cancel your policy from one claim, i’d be surprised. Or, you can do it on your own and pay the lawyers, the investigation expenses, etc. (this is all part of your insurance coverage you paid for). If you choose this route and it turns into a big lawsuit, the company could deny your claim because you didn’t follow the conditions section of the policy stating you will notify us immediately of any incident. This clause is there to cut the cost of claims. The longer you wait the more time your tenant has to get a good lawyer that will skyrocket your liability.
As far as your maintenance guy…you should only be working with people that have insurance themselves. When they do, you ask them to give you a certificate of insurance and have their company name you as an additional insured so claims made from the maintenance guy’s liability would contractually be picked up by his insurance and not yours.
Talk with your agent and if they don’t know what to do, you’re in need of a new one.
Thanks,
I like the part this is not professional advice.
I realize it isn’t but know that some of you have been in my shoes and can offer a wealth of info.
Thanks again guys!
Wendy
I have not read all the replies so sorry if someone suggested the same thing. Since you were notified of the incident, I woud definitely contact an attorney to make sure you are not liable or there is something you need to do. Being placed on notice, may mean you are now liable to fix something (if there is something to be fixed).