Who is Responsible for Los Angeles Sidewalk Injuries?

Five years ago, I first wrote about the pathetic state of Los Angeles sidewalks.

The City announced a settlement in 2016 to spend over a billion dollars to repair the sidewalks over 30 years. But anyone who regularly walks down pretty much any street in Los Angeles will tell you that it looks like nothing has been done since the settlement was announced. Los Angeles sidewalks remain dangerous and unmaintained.

Los Angeles tried shifting the responsibility of maintaining the sidewalks onto adjacent homeowners in 2017 with revisions to the Los Angeles Municipal Code. And while homeowners in Los Angeles might be required to maintain their sidewalks, the question remains: who is responsible when a pedestrian gets hurt on a Los Angeles sidewalk? Is it the City or the homeowner?

The answer might be found in the recent Court of Appeal case of Lopez v. City of Los Angeles.

Jose Lopez was walking to his place of work in West Los Angeles on a rainy day in February of 2014. There was an area of the sidewalk where it intersected with the driveway lip that fronted a commercial business. The sidewalk had an indent, and Mr. Lopez thought it was just a puddle. What he stepped into was actually a four-inch pothole on the sidewalk surface. He twisted his ankle, causing it to become dislocated and tearing three ligaments and fracturing two bones in his foot. He had two separate surgeries to repair his injuries.

Mr. Lopez sued the City of Los Angeles, as well as the commercial business near where he suffered his injuries. Through some procedural twists and turns, a jury awarded Mr. Lopez over $3 million. The City then negotiated a settlement with Mr. Lopez and subsequently sued the commercial business where the injury occurred. Essentially, the City of Los Angeles argued that since the business controlled the driveway where commercial vehicles entered and exited the property, the business should have been responsible for maintaining the sidewalk and repairing it.

The Court disagreed. California law is settled that property owners must maintain their own property. Determining whether a property owner owes a duty to maintain abutting, publicly owned property in a reasonably safe condition, the crucial element is control. (Alcaraz v. Vece) The question the Court will ask is: Did the property owner exert control over the adjoining, public property?

The Court looks at two factors to decide this question. First, did the property owner create the hazard? There are several California cases on point. In my own practice, I have handled Los Angeles sidewalk cases where a property owner planted trees on his own lawn that helped lift up the public sidewalk. If the property owner helped create the hazard, then a Court will likely hold that the property owner exerted control over the sidewalk.

The second factor is whether the property owner treats the public property “as one’s own.” Examples are putting up signs on the public property or other affirmative acts that go beyond minimal, neighborly maintenance of property owned by another. (Alcarez, 14 Cal.4th at 1167).

In this case, there was no evidence that the commercial business near which Mr. Lopez tripped created the pothole. There was also no evidence that the business treated the sidewalk or driveway apron as its own, other than the minimally, neighborly maintenance, which does not constitute a sufficient exercise of control to rise to liability. Therefore, it was the City of Los Angeles that was liable for Mr. Lopez’s injuries, and not the adjacent property owner.

My office has handled several Los Angeles sidewalk injury cases, and homeowners always ask: “Am I responsible for Los Angeles sidewalk injuries?” The Lopez case is important because it explains when and how a private property owner might be liable when someone suffers a Los Angeles sidewalk injury in front of private property.

Let’s hope the City of Los Angeles will get a move on repairing the miles and miles of broken, cracked, and uplifted sidewalks in Los Angeles and not wait 30 years.

For questions about your Los Angeles trip and fall or sidewalk injury case, the Rabbi Lawyer is ready to assist, 24/6.