Every winter, Maryland tenants slip on the walkways, steps, and parking lots of the apartment complexes they call home. A shopper can choose another store, but a tenant has to leave the building to get to work, school, or the car. Maryland law recognizes that difference, and the state's highest court applied it directly to a fall on black ice outside an apartment building.
Landlords keep control of the sidewalks, stairways, hallways, and parking areas that all tenants share. Maryland law requires a landlord to use reasonable care to keep those common areas safe, and that duty includes snow and ice. A tenant does not shovel the complex's sidewalks, so the tenant depends on the landlord and its snow removal contractor to do the work.
Some leases say the landlord is not responsible for injuries on the property. Real Property Article Section 8-105 of the Maryland Code makes that kind of clause void as against public policy when it would excuse the landlord's own negligence. The statute covers the leased premises and the stairways, hallways, and other areas used with them that are not within the tenant's exclusive control.
In Thomas v. Panco Management of Maryland, LLC, 423 Md. 387 (2011), a tenant at an apartment complex in Prince George's County fell on black ice on the sidewalk in front of her building. She suffered a compound fracture of her leg and sued the owner and the management company. The trial judge ruled that she had assumed the risk by going outside that evening.
The Court of Appeals, now the Supreme Court of Maryland, reversed and sent the question to a jury. The Court noted that black ice is hard to see. Seeing snow or ice in some areas does not prove that a tenant knew of the black ice where she fell. That distinction matters, because a defense that rests on what the tenant knew fails without proof of that knowledge.
The Court also addressed choice. A landlord's negligence cannot force a tenant to give up the right to leave home safely. A tenant voluntarily accepts a danger only when a reasonably safe alternative route exists and the tenant chooses the dangerous one. For many tenants, the icy walkway in front of the building is the only way out.
Landlords and their insurers usually raise two defenses. Assumption of the risk requires the defendant to prove that the tenant knew of the danger, appreciated it, and voluntarily confronted it, the test the Court of Appeals stated in ADM Partnership v. Martin, 348 Md. 84 (1997). Each of those elements leaves room for evidence about lighting, visibility, and the route the tenant had to take.
Maryland also keeps the rule of contributory negligence, which the Court of Appeals reaffirmed in Coleman v. Soccer Association of Columbia, 432 Md. 679 (2013). Under that rule, a defendant who proves the injured person failed to use reasonable care for his or her own safety defeats the claim. Careful evidence about how the fall happened often decides whether that defense succeeds.
Ice tends to return to the same places. Snow piled beside a walkway melts during the day and refreezes across the path at night. Downspouts that empty onto sidewalks, shaded steps, and poorly drained parking lots create the same problem after every storm. In Thomas, the tenant described an area in front of her building that received little sun, where snow and ice melted slowly.
Repeated conditions help prove that a landlord knew or should have known of the hazard. Earlier complaints from tenants, work orders, and photographs from prior storms can show that the same spot iced over again and again. Records of when a snow removal contractor arrived and what it treated can show whether the landlord acted reasonably.
Get medical care promptly, and describe how the fall happened to the doctor who treats you. Photograph the ice, the walkway, the lighting, and any downspouts or snow piles nearby, and note the date and time. If a neighbor saw the fall or the conditions, write down that person's name and telephone number.
Report the fall to the management office in writing, by e-mail or through the tenant portal, and keep a copy. Ask management to preserve video footage, snow removal logs, and contractor invoices for the date of the fall. Keep the shoes you wore. Weather conditions change quickly, so a dated record made right away carries more weight than memory later.
Under Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article Section 5-101, a person generally must file a Maryland injury claim within three years. A fall on a public sidewalk or other government property usually requires written notice within one year. You can read more about ice falls in general in our article on your rights after you slip on the ice.
Christopher L. Beard, an Annapolis attorney, represents tenants and others injured in falls and other premises liability claims throughout Maryland. To discuss a fall at an apartment complex, e-mail chris@attorneybeard.com or call (410) 267-0227.
