As a tenant, you may not know what to do after you’re hurt on the grounds of your apartment building or rental home. How will you pay your medical bills and other losses? How will you pay rent and other bills while out of work? How do you know who is responsible for the accident? The experienced South Carolina premises liability lawyers at Pracht Injury Lawyers are here to guide you through documenting the incident and seeking fair compensation for your injuries.
Step One: Document the Conditions That Caused Your Injury
You need to prove what happened and why before you can recover damages after an accident at your rental apartment or home. Often, this process begins by documenting the dangerous conditions that caused your injury. You can gather evidence by:
- Taking pictures and videos of the property conditions from multiple angles. Be sure to capture any relevant details like loose carpeting, missing handrails, or inadequate lighting.
- Measuring and recording the size of things like holes in the floor or the height of a broken step
- Making notes about the hazard, including when you first noticed the problem, whether you reported it to the landlord previously, and how it caused your injury
- Saving any correspondence, like emails or texts, where you notified the landlord about the issue prior to your injury
Even if the landlord fixes the issue later, having a clear visual and written record from the time of the accident can help demonstrate that the hazard existed and posed a risk before any repairs were made.
Step Two: Notify Your Landlord About Your Injury
After documenting the hazardous condition, inform your landlord that you've been hurt on the property. Send written notice of the injury that includes:
- The date, time, and specific location where the injury occurred
- A brief description of the dangerous condition and how it caused your injury
- A statement that you're seeking medical attention for your injuries
- A request that the landlord preserve any evidence related to the hazard, like security camera footage
If you are working with a lawyer, your lawyer may send this notification on your behalf and request that the landlord address all future communication to the lawyer.
Step Three: Get Medical Attention for Your Injuries
Prompt medical attention may help you manage pain and prevent your injuries from worsening. Additionally, your diagnosis can provide valuable evidence linking the dangerous property condition to your injuries. After the accident, you can:
- Go to the emergency room, urgent care center, or your primary doctor as soon as possible
- Provide a clear explanation to the medical staff of how the injury happened
- Follow all treatment instructions carefully, including attending follow-up appointments
- Save copies of all medical bills and records related to your treatment
Additionally, you can document your pain levels and physical limitations in a daily journal to share at future medical appointments and with your lawyer.
Step Four: Report the Hazard to Local Authorities
If the hazardous condition is a building code violation, talk to your lawyer about filing a complaint with your city or county building code enforcement office. They can:
- Inspect the property and issue the landlord a citation for any violations
- Order the landlord to make necessary repairs to address the safety hazard
- Provide you with an official report documenting the code violations
An official code enforcement report can support your claim by showing that the dangerous condition was illegal under local regulations.
Step Five: Keep Records of All Injury-Related Expenses
The financial consequences of an injury often go beyond medical bills. Keep track of all out-of-pocket expenses resulting from the injury, such as:
- Pharmacy receipts for medication and medical supplies
- Travel costs to get to medical appointments
- Pay stubs or timesheets showing missed work hours
- Receipts for household services you needed because of your injury, like childcare, housekeeping, or lawn care
Organizing these expenses in a spreadsheet or folder from the start can make it easier to calculate your total losses and avoid overlooking more minor but still important costs.
An Essential Step: Contact a South Carolina Personal Injury Lawyer
This step doesn’t need to wait until last. Instead, we encourage you to contact a South Carolina premises liability lawyer as soon as possible after your accident. An experienced personal injury lawyer can:
- Determine whether your landlord is liable for your injuries under South Carolina law
- Gather additional evidence to build a strong injury claim, like maintenance records, witness statements, and expert analysis
- Handle all communication with the landlord and their insurance company
- Negotiate aggressively for a fair settlement to cover your medical bills, lost income, pain and suffering, and other losses
- Take your case to court if the landlord won't offer proper compensation
At Pracht Injury Lawyers, we're committed to fighting for the rights of injured tenants across South Carolina. Let our knowledgeable premises liability legal team handle the stress of your claim so you can focus on healing.