| DISCLAIMER: The following is provided for reference | | | | cases. |
| purposes only and not as legal advice. | | | | Negligence is when you are not aware of the risk but |
| Dear reader, you are lucky. If I had been writing on this | | | | should have been - you failed to check your home for |
| topic not all that long ago I would have needed a small | | | | necessary repairs, for example, and someone falls |
| textbook to even begin an introduction to its arcane | | | | through a rotten stairwell. Recklessness is when you |
| complexities. But the modern trend has been to | | | | knew of the risk but ignored it - for example, you |
| simplify it all into a reasonable set of rules and | | | | knew the stairs were rotten but delayed fixing them |
| principles that are - well, common sense based. | | | | and then invited your mother-in-law over. Willfulness is |
| Put simply, the tenant has a much greater overall | | | | when you intentionally expose someone to an |
| liability for injuries to visitors occurring on property | | | | unreasonable risk ("Let's put banana peels all over the |
| owned by the landlord but rented by the tenant. Such | | | | basement stairs and film Linda when she falls - she's |
| injuries can take many forms: | | | | so CUTE when she's angry!") Note that in order for |
| (1) The postman is bitten by the family dog and comes | | | | the offending conduct to be willful, you don't have to |
| down with rabies. | | | | intend that anyone get injured - you just have to intend |
| (2) A child chasing a runaway ball wanders onto the | | | | that they be exposed to an unreasonable risk of injury. |
| rented property and falls into a ditch, breaking his leg. | | | | The foregoing reveals why tenants are generally more |
| (3) A guest suffers an electric shock turning on a lamp | | | | at risk than landlords - because they possess the |
| due to defective wiring in a private home. | | | | property, they have more control over its condition |
| (4) A guest suffers smoke inhalation due to a fire in an | | | | than the landlord does and thus have more duties that |
| office building that was caused by defective wiring. | | | | can possibly be breached to result in an injury. The |
| The general standard used in most jurisdiction is the | | | | landlord's responsibility is at its greatest when he has a |
| same "negligence, recklessness, and willfulness" | | | | duty to keep certain aspect of the premises in good |
| standard that is used in most personal injury cases. | | | | repair - for example, the landlord is usually responsible |
| The liability gets greater as you go up the scale from | | | | for complying with the fire code. |
| negligence to willfulness, including criminal liability in some | | | | |