An apartment complex is dozens of homes sharing one set of stairs, walkways, garages, laundry rooms and gates. Tenants do not control any of it. When a stair tread gives way, a handrail pulls out of the wall, a garage light has been out for months or a security gate has been broken since spring, the people who get hurt are the residents and their guests.
Manoukian Law Firm represents tenants, family members, guests and delivery workers injured at apartment and condominium properties throughout California. Attorney Vaheh Manoukian handles every case personally, from the first call through resolution.
What to do after an injury at an apartment complex
- Get medical care and tell the provider precisely where and how the injury happened.
- Photograph the condition the same day, before it is repaired: the broken tread, the missing rail, the dark garage, the propped gate, the standing water. Include wide shots that show the location within the property.
- Report it to the manager or owner in writing, by email or text, so there is a dated record. Keep a copy.
- Gather your own history with the property: prior maintenance requests, texts, emails and any responses.
- Ask neighbors whether they reported the same problem, and get their contact information.
- Keep the shoes and clothing you were wearing, unaltered.
- Do not sign a release or give a recorded statement to the landlord’s insurer before you have advice.
How these cases work in California
An apartment injury claim is a premises liability claim, and the duty comes from Rowland v. Christian. A landlord who owns or controls a property is expected to use reasonable care to keep it safe for the people who live there and the people they invite. The case usually turns on notice: did the landlord know about the hazard, or would reasonable inspection have found it, and was there a reasonable opportunity to repair it or warn about it.
Notice is often easier to establish at an apartment building than anywhere else, because tenants report problems. Maintenance requests, texts to a manager, emails, work orders, prior complaints from neighbors and inspection records tend to show exactly when a landlord learned of a condition and what happened next. A stair that has been reported three times over six months is a different case from one that failed the day it broke.
Landlords also have habitability obligations to tenants covering things like working plumbing, weather protection, functioning electrical systems and safe, maintained common areas. When an injury flows from a condition the landlord was required to keep in repair and failed to address after notice, that history matters to the injury claim as well.
The recurring problem areas are stairways and handrails, exterior walkways, parking garages and carports, laundry rooms, elevators, pool areas, lighting, gates and locks, balconies and railings, and playgrounds. Pool cases involve fencing and self-latching gates, depth markings, drain covers and whether access was controlled. Security cases turn on whether the landlord knew about prior crime on or near the property and failed to take reasonable measures such as working locks, adequate lighting, functioning gates or controlled access.
California follows pure comparative negligence under Li v. Yellow Cab, so an argument that a tenant should have watched their step reduces recovery by that share of fault rather than ending the claim. These matters overlap with our slip and fall practice, and where a resident’s dog attacks someone lawfully on the property, strict liability under Civil Code section 3342 applies to the owner, as explained on our dog bite page.
How Manoukian Law Firm handles apartment injury claims
We start by preserving what will otherwise disappear. Repairs happen fast after an injury, and complexes with cameras often overwrite footage within days. We send a written preservation notice covering video, work orders, maintenance and inspection records, tenant complaints for the same condition, vendor contracts and prior incident reports.
Next we identify who is actually responsible. That can include the property owner, a management company, a homeowners association, and outside contractors for landscaping, pool service, elevators, security or repairs. Ownership is frequently held by an entity that does not appear on the lease, and identifying the right parties early keeps a claim from running into deadline problems later.
We assemble the medical records and billing, and where injuries are lasting we work with the treating physicians so future care is documented by the doctors providing it. We handle communications with the insurers so our clients can focus on getting better. Every case is prepared as though it will be tried. Our office is in Chatsworth on Topanga Canyon Boulevard, which puts us close to the apartment corridors of the west San Fernando Valley, and the firm represents injured people throughout California. If travel is difficult, we meet by phone, by video, at home or in the hospital.
What can be recovered
California allows recovery for what the injury cost and what it took away. Economic losses include emergency care, surgery, imaging, therapy, medication, equipment, home assistance and the future medical care a treating physician expects will be needed, along with lost income and reduced earning capacity where the injury changes what someone can do for work. Medical damages are measured by the amounts actually paid or owed under Howell v. Hamilton Meats.
Non-economic losses cover pain, scarring, sleep problems, fear of the place where you live, and the loss of ordinary activity. Head injuries deserve careful documentation because symptoms often appear days after the incident, which we explain on our brain injury page. Where an incident at a complex causes a death, wrongful death claims under Code of Civil Procedure section 377.60 belong to a spouse, domestic partner, children and certain dependents, with a separate survival action under section 377.30.
Deadlines
The general California deadline for a personal injury claim is two years from the date of injury under Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1. If the property is owned or operated by a public housing authority or another public entity, a written claim is generally due within six months under Government Code section 911.2, followed by a shorter lawsuit deadline. Either way, the evidence has its own schedule. Video, work orders and the condition itself often do not survive the first month.
Case results
Our client suffered catastrophic injuries after being struck by a commercial delivery driver who was on the job.
Our client developed ongoing neck pain after a multi-vehicle rear-end collision on the highway, requiring pain-management treatment.
First offer: $0. The insurer valued our client's injuries at $5,000 to $10,000, and called it a “soft impact.”
Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
Frequently asked questions
Can my landlord evict me for making a claim?
An injury claim is a claim against an insurance policy the property carries, and California law protects tenants from retaliation for asserting their rights. If you receive a notice after reporting an injury, tell us right away so the timing is documented.
The manager said I signed away my right to sue in the lease. Is that true?
Lease provisions that attempt to release a landlord from responsibility for its own negligence in residential property are generally not enforceable in California. Do not assume a form clause ends your claim without having it reviewed.
I was visiting a friend, not a tenant. Do I have a claim?
Yes. A landlord’s duty of reasonable care extends to guests and other people lawfully on the property, including visitors, delivery workers and service providers. The analysis is the same: notice of the hazard and a reasonable opportunity to fix or warn.
What if I was attacked in the parking garage?
That is a security claim. It turns on what the owner knew about prior incidents and conditions at the property, and whether reasonable measures such as working gates, lighting, locks and cameras were in place. Records of prior crime and prior tenant complaints are central to it.
Does a consultation cost anything?
No. Consultations are free, the firm works on a contingency fee, and there is no fee unless we recover for you.
If you or a family member was hurt at an apartment complex, the repair crew usually arrives before the claim does. Call Manoukian Law Firm at (818) 818-5031, any hour, or reach us through the contact page. Calls are answered in English, Spanish and Armenian, the consultation is free, and there is no fee unless we recover for you.
Serving clients across California
The office is on Topanga Canyon Boulevard in Chatsworth, and the firm represents injured people throughout California. If you cannot travel, we meet by phone, by video, at your home or in the hospital.
