On Apr 2, 7:28 am, two0...@yahoo.com wrote:
> I live in Illinois
iI DON'T KNOW ILLINOIS LAW. tHIS IS JUST FOR GENERAL DISCUSSION. IF IN DOUBT, CONSULT A LOCAL LAWYER.
> and my real estate agent just conducted an open
> house for me today.
If this was a seller's agent, as most of them are, you as principal would be vicariously responsible for anything he did wrong while he was acting as your representative. Principals are liable in tort for the negligence of their agents committed in the course and scope of the agent's employment. But you haven't told us yet whether the agent in fact did anything wrong. He's only negligent if he did something a reasonable person should not do, or failed to do something any reasonable person should have done, under all the circumstances. That's probably a jury question, so yes, it is possible someone could make a claim against the agent and/or against you, for an injury occurring during an open house.
> A prospective buyer was looking at the house,
> slipped on the stairs and fell down.
What caused her to fall? A successful premises liability claim depends on the victim being able to prove that negligence (of _someone_) caused her injury; you're not liable just because someone falls on your property. You haven't told us anything yet about the cause. If this visitor just tripped over her own feet, and that's what the jury finds, then nobody will be liable. If the jury finds that something the agent did, or something _you_ did or neglected to do (such as failing to fix stairs that were broken or worn or were excessively slippery or had loose carpeting) contributed to causing the fall, then they will assign _that_ as the legal cause and find liability. The jury may also find both sides (the victim, and the owner and/or agent) negligent to some degree and assign a comparative percentage of fault to each, which would be applied by the court to reduce whatever damages and injuries the jury found, by the percentage of the victim's own fault in causing them.
> She was taken to the hospital by
> ambulance and I am uncertain of the injuries.
Don't worry about that now. Just notify your homeowner's insurance company. You _do_ have insurance, right? That's what it's for. Let _them_ worry about it and take care of it.
> My agent does not know
> who is liable
Nobody does, until the jury comes back with a verdict. That's what trials are for. But I can tell you that you are ALL _potentially_ liable, so all of you better put your insurance companies on notice and let them handle it.
> but is checking with her broker. Can anyone advise me
> who is liable in this situation? Thanks.
You're putting the cart before the horse. Even the best educated guess about who is liable is just that, a guess, unless the persons doing the guessing (a jury) are empowered by law to have their word on the subject _be_ law. Whatever the jury says it is, is what it legally is, regardless of what anyone else might think. Because you don't know yet who might be found liable, the only sensible thing to do is to notify all applicable insurance companies that provide liability coverage for all possible defendants, and let them work it out. Then you can relax unless and until something else happens since there's nothing else you can do about it anyway (exdcept, maybe, fix those stairs _now_, if there is anything wrong with them).
--
This posting is for discussion purposes, not professional advice.
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Mike Jacobs
LAW OFFICE OF W. MICHAEL JACOBS
10440 Little Patuxent Pkwy #300
Columbia, MD 21044
(tel) 410-740-5685 (fax) 410-740-4300
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