Public vs Private Property Negligence in Denver Slip and Fall Cases
People are not aware of are that the standard that happens in slip and fall cases is a higher standard than the general negligence that they kind of describe it as super negligent as if a person is an invitee or a licensee. There are classifications based on a person’s status. People generally say that they were allowed or not allowed to be there, based on a person’s visitor status.
Liability does not differ between public vs private property negligence in slip and fall cases. It all goes back to what that a person’s status is. If you suffered an injury on private property but they are conducting business on the property and wanting the public to be in there, then they still have this heightened duty of care because they are inviting people onto the premises. If it is a private property and a landowner is not conducting business and everyone is social guests, then they have a lower standard of care because the guests are considered a licensee. If an individual wants to know more about public vs private property negligence in Denver slip and fall cases and how liability works, they should consult a capable slip and fall lawyer that can answer their questions.
Duty of Care Denver Has to Its Residents
Public vs private property general negligence in Denver slip and fall cases is especially relevant when considering injuries sustained on city property. It is an open question as to what the duty of care is, but generally, a city does not have just an ongoing duty to the general public to protect them from all harms or anything of that nature. If they are notified of a defect in the roadway or defect on a sidewalk that creates a hazard, then they have a duty to at least investigate and remediate if necessary to protect the residents or the general public as a whole but without that notice, it is very hard to prove that they had a duty of care. For example, there could be a piece of sidewalk with a large crack that someone slips and falls and breaks their ankle on. It is very hard to show that the city had knowledge that the defect existed.
Filing Injury Claims Against the Government
When a person files an injury claim against the government – and this is any type of claim with Colorado – they have to give notice pursuant to the Colorado Governmental Immunity Act and the notice has to describe what type of injury was sustained, what the nature of the liability of the governmental entity is and the notice has to be sent to the person that is the head of the department or has the decision-making power for that.
If people are injured within the City of Denver, the common people that get notice of a governmental claim is going to be the mayor, the city attorney’s office and any board of commissioners or additional counsel they may have. That notice has to be filed within 182 days of the date of the incident so they are looking at approximately six months and everything has to be filed via certified mail.
When a Landlord Might Be Held Liable for Criminal Conduct of Third Parties on the Premises
If the landowner has some type of notice that this criminal conduct occurs and kind of implicitly or expressly allows it to continue occurring and it does nothing to warn tenants or guests or to prevent the criminal conduct from occurring there, the classic thing is in a series of months, they have numerous burglaries or robberies or assaults, batteries, things of that nature. They have dangerous criminal conduct going on but the landlord does not do anything and then a person is injured, then a person can bring that claim against the landlord, and point out that while the landowner was aware of the danger and refused to take action, the landlord could be held liable as a result. If an individual wants to know more about holding landlords liable, or about public vs private property negligence in Denver slip and fall cases, they should speak with a knowledgeable slip and fall lawyer that could help.