California property law

The condition wasthere before you were.

Premises cases are decided on what the owner knew, or should have discovered, about a hazard on their property — and on how much of that record still exists when we start.

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Property safety investigator documenting a hazardous commercial entrance

Case focus

Condition. Notice. Control.

2 years

Standard filing deadline

6 months

If a public entity owns it

Days

Before footage is overwritten

How notice is established

What they knewleaves a record.

A property owner rarely admits knowing about a hazard. We prove notice through the records created by ordinary inspections, complaints, repairs, and surveillance.

Property operations team reviewing inspection records and surveillance footage

Notice leaves a trailHow notice is established

The property's own records often tell the story first.

A property owner rarely admits knowing about a hazard. Notice is proved through the records created by ordinary inspections, complaints, repairs, and surveillance.

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Actual notice01

Someone reported it.

A customer complaint, employee observation, incident report, or work order placed the condition directly in the property's hands.

Complaints · emails · staff testimony

Constructive notice02

A reasonable inspection should have found it.

The condition remained long enough—or happened often enough—that a careful inspection program would have discovered it before the injury.

Inspection gaps · video · recurring repairs

The first records we preserveBefore they are overwritten or revised

What we go after immediately.

01SurveillanceWhen the condition appeared
02Inspection logsWhether anyone checked
03Prior complaintsWhether it happened before
04Work ordersWhat the property already knew

Eight ways a property fails

Every hazard has a duty attached to it.

Open any condition to see the duty the property owner owed and the records that establish whether they met it.

Conditions we take on8 categories · open one

Who had the power to fix it?

Responsibility followscontrol.

The deed is only the beginning. Leases, management agreements, and work orders reveal who could inspect the area, repair the condition, or warn visitors before someone was hurt.

Property representatives and a maintenance contractor reviewing a shared entrance condition — One condition · several contracts
We follow the decisions that shaped the space.

Property owner

Structure and retained repairs

Did the lease leave the condition in the owner's control?

Deed · lease · insurance policy

Property manager

Inspections and common areas

Who scheduled upkeep, received complaints, and hired vendors?

Management agreement · work orders

Business tenant

Daily operation of the leased space

Who created, used, or monitored the area day to day?

Lease terms · staffing and sweep logs

Outside contractor

The work and condition it left behind

Did repair, cleaning, or construction create the hazard?

Scope of work · invoices · site photographs

The practical test

Who could inspect it, repair it, warn about it, or close the area? That authority—not the name on the building—is where responsibility begins.

Evidence preservation

The condition may disappear.The record cannot.

Most hazards are repaired quickly. The first objective is to preserve what existed, where it was, who was told, and how long there was to respond.

Photograph the condition

Wide · detail · scale

Capture the hazard itself, its position in the property, and a reliable reference for size before anyone alters it.

Establishes what existed

Create the incident record

Date · location · personnel

Report what happened, identify who received the report, and request a written copy or reference number.

Fixes the event in time

Preserve the surveillance

Camera · retention · demand

Identify every useful camera and send a preservation demand before the system overwrites the relevant window.

Shows duration and response

Keep the physical evidence

Shoes · clothing · damaged items

Store what you were wearing without cleaning, repairing, or using it again so its condition cannot be disputed later.

Answers comparative-fault claims

If the condition is already gone

Repairs change the scene.They do not erase the claim.

Maintenance records, earlier complaints, work orders, and witness accounts can reconstruct a condition after it has been corrected.

Reconstructed from

01
Maintenance records
What was serviced, and when
02
Earlier complaints
Whether anyone raised it before
03
Work orders
What the property chose to fix
04
Witness accounts
What people saw at the time

What the complete record must capture06

01Emergency care and surgery
02Rehabilitation and long-term therapy
03Lost wages and lost earning capacity
04Emotional distress and anxiety
05Permanent impairment or disfigurement
06Pain, suffering, and loss of enjoyment

Premises liability FAQ

Clear answers, before the next move.

These come up in almost every property matter. If yours is not here, ask it directly — the answer is free.

Broken commercial stair beside a wet floor hazard — Confidential consultation. No upfront fee. No fee unless we recover.

A slip-and-fall is one kind of premises liability claim. Premises liability is the broader framework covering any injury caused by a dangerous condition on someone else's property — inadequate lighting, a failed handrail, falling stock, negligent security, an unfenced pool. The legal question is the same in each: what condition existed, and what did the person responsible for the property know or fail to discover about it.

The open and obvious argument is among the most commonly raised, and it is not absolute. California still requires reasonable care where an owner should anticipate harm despite the obviousness — for instance where the only route to an entrance runs across the condition, or where a distraction was foreseeable. Obviousness may bear on comparative fault, but it does not automatically end a claim.

An incident report is helpful and not strictly required. Report it as soon as you can, and if you were unable to at the time, do so in writing afterwards. Where no report exists, the claim leans harder on other proof — photographs, witnesses, medical timing, and surveillance — which is why preserving those quickly matters.

Generally two years from the date of injury. If a government entity owns or operates the property, an administrative claim is usually required within six months, which is a far shorter window than most people expect. Because the applicable deadline depends on who controls the property, that ownership question is worth resolving early.

Every property is controlled differently. Tell us where it happened and we will work out who answers for it.

Ask your question

The record is disappearing

Let us establish the condition, the notice, and who controlled it.

The consultation is free, confidential, and carries no obligation. Tell us what happened and we’ll tell you, honestly, where you stand.

Available 24/7 · Direct attorney access · No fee unless we recover