Landlords Liability in New York State

Generally, in New York State, a landlord, must act reasonably in the maintenance of his/her property, keeping it in a reasonably safe condition. As most situations are unique to a degree, what is reasonable must be considered on a case by case basis. Each case will be evaluated by the Courts with the following in mind: the likelihood of injury to others; the seriousness of the injury; and the burden upon the landlord to avoid the risk of harm and injury to others. More particularly, a landlord is under a duty to keep in repair those parts of a property that are within his/her exclusive control. However, a landlord is required only to make the premises reasonably safe for the purposes for which they were intended to be used or for a purpose which he or she should reasonably anticipate. A landlord cannot ignore their property they lease to others and later claim that they did not know about a certain condition that caused someone to be injured. There is an affirmative obligation of landlords to exercise reasonable care to inspect and repair common areas of their premises for the protection of the tenants. This duty may not be delegated with the consequent immunity from liability. www.foleygriffin.com