A guest slipped on icy steps at a rental: who is liable?

When a guest slips on icy steps at a rental, the answer usually turns on control of the steps. Landlords generally answer for shared stairs and walkways they maintain, while a tenant can carry the duty for a private entrance if a written lease clearly assigns it.

A fall claim is a negligence claim. The injured guest has to show that someone had a duty to deal with the ice, knew or should have known it was there, and failed to act within a reasonable time. Snow that started falling an hour ago is treated differently from a glaze that sat on the steps for three days. Weather records, salting logs, and photos usually decide that part of the case. The first question an adjuster asks is simple: whose job was it to clear these steps?

Massachusetts answers that question in writing. The State Sanitary Code is issued by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health as 105 CMR 410.000. In a multi-unit residence, it says the owner must make sure exterior stairways, fire escapes, egress balconies, and bridges are "maintained free of snow and ice." That duty sits in 105 CMR 410.260(D)(2). The code then lets the duty move to a tenant only for a means of egress under the tenant's "exclusive use and control," and only when a written rental agreement clearly identifies that responsibility.

Picture a three-family house with one shared front stair and a private back stair that serves only the third floor. The front stair stays the owner's problem no matter what the leases say. The back stair can become the third-floor tenant's job, but only on paper. A verbal agreement made during the showing does not meet the code's written requirement.

A second Massachusetts law matters when the injured person is a tenant or occupant. M.G.L. c. 186, s. 15E covers an owner sued over an injury caused by a defect in a common area. If the defect violates the local building code, the owner cannot defend by saying it existed when the unit was rented. Any lease clause waiving that rule is void.

Michigan gets to a similar place by statute. Under MCL 554.139(1)(a), every residential lease includes the landlord's promise that "the premises and all common areas are fit for the use intended by the parties." Subsection (2) lets the parties modify those duties only when the lease has a current term of at least one year, so a landlord renting month to month cannot write the common-area promise out of the agreement. In states without a rule this specific, local housing codes and court decisions on reasonable care fill the gap.

Which insurance policy pays

Two policies can respond, and they protect different people. A landlord policy, or a dwelling policy with premises liability coverage, defends the owner when the claim is that the owner failed to maintain the property. The personal liability section of a renters policy defends the tenant when the tenant's own carelessness caused the injury. Many renters policies also carry a small guest medical payments benefit that pays without anyone proving fault. Our post on landlord insurance versus renters insurance covers other claim types, such as fire and water damage.

Here is how a claim can play out. A tenant in a duplex invites a friend to dinner on a January evening. Freezing rain coats the shared front steps at 4 p.m., and the friend falls at 7 p.m. and breaks her wrist. Her medical bills and lost wages come to $11,800. The lease says the landlord handles snow and ice on shared areas. Her claim therefore goes to the landlord's carrier. The adjuster will check weather records and ask whether three hours was enough time to salt. If she had fallen on a private back stoop that the lease assigned to the tenant, the tenant's renters policy would take the lead instead.

Both sides should read their own policy limits before winter. A renters policy's liability limit, commonly sold in amounts such as $100,000 or $300,000, is the most the insurer will pay on one claim. A landlord who requires renters insurance in the lease can also ask to be listed as an interested party. The landlord then gets notice if the tenant's coverage lapses midway through the lease.

A snow and ice clause you can adapt

A clause works best when it names the exact areas and gives a realistic response time. This version fits a small multi-unit building, and the bracketed items need your own details:

Snow and ice. Landlord will clear snow and apply ice melt on all shared walkways, stairs, porches, and parking areas within [12] hours after snow or ice stops accumulating. Tenant will clear snow and apply ice melt on the following areas, which serve Tenant's unit only and are under Tenant's exclusive use and control: [rear stairway serving Unit 3]. Landlord will supply ice melt for those areas. Tenant will report ice on any shared area to Landlord by text or email as soon as Tenant notices it.

Do not assign a shared stairway to one tenant. In Massachusetts that assignment fails under 105 CMR 410.260, and elsewhere it invites a dispute over who controlled the stairs. Add the clause to your residential lease before move-in, keep a dated log of each time you shovel or salt, and photograph the steps after every treatment. If a fall happens, report it to your insurer the same week, even if the guest says she feels fine.

Sources

• 105 CMR 410.000, Massachusetts State Sanitary Code (mass.gov)
• M.G.L. c. 186, s. 15E (malegislature.gov)
• MCL 554.139 (legislature.mi.gov)