Can I Be Sued if Someone Falls on My Rented Property?
“Can a tenant can be held liable to someone who falls and was injured on their rented property?” This was the central issue in a recent Superior Court of Justice decision of Mohebbi v. Yassobi et al., 2021 ONSC 2395 (CanLII). In this case, the tenant’s friend slipped and fell on the ice while visiting his home, which was a rented property. The landlord argued that the tenant was entirely responsible for the maintenance and snow removal on the premises. The tenant argued that according to the provisions of the Residential Tenancies Act, landlords are responsible for maintenance of the property they own, and that this responsibility cannot be transferred to the tenant as it is prohibited under the Residential Tenancies Act. The landlord argued that section 33 of the Residential Tenancy Act applied. That section provides as follows “The tenant is responsible for ordinary cleanliness of the rental unit, except to the extent that the tenancy agreement requires the landlord to clean it.” T