As real estate agents, we have a duty to take clients from one home to the next and show them what is out there for them to purchase. While we expect the home to be in decent shape and ready for someone to take over, there are a number of things lurking beneath the surface that many people end up overlooking along the way. Take a look at some of these top locations where many real estate agents have wound up getting hurt on someone else’s property.
Areas Of Potential Liabilities For Home Sellers From Agent and/or Buyer Injury
Uneven Sidewalks
One of the more common problems in Atlanta, especially with older homes is Uneven Sidewalks. According to AtlantaAdvocate.com, property owners need to ensure that the property is “reasonably safe“. Oftentimes, property owners end up neglecting their sidewalks. While they know they are there, they don’t take the time to do anything about them.
Over the course of time, those sidewalks can end up cracking and becoming uneven. When that happens, it creates a dangerous situation for anyone who is walking on them. If an agent or home buyer were to trip on an uneven sidewalk, they could end up suffering from a broken ankle, broken wrist or any number of other problems.
Broken Staircases
A staircase is meant to be your entry point to the upstairs of the house. While they are normally in good condition, that doesn’t mean that they are going to stay that way forever. There are a number of dangers that can lurk underneath the stairs.
The boards under the stairs could end up rotting, becoming loose or broken altogether. When that happens, a real estate agent could end up falling through one of the stairs as they walk up and down the stairs. In such instances a leg could go right through the stairs and leave an agent or prospective home buyer with a broken leg, cuts, scrapes or among other injuries.
Loose Carpeting
Depending on how old the home is, there is a good chance that the carpeting has loosened up over the years. If the carpeting has come loose from the wall, it could pose a major trip hazard. One minute you could be walking along and the next minute your foot gets caught underneath the loose carpet. Depending on where you trip, you could end up falling into a wall, furniture or any number of other things in the house. What started out as an innocent showing could pose a lot of problems for an agent’s health and well-being.
Loose Handrails
Many people use handrails to get up and down the stairs in a home. This is especially true when showing a home to an older couple. Even many real estate agents use these handrails as a way to brace themselves to make sure they can get safely up and down the stairs. Depending on the age of the home, some steps are narrower than others and make it more difficult to get up and down the stairs safely.
If a handrail were to come loose and you were to end up falling down, it could pose a world of problems. You could end up tumbling down the staircase. The dangers could result in your breaking your back, neck or any number of other issues. Staircases are dangerous enough when everything is fine with them, let alone if something were to come loose and leave you with an unsteady surface.
Necessary Duty Of Care
Bruce adds,
“Because property owners have a duty to make sure their property is in reasonably safe condition, they are the ones ultimately responsible if someone ends up getting injured. If an owner could have prevented an injury from happening in the first place, they could be the ones who have to answer for their actions. A real estate is agent there to show the home to potential buyers. It is up to the owner to make sure that an agent and the buyers are safe while on their property.”
Author Bio:
Bruce Millar is a personal injury attorney at Millar & Mixon. The law firm serves the victims of personal injury accidents all over the state of Georgia. With years of experience of Millar has been helping clients get their life back on track after a serious accident has occurred.
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