Understanding Premises Liability in San Antonio Shopping Malls and Strip Centers

If you are injured while visiting a San Antonio shopping mall or strip center, you may be able to hold someone accountable for those injuries. Depending on who controlled the area where the injury occurred, liability may rest with the landlord (common areas), tenant (store space), or a management/maintenance company that controlled the premises or created the hazard.

Going over premises liability in San Antonio shopping malls and strip centers while speaking with a San Antonio personal injury lawyer, may help you obtain compensation for the injuries you sustained.

What is premises liability?

In Texas, a premises-liability claim arises when an owner or occupier, who knew or should have known of a dangerous condition, fails to use ordinary care to make it reasonably safe or to warn, and that failure causes injuries.

For example, if you are at the San Antonio North Star Mall and slip on a wet floor that was improperly marked, you could file a personal injury lawsuit against the owners of this mall. Doing so may lead to you receiving compensation for the injury you sustained if the owners of the North Star Mall are found liable for this injury.

Just because you are injured at a particular shopping mall or strip center does not automatically mean that the owner is liable for your injuries. A number of different legal conditions must be satisfied in order for them to be liable.

When can you obtain compensation for a San Antonio shopping mall or strip center injury? 

You can obtain compensation for an injury that occurred at a San Antonio shopping mall or strip center if the owner of that property owed you a duty of care. Real estate owners almost always owe their visitors/guests a duty of care.

To satisfy this requirement, the owner of a real estate property needs to keep their property safe. This means dealing with hazards and making sure people can navigate the property safely, among other things.

Your injury at a San Antonio shopping mall/strip center could be due to a property owner breaching their duty of care to you. They may have failed to rectify certain hazards, for example. And, if a property owner’s breach of duty led to you sustaining an injury, this property owner could be considered liable.

You can obtain compensation for an injury that someone else is liable for. But, in order for you to do so, you must prove that a property owner owed you a duty of care and that they breached it. You must also prove that this breach led to the injury you sustained and that you sustained damages as a result of this injury.

Proving the above requires evidence. You can work with a lawyer to gather and present the photos, videos, testimony, and records – among other forms of evidence – that support your claims.

Being injured on business property can invoke Texas’s premises liability laws. This is only if the owner breached their duty of care to you, though. You can work with a lawyer to assess this and take your claim to court.

Can you always obtain compensation for an injury you sustain at a San Antonio shopping mall/strip center?

The answer to this question is “No.” Not every injury can lead to compensation. Compensation may be available if the hazard meets these three requirements:

1. It posed an unreasonable risk.
2. The owner/occupier knew or should have known of the hazard (including if they created it).
3. The owner/occupier failed to use ordinary care to make it reasonably safe or warn (but keep in mind that owners generally have no duty to warn of hazards that are open and obvious or already known to the invitee).

Hazards like the above are often considered a breach of the duty of care. Here are a few examples of scenarios that might make the mall liable:

• If there is a large puddle of water in the lobby of a shopping mall, and the mall knows about this or should know about it due to its size and how long it’s been present. You sustain injuries after slipping on it.
• If there is a leaky pipe in a bathroom stall, and the owner of the mall that contains this bathroom knows about it but hasn’t fixed it. You’re injured because of the leak and resulting wet floor.
• If there is a dent in the floor of a store that was caused by repairs that were never finished, and you trip on it and sustain a concussion.

Who is liable for an injury sustained at a San Antonio shopping mall/strip center?

The answer to this question is dependent on a number of factors. Liability generally rests with the owner or occupier who controlled the area at the time (for instance, the landlord for common areas or a tenant within leased space). A property-management company may be liable if it exercised control over the premises, assumed such control by contract, or created the dangerous condition. An individual manager is seldom going to be the proper defendant, unless they are personally negligent and breached an independent duty.

Regarding whether an owner can sue a property management company for negligence, the answer can be “Yes,” for the following reasons:

• If the management company promised to keep the property free of hazards, and they failed to address hazards that they knew about/should’ve known about, this can be a violation of their contract.
• If an owner pays damages, it may recover from a management company through contractual indemnity (if the contract so provides and complies with Texas’s express negligence requirements) or via Chapter 33 allocation/contribution. A contract breach alone does not convert into a negligence claim.
• If the management company created the hazard by cleaning up a stain on the floor and then failing to wipe up the wet floor, to name just one example, they may be considered responsible for your injury.

If you obtain damages from a mall/strip center owner, they could sue the company responsible for maintaining the property. You could also sue this management company directly, depending on the facts that underlie your case. This could make it easier for you to obtain the compensation you are seeking.

Work with a San Antonio personal injury lawyer today

If you sustained an injury while visiting a San Antonio shopping mall or strip center, you may be entitled to compensation for the damages you incurred due to this injury.

You can use this contact form to speak with one of our San Antonio personal injury lawyers. At Pat Maloney: Accident & Injury Attorney, we are ready to help you obtain the compensation you need.