Is the Homeowner Liable for Death of a Tenant

[sadbr0]

A friend of mine owns a 2 story home that he rents out to multiple tenants (kind of like a hotel). Its a 6 bedroom home and he rent each room out. One of the tenants living there had a violent history (on probation) and has drug problems. He broke into another tenant room and murdered a tenant. Can the victim's family sue the homeowner?

 

[Gail_in_Georgia]

Yes; pretty much anyone can sue for anything. It's winning the lawsuit that can be tricky.

Does your friend do any kind of criminal check before they agree to rent to someone?

Gail

 

[jharris352]

Like Gail says, anyone can be sued for anything. Is there liability? Not really. Though, people have gotten the idea in the last 20 years that anytime something bad happens that someone should pay money. I would bet that your friend doesn't have proper liability insurance to be running a boarding house, and quite possibly was running an improperly zoned boarding house. None of this helps but it doesn't make them more liable either.

In the end I don't think your friend will be held liable for this other person's actions. He had no duty to provide security or background checks unless he promised he would.