Does a property owner in New York need notice of a dangerous condition to be liable?

When you are injured on someone else's property — a store, a landlord's building, a restaurant, or a neighbor's home — the property owner's liability generally depends on whether they knew or should have known about the dangerous condition.

Actual vs. Constructive Notice

Actual notice means the owner was directly told about the hazard — a tenant complained about a broken step, or a store employee saw the spill. Constructive notice means the condition existed long enough that a reasonable owner exercising due care should have discovered and fixed it. A banana peel on a grocery store floor for 30 minutes may create constructive notice; one that just fell probably does not.

Exceptions: Created Conditions

If the property owner or their employee created the dangerous condition, notice is irrelevant — they are liable automatically. A store employee who mops a floor and leaves it wet without a warning sign created the hazard.

Municipal Property

When the dangerous condition is on a city sidewalk, in a public park, or on any government-owned property, the rules change. You must file a Notice of Claim within 90 days under General Municipal Law §50-e. Additionally, New York City requires that it had prior written notice of a sidewalk defect before it can be held liable — set out in Administrative Code §7-201.

Landlord Liability

Landlords in New York have a non-delegable duty to maintain common areas in reasonably safe condition. Evidence of repeated complaints, prior incidents, or ignored repair orders is powerful in these cases.

The lawsuit deadline is three years under CPLR 214. No fee unless we win.