If a tenant’s guest is injured by the tenant’s dog, is the landlord responsible? Will the landlord’s insurance pay for the injury?
Maybe. Maybe not. A common misperception is that if you are injured on someone else’s property, they and/or their insurance are responsible to pay for your injury. But, it is not so simple as that.
Generally, landlords are not responsible for their tenant’s dogs or the injuries they cause. This rule was reaffirmed by the Court of Appeals in a recent decision. In this case, someone visited their friend at the friend’s rented single-family home. The friend’s dog attacked and bit the person.
The dog escaped a fenced-in backyard. The fence was constructed by the tenant with the landlord’s permission. The fence was not part of a common area, and the landlord was not in possession of that part of the rental property nor responsible for the maintenance of the fence.
The outcome of the case might have been different if the dog had escaped a common area the landlord maintained and was responsible for, such as a fenced-in dog-walk area for use of all the rental units in an apartment complex.
This case illustrates that obtaining compensation for a personal injury that occurred on someone else’s property is not always straightforward. Consult with an injury attorney for advice about your circumstances.