Many people rent Airbnbs in Houston while on vacation, visiting family, or checking out a new city. In many cases, unfortunate accidents occur because of unmaintained properties and dangerous conditions. If you were injured at an Airbnb property in Houston, TX, call The Queenan Law Firm to discuss your case.
Our Houston Airbnb accident injury lawyers can investigate your case, determine the cause of injury, file a claim against the appropriate parties, and fight to get you compensation for your injuries. Contact us as soon as you can after the accident to arrange a free legal consultation to get started on your injury case. Call us at (817) 476-1797.
Does Airbnb Cover Injuries to Guests in Houston?
Airbnb’s primary role in the service they provide is setting up guests with hosts and managing payment and reviews. In most cases, Airbnb is not directly involved with the rental, and they are certainly not involved in the upkeep of the rental property. Instead, those duties fall to the actual property owner.
Property owners are responsible for keeping their properties safe, so any accidents or injuries that occur because of dangers on the premises are typically their responsibility. Sometimes, renters rather than owners let out their apartment or house on Airbnb, which puts them in the driver’s seat and makes them responsible in place of a property owner. However, other common spaces in the building such as lobbies might still be the owner’s responsibility, and unsafe conditions there could allow you to sue that property’s owner.
Ultimately, Airbnb might provide insurance to renters so that they can feel safe to rent without the risk of having to pay for injuries that occur on their premises. However, this doesn’t stop them from being the right party to sue; you will typically file any claims against the property owner, and then any relevant insurance policies will kick in to cover them in the lawsuit. This access to insurance often allows you to get damages covered where individual property owners might otherwise be unable to afford damages.
Suing for Injuries at Airbnb Properties in Houston
If you are injured on someone else’s property, the law typically allows you to hold the property owner responsible. However, you must show that the injuries you faced were caused by something the property owner did. In most injury cases, the injuries are not intentional, especially at Airbnbs, where you might not even come into contact with the owner. Instead, injuries occur from dangerous conditions on the property.
Under Texas law, you must show that an injury was actually caused by a property owner’s negligent upkeep or repairs in order to get compensation for your injuries. This often means proving that the dangers were hidden and that it was unreasonable to leave the condition there without cleaning it up, repairing it, or leaving a warning for guests.
Many Airbnb property owners are apartment owners or other people who own and manage multiple properties, renting some of them as Airbnb properties alongside other properties with normal rental leases. These owners might not be as hands-on as an independent property owner, and it is possible that they could leave dangerous conditions that they should have discovered and fixed before renting the property out.
Talk to our Houston Airbnb accident injury lawyer about the legal requirements for building your case and what evidence can help show that the property owner knew of the dangers (e.g., past reviews or complaints) and that it was unreasonable to leave the dangerous conditions unresolved.
Proving Damages in Airbnb Injury Cases in Houston
To win an injury case for injuries at an Airbnb in Houston, you must also be able to prove the injuries you faced and what damages they caused you. While some injuries are obvious to the judge and jury – such as serious head, back, and neck injuries resulting in visible disability – other injuries may have already healed before trial or would not be visible to the jury. In those cases, medical records and even photos of the injury become very important in proving your case.
Many injury victims face injuries like broken bones, serious cuts, electrocution, drowning injuries, back injuries, and head injuries because of dangerous conditions on someone else’s property. These injuries can make it hard to go back to work and may require ongoing medical care. You can also claim damages for these economic damages by producing financial statements, bills, pay stubs, and other evidence of how much these damages are worth.
You may also collect damages for other economic harms you faced. These can range from things like childcare while you are in the hospital to medical transportation and even damages for lost services around the house. If a loved one was killed in an accident at an Airbnb, the damages you can claim may be even more expensive and can include burial costs and funeral expenses.
Damages for non-economic harms can also result in financial compensation. Your testimony about the injuries you faced, how much pain they caused you, and how they otherwise affected and harmed your enjoyment of life can result in pain and suffering damages.
Call for a Free Legal Consultation with Our Houston Airbnb Accident Injury Lawyers Today
Airbnb owners that leave dangerous conditions on their properties and fail to provide guests with safe, clean environments could be responsible for injuries the guests face. Our Houston Airbnb accident injury lawyers at The Queenan Law Firm represent victims and fight to get compensation from negligent Airbnb hosts to cover their damages. For a free consultation on your potential case, call us at (817) 476-1797.