People rent properties for vacations or because they travel for business all the time. You might rent a house, condo, or apartment unit from a private owner, a professional rental company, or even a service like Airbnb. If you are injured because of unsafe conditions on the property, an attorney can help you sue for fair compensation.
If you are injured on a rental property, you might have a premises liability case on your hands. Generally, property owners may be held liable for injuries that occur due to unsafe conditions on their property. Depending on who owns and maintains the property, you might sue the owner or a rental company that manages the property. You should review the terms of your rental agreement with a lawyer immediately, as the agreement may contain terms that restrict your ability to sue.
Call our Las Vegas, NV personal injury attorneys at Mitchell Rogers Injury Law at (702) 702-2622 for a free, private review of your case.
Suing for Injuries on Nevada Rental Properties
You might rent a property for a vacation, a weekend trip, a business trip, or some other reason. Many people stay in rental houses, apartments, condos, or even cabins for camping. If the property is unsafe and you are hurt, you may be able to sue someone for damages.
Injuries are common in short-term and vacation rentals. In many cases, these properties are not continuously occupied and are intended solely to be rented out. Property owners often neglect these properties because nobody is there for longer than a couple of weeks. However, they may still be liable for injuries if the property was unsafe.
Injuries on rental properties raise premises liability issues. Essentially, the owner of the property may be responsible if the injuries are a direct result are hazardous conditions. You might be able to sue the property owner even if they were not directly involved in the accident.
What Your Rental Agreement Says About Suing for Injuries
One of the most important parts of your case is your rental agreement. Whether you rented from a private owner or a vacation rental company, there was likely a written rental agreement you signed. The agreement may contain terms and conditions that affect your right to sue for damages after an injury.
In some rental agreements, an arbitration or mediation clause is included. In that case, injured renters would have to resolve their case through mediation or arbitration with the defendant, depending on the terms of the rental agreement. This may be more likely if you rented through a larger company rather than a private owner.
Arbitration clauses often bar the injured renter from suing, and the results of arbitration are legally binding. Mediation may not be legally binding, and you might still be able to sue, depending on the results of the mediation.
Even so, our Henderson, NV personal injury attorneys may help you find a way around this. Property owners may not shield themselves from liability for things like gross negligence. In other cases, the contract itself might be invalid or unlawful, and the arbitration clause would also be invalid.
Who Can I Sue for Rental Property Injuries?
There might be multiple parties implicated in your accident, and your attorney can help you determine who should be held responsible.
In many cases, the property owner may be held liable for injuries caused by hazardous conditions on the rental property. However, they might not be the only ones. Rental companies are sometimes in charge of managing and maintaining properties, and it might be their responsibility to inspect for unsafe conditions.
Common Injuries Involving Rental Properties
Certain kinds of accidents and injuries are common on rental properties. However, even if your specific situation is not listed here, you should contact a lawyer for help.
Structural Instability
Accidents can happen when a rental property is structurally unsound. If the front steps are severely weakened from wood rot that the owner has ignored, a renter might fall through the steps and be seriously hurt.
You may also be injured by uneven floors or stairs, which can be serious tripping hazards. Even minor maintenance issues like broken windows or leaky pipes can lead to serious accidents under the right circumstances.
Unsanitary Conditions
Before a renter enters a vacation rental property, property owners or managers must make sure the premises are clean. Larger rental companies might have contracts with cleaning service providers, but smaller, private owners might do it themselves. Either way, if you become ill because of unsanitary conditions, you may sue for damages.
Slip and Fall Accidents
A very common accident on rental properties is slip and falls. You might slip on uneven or damaged floors and break your leg. You might trip on the stairs because the risers are uneven. If cleaners mopped the floor and left it wet before you arrived, you might slip on the wet floor and be seriously hurt.
Do not underestimate a slip and fall accident. You could injure your back, neck, or head and suffer very painful injuries.
When You Should Sue for Rental Property Injuries in Nevada
After an accident on a rental property, you have a limited time in which to bring legal action. The longer you wait, the harder it might be for your attorney to gather evidence, assess damages, and develop effective legal strategies.
Your time to file a lawsuit is governed by the statute of limitations. According to N.R.S. § 11.190(4)(e), you have 2 years from when you were injured to file your case in court. If you do not file on time, you may be time-barred from doing so, and you might never get fair compensation.
How to Prove Your Claims for Rental Property Injuries in Nevada
Proving your claims requires evidence, much of which may come directly from the location of the rental property.
First, you should document the conditions of the property. Record photos and videos of the entire property, and be sure to include the area where you were injured. You and other guests may also provide testimony about the property conditions.
Next, we should also obtain records from the property owner or management company. This may include maintenance records, cleaning records, safety inspection records, and more.
Perhaps most importantly, you must save the rental agreement. This contract may spell out how the defendant may be liable and how your rights to seek compensation may be restricted.
Contact Our Nevada Personal Injury Lawyers for Legal Support
Call our Winchester, NV personal injury attorneys at Mitchell Rogers Injury Law at (702) 702-2622 for a free, private review of your case.